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Online Mountain Dulcimer Lessons

If you are looking for new ways of continuing your mountain dulcimer journey beyond on-site lessons,
online coaching sessions are a great alternative.

I now offer live lessons online through Zoom, so please feel free to contact me if you would like to schedule a lesson. Briefly describe what your goals are for dulcimer lessons, how you discovered my music, and what your current involvement is with the dulcimer community or with music-making in general. My availability varies depending on my work schedule and festival bookings, so we can arrange meeting times on a case-by-case basis in order to meet your needs.

For more information about how to begin online lessons, please see the details listed below.

​Prerequisites

  • ​First, take a look at my “How to Play the Mountain Dulcimer” videos and become familiar with the concepts contained in them.
  • Explore my other free resources at the Lessons and Tablature page. 
  • I also recommend that you obtain a copy of Mountain Dulcimer Wildflowers (digital or print) for building your repertoire.
  • Our lessons will be conducted in the program Zoom; you might have Zoom downloaded to your computer already, or you can easily obtain the program from www.zoom.us or the Apple App Store.
  • It would be good to have a working knowledge of the Zoom application prior to beginning our lessons.
  • We will meet in my Zoom meeting room (a permanent, recurring meeting link).
  • I will ask you for your phone number as well in case of emergency or technical difficulties.
  • From time to time, you will receive Google Calendar invitations for your lessons. Please confirm these invitations to make sure that you receive reminder emails about your ongoing or one-time lesson and so these appear on your Google Calendar if you have one.

Terms and Conditions

  • Our lessons will last for about 45 minutes. Each lesson will have a fee of $22.50 to be submitted through PayPal following the receipt of my PayPal request.
  • Appointment times will be provided for the U.S. central time zone.
  • If you need to cancel a scheduled lesson, please do so more than 24 hours in advance.
  • In the interest of respect for one another's time and scheduling, if a student cancels a lesson within 24 hours of the appointment or has to interrupt a lesson for any reason, the student's deposit for the lesson will be retained if I am unable to find someone to substitute for that time.
  • I am overwhelmed by the kindness and good-spiritedness of the mountain dulcimer community as a whole; therefore, I am optimistic that our shared lessons will be positive experiences.
  • Lessons may continue to be scheduled at our mutual discretion (i.e. as long as we both feel that our experiences continue to be positive and productive, which they undoubtedly will!). You do not have to be perfect! All I ask is that you remain committed to practicing your songs purposefully and striving for continual growth.
  • It is recommended that students wear pants or skirts that come last the knees or have a non-slip cloth ready to put on the lap. During lessons, the camera will be focused on a student’s instrument, which is usually placed on the lap.

First Lesson

  • ​When you log in for our first session, I will ask you to provide a live demonstration of your best work, a song you're comfortable with that showcases your current skills. Perhaps you can play “The Water is Wide” or one of the basic songs from Mountain Dulcimer Wildflowers.
  • After your demonstration, we will identify skills for you to work on until next time and possibly select a new song for you to practice.
  • We will also discuss what musical styles and skills you would like to explore in future lessons.
  • My teaching approach is rather organic, better termed "coaching" than "lessons," which might be seen as more structured. First, we see what is needed; then we grow from there!