My recent exploration of the hammered dulcimer has been a treasure trove of insight. Some insights are mechanical - how the tuning arrangement of the strings allows me to play rather easily in three different major keys just by moving up or down the courses, that the chords all fall into one of two patterns and so are easily added to melody, how to hold the hammers so they don't "wander" off to the left or right.
Some insights are more cosmic in nature. This instrument makes beautiful sounds for whomever plays it. It matters not whether you are a beginner or a master. The tone is just lovely (even, as observed before, when the notes are wrong). This characteristic of the dulcimer appears as a parallel to the characters of people. Those with beautiful personalities - the altruists, the care-givers, the listeners, the empaths - are lovely even when they make errors. In contrasts, those who are self-centered and uncaring can act correctly (i.e. play the correct notes) but their "music" doesn't ring true.
I wonder what would happen if we all worked more on our "tone" and less on the "notes."
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