Just a Closer Walk with Thee on the Dulcimer & Lagniappe Dulcimer Fete

Is it possible to make an arrangement of the gospel song, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” for the mountain dulcimer? The tune is one of the most common ones played by New Orleans jazz brass bands at jazz funerals. Well, Paul Andry managed to capture the essence of this song. And we borrowed his arrangement (withe permission) for our “Jambalaya Jammin'” Tune Book which we will feature at our Lagniappe Dulcimer Fête on March 12- 14 in Port Allen, Louisiana. Are you coming? We hope so as we have assembled a great group of musicians and performers. Another tune which made it into our book is the Cajun song, “J’ai Passe.” Here is a painting which Peggy Broussard made to illustrate the song.

Lagniappe dulcimer players love to jam. An so we went back to our club’s origins and picked out 66 of our favorite tunes and assembled them into a “tune book”  for the fête. The book is sort of a documentary of our club’s history since its inception 22 years ago. Plus we added in few newer jam tunes to have something to work on in the future.

This isn’t an ordinary dulcimer tablature book. The book includes background stories on most of the songs. Sixteen of the songs are arranged specifically for beginning dulcimer players. Many songs have “embellished” arrangements and/or harmony and ensemble parts for novice and more accomplished dulcimer players.  Of the tunes, 63 are intended for jamming or playing in a group setting.

Three tunes are included which are “lagniappe.” In French, “lagniappe” means “a little something extra.” These tunes show the more expressive side of the dulcimer. They include “Hole in the Wall,” which is a classical hornpipe from Henry Purcell’s ‘Abdelazer’, “Do You Love An Apple?” arranged by Stephen Seifert and “Waltz of the Waters” an original piece by David Schnaufer.

Many Reasons to come to Lagniappe’s 19th Fete and Pre-fête workshops

There are lots of reasons to come to our 19th annual dulcimer festival. We promise good Cajun food, excellent performers and workshop leaders, great jam sessions and lots of hospitality. And we have a new festival T-shirt design.

We are so pleased to offer four pre-fête workshops on Thursday afternoon. Note the new time of the workshops: 2 pm – 4 pm. Check out detailed descriptions of the workshops in the pull-down tabs at the top of the page.

And there will be unique workshops, too:

• Birding with an expert ornithologist,
• Flat foot dancing,
• Celtic harp,
• Dulci-bro (what is this? It is a cross between a dulcimer and dobra)
• Sacred Harp singing,
• Computer music notation software,
• Bowed psaltery.

So come join us in March.

And here is a PDF file of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”:

Just A Closer Walk With Thee