by Mark Alan Wade
Though some might claim that contests are unhealthy or the antithesis of artistic, musical self-expression, the mindset of the contestant is up to the player. The most successful contestants are really competing against themselves.
Mark ALan Wade
Only two of us signed up when I entered my first dulcimer contest in 1991. Sadly, a minimum of three contestants was required to hold the contest. Upon seeing my disappointment, the late Doug Felt, a mountain dulcimer/whistle/ bodhrán player signed up to be the third contestant. Doug didn’t even play a hammered dulcimer. He was just a sweet man who wanted us to get the chance to compete. As luck would have it, Doug’s name was randomly selected to go on first. I believe he played Cotton-Eyed Joe and did so left-handed (he was right-handed). It was musically awful and heartwarmingly wonderful at the same time. Thanks to Doug, the contest got to go on, and we played our hearts out. I’m still grateful that Doug did that for us and wondered how my life might be different if I didn’t get to perform my contest repertoire.
We are fortunate to have a number of regional contests sanctioned by the National Contest, like the Mid-Eastern Regional Dulcimer Contest hosted by the Coshocton Dulcimer Days Festival. The pride of achieving a long-term goal is incentive enough for most, but it doesn’t hurt to win the prize money, or instruments, along with bragging rights and a paid entrance fee to compete in the National Contest in Winfield, Kansas.
Even with all of that extrinsic motivation, it seems that intrinsic motivation may be missing in most dulcimer players. Twenty-six years later we are still having a hard time getting a sufficient number of contestants in dulcimer contests. The bigger contests may have only a half-dozen or less competitors. Last year, the National Mountain Dulcimer Contest only had four compete! There were less than ten contestants in the Hammered Contest. Meanwhile, national contests for other folk instruments are booming as usual, and National Contest winners like Chris Thile are hosting radio shows like Prairie Home Companion: Live from Here and winning Grammy awards.
So what is it about dulcimer players that scare us away from entering contests? Fiddle contests and traditional Irish contests are tremendously successful and highly sought after. Something must be missing in our dulcimer culture that is thriving elsewhere. While it is true that for many dulcimer players, competitions may be terrifying or just not on the radar, these contests are tremendously important for reaching the potential of our unique genre.
In looking at the development of two related folk music genres, we can clearly see what we have to gain from supporting our dulcimer contests and the festivals that host them. We can also see what we are missing out on by not fully embracing music contests.
What you get out of preparing a contest set transfers to all aspects of your musicianship: confidence, musicality, grit, determination, dedication, effort, introspection, self-evaluation, coping with performance jitters. All of this will serve you in a multitude of ways in your musical life and beyond.
Mark Alan Wade
A Tale of Two Genres
Irish music
Way, way back before popular bands like the Chieftains and Altan, traditional Irish tunes were the musical wallflowers of the dances for which they were played. The social gatherings were really about getting folks together, dancing jigs and reels, and the music was incidental, perhaps a distant third priority after beer drinking. By design, everyone played the melody with their varying traditional ornaments. There was no real accompaniment other than the bodhrán. There were no rhythm guitars or even simple arrangements of the tunes. All joined in on the tunes as the dancers danced and any musician could step out and join in dancing because they all played the same role–namely, carrying the tune.
Around the mid 20th century, non-Irish instruments like bouzoukis, guitars, and tenor banjos joined in the pubs’ dance bands. With them came new possibilities for musical textures, like rhythm playing, and the music began to develop its following. Gatherings with Irish music were conceived for the music’s sake alone.
In 1951, the Comhaltas organization was founded and dedicated itself to promoting and preserving traditional Irish music. Increasingly the music began to take a more prominent role, and with it came contests like Comhaltas’ own and the All Ireland contest. Irish music enthusiasts from all over Great Britain, and later, the world, came to compete and to listen in the audience. As a direct result, the entire musical genre was elevated in musicianship, artistry, and popularity.
Irish bands began concertizing their music with rhythm instruments, like guitars and bass, and complicated arrangements, sets, and countermelodies. Nowadays bands like the Chieftains have won six Grammys and perform at a level of mastery that would rival a classically trained musician.
Old-time American fiddling
Historically, old-time American fiddling has a narrative parallel to that of Irish music. In the United States, traditional fiddling was reserved for barn dances. My own great-grandfather was an old-time fiddler and played for countless dances in Kentucky. Even after playing music for almost his entire life, he never played a concert or a recital. His music was just a small part of something bigger–the social gatherings that the dances afforded. It was that way centuries before him. Sure, everyone enjoyed the music, but because it was not the focus of the culture, not much changed or developed for a few hundred years musically speaking.
Just as in Irish music, more and more fiddling contests began to pop up and country fiddlers rose to the new challenge. With advancements in technology, records came out with astounding fiddlers like Ed Haley (1883-1951) inspiring new generations of fiddlers like my great- grandfather. Fiddlers began refining their craft, spurred on by a common goal and by healthy competition. (Admittedly, it is slightly less healthy when the contestants bribe the judges with bourbon.) Nevertheless, the level of playing naturally evolved.
What would once pass as a great rendition of “Sally Goodin” for a dance fell flat on the competition stage without a makeover. As the contests became more and more popular, an increasing number of ornaments and variations were being practiced out in the woodshed by ambitious fiddlers.
In 1953, what would become the most prestigious fiddle contest in the United States had its inaugural contest. This was certainly not the first such contest, but it was a result of increasing interest in preserving traditional music, possibly inspired by the patriotism felt after World War II. Regional and state contests sprung up all over with audiences eager to hear the contestants’ best licks.
Fiddlers who are winning these contests, like the National Old-Time Fiddler’s Contest in Weiser, Idaho, are making handsome careers for themselves. Renowned fiddlers, like Mark O’Connor, (four-time winner of the Walnut Valley Association Fiddle Contest, and winner of the Grand Masters Fiddle Championship) have also gone on to win Grammy awards.
The Catalyst?
In both cases the shift in focus to the music itself, along with the introduction of contests, drove the level of playing and popularity to unprecedented levels. The contests made musical goal-setting a powerful motivator and inspiration for the advancement of the art form–even among non-professionals. These advancements are seen today even among those who have never stepped foot on a competition stage.
If you ever go to a bluegrass jam or even a non-dulcimer-centric Irish session, it will become painfully obvious that they are all playing on an entirely different level than the average dulcimer player. I believe this is the product of their prospective genres’ attitude and expectation of musicianship, as stimulated by contests.
What Is Our “Dance”?
As the music was secondary to dancing in traditional Irish and American music, what is dulcimer playing secondary to? This might seem counterintuitive, but I propose dulcimer playing is actually secondary to our festivals and jams. How can that be? As dulcimer players, our personal musicianship is functionally secondary to the big corporate social jam cacophony of sound.
Our musicianship is secondary to the social gathering (which just so happens to be a jam). If our focus was really on making the best music we could, there would naturally be an audience. People would be drawn to hear the jam, even non festival attendees.
Our tradition, as unique and as fun as it is, may be holding us back if big festival jams are the end all of dulcimer musicdom. At the best of dulcimer festivals, the performers’ “performing” sets are limited to 6 to 12 minutes. How can anyone see that and come to the conclusion that our focus is on the art form itself? It isn’t. Maybe that is okay, but musically, we are capable of so much more.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a big jam at a festival! I go to a jam because I want to see YOU and make fun music together. So do you. Maybe you are a beginner who has worked up a few jam tunes and finally got up the nerve to play only because it was a large jam where our playing is anonymous. That’s great! It’s only hindering us as a group because that is where most musicianship stops for dulcimer players.
We are now exactly where old-time fiddling and Irish music were when they were the musical wallpaper in dances, but they didn’t stop there. They continued growing in their musical abilities and were fueled by contests as a way to spur them on and raise the bar.
Rallying the Troops
Though some might claim that contests are unhealthy or the antithesis of artistic, musical self-expression, the mindset of the contestant is up to the player. The most successful contestants are really competing against themselves. They make personal goals to achieve in their performance and are only competing against that standard on the stage. Their goal is always to play as well on stage as they do when no one is watching. That’s it. Isn’t that everyone’s goal when performing? With a healthy mindset, contests are a fun and rewarding way to develop your chops and work on performing in front of others.
One has to wonder how much longer festivals will sponsor our contests with such low turnout. Our low numbers are certainly not for a lack of talent. There are plenty of aspiring dulcimer players out there that would thrive in a contest. Some of you reading this could have a contest set prepared in a few days to a few weeks.
What’s holding you back? There are few things as rewarding as setting a personal musical goal and working towards it and seeing it through. Notice I did not say winning as the goal.
What you get out of preparing a contest set transfers to all aspects of your musicianship: confidence, musicality, grit, determination, dedication, effort, introspection, self-evaluation, coping with performance jitters. All of this will serve you in a multitude of ways in your musical life and beyond.
What WE get out of supporting our contests as a dulcimer community is equally valuable. If Irish music and old-time fiddling are predictors of what happens to music cultures that embrace contests, we have everything to gain. Hmm. Perhaps one of us will win a Grammy some day?
Mark Alan Wade lives in northeast Ohio and has an active Patreon website where he shares arrangements like these with video instruction every month starting at just $5! His ninth book for hammered dulcimer, “Classical Masterpieces for Hammered Dulcimer,” was published in May 2020 with Mel Bay Inc. Find him at patreon.com/markalanwade and at markalanwade.com.
This article was first published in Vol. 44 No. 1 (February 2018). It has been edited for publication online.