Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by MadGomer on February 20, 2018 at 2:22am

Phil, what they're referring to is the Diatonic scale, same thing that is commonly used in mountain dulcimers and strumsticks, ton of info available on the web.  A typical guitar uses a chromatic scale, which is the Diatonic (do re mi) plus some extra frets to enable you to play all the sharps and flats in any key.  Diatonic is very easy for a newbie to pick up and play, three stringers are typically tuned DAD, EBE, GDG, etc

Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on February 20, 2018 at 3:36am

Hi thanks, so if I pick my scale and leave out the sharps and flats, i should be ok.

Permalink Reply by MadGomer on February 20, 2018 at 2:39pm

Yes.  Now, as I understand it there is an added twist.  Please bear in mind that I know little about music theory, but apparently on mountain dulcimers, strumsticks, etc which generally use Diatonic scale, builders often include a 6+ or "six and a half" fret which is one of those extras from the chromatic scale, apparently it gives the instrument much more versatility while keeping it pretty simple for noobs like me.  Also referred to as the blue note.  Could be added later too.

Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on February 20, 2018 at 7:41pm

Thanks for taking the time for that. Just thinking that it might be an idea for me to

Make the fretboard,a temporary fit initially, having set the scale length , that is, the bridge position. Then I can verify everything, before making it a permanent fit.

Thanks Again Phil.

Permalink Reply by Philip Hale on February 21, 2018 at 8:22am

Fret Calculator : Musicmaker

http://www.harpkit.com

This is the best resource and explanation that I have found. It covers the explanation,re

The positioning of the extra blue note fret.

Thanks Again for all help with this.

Permalink Reply by anthony on February 21, 2018 at 1:03am

I've got a feeling that if you go on the stewmac fret calculator and change the instrument to dulcimer then it gives you the diatonic fret distances (including the 6+ fret MadGomer mentioned) without you having to work it out by taking away frets from the chromatic spacing.