Good players know how to play technically perfect. Great players play with proper technique and emotional passion. The best play technically, emotionally, and also discover how to highlight the strengths of their respective instruments.
One of the strength’s of the hammer dulcimer is the percussive qualities, which lends itself well to quick playing. Playing fast is not bad as long as it’s done musically. Since “musical” is a subjective opinion, I have chosen to put this in the opinion category.
How NOT to Play Fast
Most of the players who play, simply for speed, will typically play a bunch of scales, arpeggios, and intervals while living on the treble bridge. They might throw in an occasional bass note. It might sound impressive to the untrained ear, but the trained ear hears the galore of unintentional notes and lack of precision. To be quite frank, this type of playing is actually simple and doesn’t impress me.
Now, please do not get the impression that I think only slow tunes are worthy of respect. I have plans for future recordings that definitely have more speed and notes and a more modern approach. But, the important thing is this: make sure that your playing is first and foremost musical.
1. Technical
What purpose does each note serve in your playing? One of my personal mottos is if a note doesn’t serve a musical purpose, then I don’t play it.
How consistent is your timing? When playing fast, it’s easy to make minor timing errors while not losing the overall meter. Be sure that the timing in between your notes is consistent and intentional. Other question that come to mind are how clean is your playing and how many of your notes are intentional?
Another thing that comes to mind is how difficult is what you’re playing? No, not everything has to be hard to be musical and enjoyable, but, technically difficult pieces with hard chords and transitions are impressive to my hear as long as they serve a musical purpose.
2. Emotional
Does the tune have quality emotional expression or an energetic rhythmic drive that has life and merit?
3. Strengths of the Hammer Dulcimer
Yes, the hammer dulcimer is a wonderful percussive instrument but it also has another strength that can be enemy to playing fast: natural sustain. You’ve got to balance your playing around this.
Conclusion
The best “fast players” play technically, emotionally, and learn how to control the hammer dulcimer by tailoring the notes they play to not interfere with the sustain. They do this by knowing when to keep chords open, which notes to accent, when to put the dampers on, and simply discover driving patterns and chord progressions that work.
Tags: fast