Rick Thum

Thursday 2-9 2023

Class #1I 1:00 – 2:15 HD Advance

Harmonies and Drones Made Easy

Thirds make great harmonies until they don’t work. Find out why and how to make them work. Drones create that definitive hammered dulcimer sound. Playing harmonies with drones will make your playing sound magical. This is a fun class with lots of playing. You will use “Ode to Joy” to try out your new skills. Come have fun learning.

Friday 2-10 2023

Class #3I 9:00 – 10:15 HD Advance

Using the Layers of Music to Tell a Story

Playing great music requires several layers of techniques to be used at the same time. Pulse, beat, rhythm, dynamics, phrasing and more. Putting these layers together and knowing how to manipulate them will make your playing be very expressive. Learn how to tell a story with your music.

Class #4H 10:30 – 11:45 HD Intermediate

Horizontal Chord Patterns Using The Whole Dulcimer

Horizontal; patterns create beautiful arpeggios. Arpeggios flow and make beautiful embellishments. Learn the patterns that fit and enhance most styles of music. These patterns will make you use more of your dulcimer and will take your music to a new level. You will leave with the exercises to make this a reflex action. Lots of fun and hands on, playing.

Class #5I 1:00 – 2:15 HD Advance

How to Survive a Jam Session

Learning to jam is one of the great joys of playing music. Come have some fun learning several techniques that will make jamming easier. We will test these new skills by jamming a few tunes. Come ready to play.

Saturday 2-11 2023

Class #8G 9:00 – 10:15 HD Beginner

Making Your Dulcimer Easy to Understand and Play

You will learn the basics needed to start playing your dulcimer. You do not need to read music. I will show you the tricks to make learning a song easier and your first embellishments. You will understand how your instrument works and will be able to make it sound like what made you want to play it. Come get started.

Class #9I 10:30 – 11:45 HD Advance

Embellishing From The Melody Note, 2 Part Class. Part 1

This is the “Holy Grail” of dulcimer playing. I have devised a system of finding my embellishments by just knowing WHERE my melody note is. No names needed. You will be able to embellish a song the first time you play it and to change it up every time. No more memorizing arrangements. Make it up as you go. This allows you to play with more confidence and more creativity.

Class #10I 1:00 – 2:15 HD Advance

Embellishing From The Melody Note, 2 Part class. Part 2

This is the “Holy Grail” of dulcimer playing. I have devised a system of finding my embellishments by just knowing WHERE my melody note is. No names needed. You will be able to embellish a song the first time you play it and to change it up every time. No more memorizing arrangements. Make it up as you go. This allows you to play with more confidence and more creativity.

Class #11G 2:30 – 3:45 HD Beginner

Chords Unlock Your Dulcimer

You will learn how to play chords, using the whole dulcimer, without knowing the names of your notes. Chording does not have to be hard. Chords unlock your instrument. This is the first class to Elgin to understand how to play chords. A fun and easy way to start using more of your dulcimer. See you in class.

Class #12I 4:00 - 5:15 HD Advance

Learn the song “Elk River Blues”

A great tune that is showing up at a lot of jam sessions. You will learn the tune and how to add some good embellishments. It is one of my favorites. See you in class.