New from Mel Bay Publications, Inc. - Published June 21, 2022
 
DULCIMER MUSE
Tunes & Songs From Far-flung Times & Places
 
Dulcimer Muse is a beautiful collection of fingerpicked and strummed tunes and songs arranged for the mountain dulcimer for players seeking to expand their repertoire. Thirty-one arrangements are gathered from Medieval, and Renaissance eras, traditional folk music of Ireland, Scotland, England, Brittany and Spain, plus original compositions. Intended primarily for intermediate to advanced players, and for some ambitious beginners, the pieces include melody lines in standard notation, mountain dulcimer tablature, with chords above most of the dulcimer tablature that can be shared with other musicians for accompaniment. Suggestions on how to play with greater musicality and ease are included. Set one-step lower than customary to bring out the dulcimer’s deeper tones, the majority of pieces are arranged in Mixolydian and Aeolian tunings. 
 
About the Author:
Ruth Barrett is an award-winning mountain dulcimer player, singer, and recording artist who began playing the mountain dulcimer in 1971 and is recognized as a pioneering contributor to the California mountain dulcimer renaissance of the 1970s and 80s. Ruth’s twenty-year musical collaboration with mountain dulcimer player Cyntia Smith introduced listeners to distinctive vocal harmonies and classical fingerpicking style dulcimer duets for their original songs, Renaissance music, and arrangements of traditional Celtic and English folk music. Ruth is best known for her specialized genre of music – songs that focus on magically themed traditional folk songs inspired by folklore, mythology, and the spirituality innate in the natural world. She is an experienced mountain dulcimer teacher, whose accessible and supportive teaching style has successfully taught thousands of people to play the mountain dulcimer, from private instruction, national folk festivals, and online. Ruth’s concert performances and numerous studio recordings have been critically acclaimed. Dulcimer Muse celebrates Ruth’s 50-year anniversary with the mountain dulcimer.