Phyllis Gaskins is one of the foremost experts on Galax style mountain dulcimer playing. She studied with Raymond Melton, one of the premier builders and players of the Galax-style dulcimer, and she has developed a reputation as both an amazing performer and an inspiring teacher.

You won't find a better person (or a better book) to teach you the tunes, history, and historic traditions of Galax dulcimer playing.

This stellar volume is the has songs, of course, but also has tons of photos, anecdotes, and historical background of the dulcimer in general, and of the Galax, Virginia variants that were so important to the evolution of our instrument.

All songs in this book assume that all strings are tuned to D. Songs noted below as D tunes have the "Do" starting at fret zero. Songs noted below as G tunes have the "Do" starting at fret three. Songs noted below as A tunes have the "Do" starting at fret four, and recommend that you use a partial capo (drone strings only) at fret one. (Phyllis talks about how to make a partial capo on page nineteen...)

Instructions are also included for playing these songs in DAD tuning.