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New Arrivals

All in a Garden Green

 

 

 

I love it, I love it, I Love it, I Love It, I LOVE IT! –Cheryl Saborsky, pianist extraordinaire, Denver, Colorado

I didn’t at all realise how versatile an instrument the autoharp could be, for I’ve only ever heard before as an accompaniment to singers. Well done! –Charlie Simpson, Secretary, Shetland Musical Heritage Trust, United Kingdom

…interpretations with breathtaking nuances that kiss the ear at just the right moment. –Autoharp Quarterly

I drove to and from a postcard show [an hour from home] today. While on the road, I listened to your CD twice through. It is outstanding. Great selection of tunes executed with perfection….It is easy to see (hear, actually) why you have won so many championships. –Eileen Roys (editor of “Autoharp Clearinghouse”), MD

All in a Garden Green has been in the player and I’ve been listening to it in the mornings. The tunes are happy and bouncy and make my 5am wake time a little easier to manage. –Patricia Sannwald, NY

This long awaited CD features breath-taking English and Scottish country dance tunes, music by J. Scott Skinner and Shetland fiddling legend Tom Anderson, plus two original compositions by Lucille Reilly in the same genre. Each tune is performed on one of six diatonic autoharps, sensitively arranged with original melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic treatments inspired by performance practice from the sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth centuries. An elegant addition to everyone’s library.

Selections include: All in a Garden Green * Off She Goes * Portsmouth * Princess Royal (Bampton) * The Carillon of Sneek * Jamaica * The Fandango * The Cradle Song (J. Scott Skinner) * Jack’s Maggot * Robby Robertson’s March (Lucille Reilly) * Hector the Hero (J. Scott Skinner) * Rory O’More * Absolutely Lovely (Lucille Reilly) * Skye Boat Song * On Cessnock Bank * Am Buaichaille Ban (The Fair Shepherd) * Peter’s Peerie Boat (Tom Anderson) $15

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Recordings

Contra-Intuitive

I listened through the CD three times tonight. Holy Toledo, you are a smokin’ hammered dulcimer player! I LOVE hearing what you do with your instrument. Fabulous…The tune “Amelia” is exquisite. Lovely. Excellent, excellent work. – Judy Ganser, Colorado

Here is dance music for hammered dulcimer and piano, unlike anything you’ve heard! Lucille Reilly and pianist Jill Smith introduce each tune “the way it goes” (to their ears, anyway; this is folk music, after all), and then they interpret it: Lucille noodles all over the strings, painting each tune with the sounds of fresh, resonant variations, which Jill supports by tickling the ivories imaginatively. Together, Lucille and Jill create a listening experience that will bring you back to this CD again and again. These masterfully arranged fiddle tunes for contra dancing (and a weekend breakfast, vacuuming your house, etc.!), plus one hambo and one waltz, will have you tapping your toes in no time. Better yet, grab a partner and dance!

Selections include: Dick Gossip’s Reel * Double lead Through/Cincinnati * Pretty Little Dog/Liberty * Tenpenny Bit/Morrison’s Jig * Waiting for Nancy (Curt Bouterse) * Karis Pers Polska * Ragtime Annie * Swallowtail Jig/Swallowtail Reel * Reel des jeunes mariés/Eddie’s Reel * Fair Jenny’s Jig (Peter Barnes)/Dancing Bear (Bob McQuillen) * Scotland the Brave/Golden Slippers * Amelia (Bob McQuillen) $15

Woo Hoo! Leg slappin’ goooood!…I think I listened to it four times tonight already. Such happy music, and the subtle rhythms are astonishing! My dog dances with me, too. It’s too funny! – Louise Del Vecchio, New Jersey

Thus Sings My Soul

An inspiring CD of hymns plus two tasteful, secular pieces showcasing Lucille’s mastery of both hammered dulcimer and diatonic autoharp (including the ultratonic variety).

Selections include: Christ, Mighty Savior * Morning Has Broken * I Sing the Mighty Power of God * Sweet Hour of Prayer * My Shepherd Will Supply My Need * Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending * Stand Up for Jesus * How Great Thou Art * O’Carolan’s Concerto * Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence * There Is a Fountain * Wondrous Love * There Is a Balm in Gilead * Standing on the Promises * Amazing Grace * Fisher’s Hornpipe. $15.00.

Hammered dulcimer players: Before you purchase, check out the book containing all dulcimer solos in print; bundle it with your CD order and save.

To activate the track titles on your mobile device, click here!

The arrangements are simple and lush. – Dulcimer Players News

A compelling gift of arrangement. – Eileen Roys (editor of “Autoharp Clearinghouse”)

I really enjoy the song selections. You could tell the effort put into the song selection and song order. It is a wonderful recording. [then in a separate note:]…We had a bomb threat (sad reality of public schools) and I had two of our autistic students in my car keeping warm. I put your CD on and it kept them calm. – James Phillips, Illinois

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Hammered Dulcimer Instruction

Striking Out and Winning!

Striking Out and Winning! A music-maker’s guide for the hammered dulcimer: First published in 1984, Striking Out’s second edition (1992) remains the best hammered dulcimer book on the market. Aside from 50 great fiddle tunes (including Soldier’s Joy, Liberty, Golden Slippers, The Irish Washerwoman, Drowsy Maggie, St. Anne’s Reel and more), you’ll find complete instructions on how to find your way around all those strings (there are a lot of them, aren’t there?), how to view them in a series of visual patterns that lead to tunes, how to play rhythms, plus valuable tips on how to play easily, using revolutionary ideas about how to hold the hammers and strike the strings, and what playing the dulcimer feels like. Bountiful exercises will help you play easily, and many of them are drawn from the tunes, giving you still more ways to reduce your learning time so you can get to the playing. Temporarily out of print; look for a new edition in 2016.

Dear Lucille: Tried the hammer hold in Chapter 2 and can clearly hear the improvement in tone. I’m amazed!!! – Roger Mace, Ohio

I have never read more thorough instruction for playing any instrument….you could not, not learn to play if you follow Lucille’s step-by-step instructions. – Bluegrass Unlimited

With your detailed and dedicated approach to the nuts and bolts of technique and theory, I’m “Reilly” learning the dulcimer!! For the first time, I can play with other musicians even when I don’t know a lot of their repertoire, and that’s what it’s half about for me!
Also Available: The Companion CDs to the book

This set of three CDs contain all 50 tunes (played once slowly on the dulcimer along, then once up to tempo with guitar accompaniment) as well as all exercises in Chapter 4 (many of which are drawn from the tunes). It coordinates with both the 2nd and forthcoming editions. A terrific help to those needing aural assistance, as well as to those who read music but want to gain a better feel for the tunes in particular. Handsomely packaged in an unbreakable plastic wallet with an insert listing all tunes and examples. $35.
To activate this item’s track titles on your mobile device, click here!

The Hammered Dulcimer A-Chording to Lucille Reilly

A-Chording has been helpful getting some simple concepts into my head that I just couldn’t seem to click on before. I’ve had the book about three days. – Jim Peterson, WI

This book clearly explains music theory as it relates to the hammered dulcimer. You’ll discover all the possible ways to play triads and inversions, the different types of chords, how to navigate your way easily through two- and three-octave arpeggios, and then learn to play several back-up techniques so you can chord along at jam sessions. Includes the chords to all 50 tunes in Striking Out and Winning! $27.95
Click here for a corrections page.

Probably the most complete book on chording for dulcimer players that will ever be written. Lucille slowly dissects every aspect of chord playing and takes it from the magical level of “You just do it like this!” (whatever this is!) to a logical and rational series of steps that can be followed with success by any intermediate level dulcimer player. – Mitzie Collins, dulcimer performer/recording artist, New York State

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Hammered Dulcimer Music

Thus Sings My Soul (the hammered-dulcimer solos from the CD of the same title)

Thus Sings My Soul

Book: $16.00 USDSAVE! Bundle the book with the CD for: $29.00 USD

I’m so glad Lucille arranged these hymns so that I don’t have to. A lot of dulcimer players will be happy to know that these are in print, sparing them endless listening to the CD to replicate what’s there. – Argenta LeBlanc, Texas

Exquisite hymn arrangements for the hammered dulcimer player. Lucille’s penciled notation drafts (composed from 1980 to 1998) made reality. These hymn arrangements are not only great to play: for the intentional dulcimer player, they shed insight on how to arrange tunes for solo hammered dulcimer as approached by a master of the craft of sustain. Each solo runs 3-4 pages in length and is note for note as on the CD.

Selections include: Sweet Hour of Prayer (click here to view an excerpt) * Stand Up for Jesus (click here to view an excerpt; comes with a separate guitar part) * How Great Thou Art * Wondrous Love * Amazing Grace * Fisher’s Hornpipe (with guitar chords) * Standing on the Promises (a duet for hammered dulcimer and diatonic autoharp). A substantial introductory section offers handy learning tips for each piece, and more. 54 pages, with comb binding. $16.00 alone, OR $29.00 when purchased with the CD.

You open the book, and there’s the music! This book needs to be on every dulcimer player’s music stand. – Charles Snyder, Colorado

I am listening now to your CD Thus Sings My Soul from an entirely different perspective and have begun working on “Stand Up For Jesus” with you looking over my shoulder, encouraging me. Your notation in this book makes it easier to recognize what should be emphasized. I wish I lived closer to you! [Note from Lucille: Come on out for B&B lessons!] – Deanna Mitchell, Michigan

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Autoharp Instruction

Chords Aplenty

How to choose GREAT chords to play the music you love on diatonic and chromatic autoharp

This book should be in every autoharpist’s library.
–Master Luthier and Autoharp Hall-of-Famer Tom Fladmark, Pennsylvania

The essential resource and reference volume that will help you choose the right chord to play at the right time. Includes 41 pages of chord lists (successfully test-driven by my B&B students who do not read music) and more than a generous handful of tunes demonstrating chord use, plus valuable, simple description about how to determine a tune’s key, how to understand and use color chords (seventh, ninth, sus4/sus2, dim7 and augmented), an exclusive section on how to flesh out a melody’s back-up chords by ear, followed by lots of practical advice to help uncover all the chords a tune needs to transform it into a satisfying playing and listening experience. This book explains music theory as it relates to the autoharp, and is bound to change the way even the most experienced autoharpist thinks about chords. (And who knows? Maybe what’s here applies to guitar, piano, etc., too!) 164 pages, including 21 tunes and over 200 illustrations, fully indexed and spiral-bound to lay flat while you use it.
Click here to view sample pages!
Click here for a corrections page.

Coming: Audio files with an interactive .pdf.

The Pumping Felt Monograph Series

A growing collection of monographs (booklets diving deeply into one subject) devoted to “pumping felt,” (or what I now call chord-and-release playing on a diatonic autoharp. Each monograph (28-32 pages) is designed to help you master the diatonic autoharp, its music, and yourself as the musician. Most are geared for experienced diatonic autoharpists who are beyond the basics and want to fill in any musicality gaps.

#1: Forked Deer: Exploring Variations on a Theme

What happens when you develop a tune as much as you can melodically? Here is my interpretation of one simple tune, over eight variations, to play and study. (Would I really perform a tune with that many play-throughs? Find out in this monograph!) The original tune and all variations appear in music notation with melody chords and commentary about fingering, chord choice, special effects, overall feel, etc. Includes a section at the end explaining how to arrange tunes. An essential reference for every performer and contest contender who wants to do more than play one version of a tune over and over again. Plus, it’s not just for autoharp; it’s for every instrumentalist and singer who wants to think beyond a melody as it is currently known. Click here to hear the original tune. $12.00

The Flowers of Edinburgh

The Flowers of Edinburgh

2nd edition monograph: $15.00 USDBraille version of the revised edition: $18.00 USD

This one Scottish tune will help you discover how to create a solid melody-chord progression while maintaining back-up chord sound and developing smooth fingering. Thirteen versions of the tune take you through the process; you perform a step on one version and then see the answers, and the next step, on the next version. Use the same process to find rock-solid, basic chord progressions for your favorite tunes. A valuable reference for the diatonic autoharpist about playing all of the tunes in one’s repertoire very solidly. New in the second edition: More detailed instructions about how to create a bass line, with clearer explanations throughout; “animated” illustrations using gray lines and pointers (similar to those in Chords Aplenty); and the relationship of a little-known concept called time spacing as it relates to finger order. $15.00

#5: How to Create and Play the Ultratonic Autoharp

After I won both the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Championship and the International Autoharp Championship for the first time in 1995, I decided to explore this little-charted area of diatonic territory, created by the late, great Marty Schuman. Now you can explore it, too. (What’s an ultratonic autoharp? Click here.) This monograph takes you step by step through the conversion process, then starts you playing simple songs on this fascinating diatonic variant that’s more mistake-proof than “normal” diatonic autoharps. Includes helpful charts showing ten “sort of” I-IV-V progressions, and the results of depressing any two chord bars together (but if you think you’re going to play that way all the time, you’re missing the point of this incredibly resonant and harmonious instrument). $15.00
Click here for a corrections page.

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Autoharp Music

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Accessories

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Dulcimer Hammers

Made exclusively for Shadrach Productions, these single-sided hammers are just like those I use to play the dulcimer, which are also illustrated in Striking Out and Winning! The handles are flat on top, inviting an ergonomically friendly hold that allows the hammers to swing up and down in the hands without manipulating that action with the thumbs or wrists for a resonant, full-bodied sound. (The hold is also described in Striking Out.) The pair shown in the photo are maple with rosewood handles, but I regularly receive a variety of wonderful wood combinations. Let me know if you plan to apply a soft material (felt, leather, etc.) to the strike surfaces and I will hand-pick a pair that will balance well with this addition. $35 per pair.

ZipIt! pouch

ZipIt! pouch

Royal blue: $4.00 USDBroncos orange: $4.00 USDHot pink: $4.00 USD

These hilarious, 3 1/2″ x 3″ pouches are ingeniously made from one long zipper (as shown by the blue pouch, which unzips to a length of about 26 1/4″.) They are great for holding those stray coins in your pocket, but I admit that I use mine to carry my autoharp picks and display it proudly when I perform. Unzip the first, diagonal length to retrieve your picks and expose its teeth! A large lobster clasp is sewn securely to one corner of the pouch when zipped so you can attach it to a belt loop, hip pouch or purse. As to what to do with it when it’s unzipped: um, walk your dog? Annoy your cat? Create a fashion necklace? It’s up to you! Choose your color: royal blue, Broncos orange, and hot pink. $4 each.

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And for the person who has everything…

Music Transcriptions

Got a song or tune you composed in your head/on your instrument and can’t write down? Or does a scrawled score need to be professionally typeset before you can put it in your church’s Sunday service leaflet or send it off to a publisher? Or, do you need to preserve a tradition of folk music accurately in written form? Click here.

“B&B” Lessons

B&B lessons make a great gift that will keep on giving for years to come. Click here to find out how to make a positive impact on your musical life or upon that of a dulcimer player or autoharpist you love.9939