Richard Ash Workshops

Richard Ash Workshops

Learn Ten New Songs By Watching Hands

In this workshop, we'll use our eyes and ears to learn ten new songs, not with tablature, but the old-fashioned way - by watching hands. We'll go through "how" to pick up a tune the traditional way, and then jump right in to putting those concepts to work.

One song, IN DEPTH

This one isn't particularly challenging as a song, but there's a LOT we can do with it. The song "Long Journey Home" (aka Two-Dollar Bill) has a simple melody, but we will work together on making it fancy, and making a performance version that is OURS. This is going to be fun!

Make A Melody Great By Leaving Out Some Of The Notes

Once you know a tune, it is tricky to simplify it, but as a solo instrumentalist, you need to know how this technique makes a performance really special. We'll listen to one of the greatest (of all time!) simplified melodies - in a non-dulcimer performance, then model that artist's style with a traditional dulcimer tune. This is harder than it sounds, but SO VERY REWARDING!

Dulcimer Amplification In The 21st Century

Pickups of all varieties, microphones, cables, speakers, amplifiers. Good grief, this can get complicated, and fast. We'll keep it simple - we're not planning on amplifying Taylor Swift on stage at a 50,000 seat stadium - but there's a LOT to unpack and understand, at least on a "broad-strokes" level. I'll bring several varieties of pickups for you to hear, a few amplifiers to play with, and even a few cables to examine. We'll do some experimenting, and you'll come away with a better knowledge base for your next gig.

Fun With Galax-Style Dulcimer Tuning

We'll start with a little history lesson (just a few minutes, I promise!), then we'll retune our dulcimers to a traditional Galax (Virginia) tuning. You'll fall in love with the sound, guaranteed! Lots of songs, lots of strumming, lots of fun. Did you know that, with a Galax style tuning, you can play both D and A tunes without capos, without retuning, without any fuss at all? You're going to like this. A lot. Trust me.