Homage to Summertime Tomatoes plus Hammer-on’s, Pull-off’s and Slides

Today I am playing a tune which is a tribute to summertime tomatoes, “Lauda di Pomodoro.” I was intrigued that anyone would write a song about tomatoes. But if you live in a “tomato desert” with only bland and under-ripe tomatoes sold in grocery stores, then you can appreciate the excitement at discovering a wonder ripe, juicy tomato. This tune is delightful to play on the mountain dulcimer because is was written for the dulcimer. It is full of hammer-on’s, pull-off’s and slides which make for smooth playing and give a feeling of exclamation points. Adding these ornaments to dulcimer arrangements is associated with a certain style of playing the dulcimer. The master of this technique is Neal Hellman who wrote this tune. And, of course, there is a story to go along with the tune.

The Swannanoa Gathering

Long, long ago (perhaps 30 years?) I attended one of those weeklong workshops in North Carolina on learning to play the mountain dulcimer. This workshop was held at Warren Wilson College. It was the first time the Swannanoa Gathering included mountain dulcimers — they also featured guitar, folk singing — so the number of dulcimer students in the classes was very small. We recieved “small class” luxury and our instructors for the week got a workout keeping us occupied as they “wowed” us with their musical skills. Lorainne Lee Hammond surprised us with a guitar slide and amplifier for her dulcimer playing between the frets. The beginning instructor played songs she wrote such as a motorcycle crashing through a slide glass door. Lois Hornbostel demonstrated that she could strum the dulcimer as fast as any fiddle player. Neal Hellman filled us in on his history of playing the dulcimer and his journey to becoming a music producer. He also kept us laughing with stories such as his enounter with the Gadsden, Alabama, racetrack. And he played his tomato song and one about a ninety pound catfish. It was a wonderful week and the setting in the rural, majestic mountains of North Carolina was perfect. (Unfortunately, the Swannanoa Gathering does not include mountain dulcimers this year.)

At that time, I was a novice dulcimer player stuck in DAD tuning. I was so lucky that I wound up in Neal Hellman’s morning class track. He took playing the dulcimer to a totally different level and opened up a whole new world of playing. He used new and unique tunings to play songs — not just DAD. He wrote many of his own songs. And, his main drift was that of intregrating the dulcimer into arrangements with other instruments. Neal’s recordings attest to this — the dulcimer is incorporated into the ensemble of instruments — along with fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, etc.

Ornamentation for Dulcimer

One of the techniques which Neal excelled at was using the ornaments of hammer’on’s, pull-off’s and slides in arrangements. It fit his style of playing and arrangements. He could play an entire measure with almost one strum.

For years, I couldn’t master these ornaments to any degree. They just went over my head. Then, while teaching beginning dulcimer classes using cardboard dulcimers this spring, a lightbulb went on. I have been using the wrong dulcimer. It is much easier to play hammer-on’s and pull-off’s on certain dulcimers. The cardboard dulcimer works well as well as my little dulcimer built from a kit that I purchased from the Smoky Mountain Dulcimer Comapny. Go figure. I guess you just have to try all your dulcimers — if you have more than one.

When playing hammer-on’s and pull-off’s, remember that alot of force is needed on the strings and you must strongly hold the string down. You can’t be gentle. Pulling off with your thumb certainly takes practice — I was told to use the side of my thumb. Still trying on that one!

While working on this blog post, I brought out all my tabature books written by Neal Helman and tried playing the tunes again. What a pleasure! What I couldn’t play years ago, is achievable now. So, the lesson here is, don’t give up.

Looking through my bookshelf, I see that I have quite a few — but not all — of Neal Hellman’s tablature books. Several go back quite a few years! And there are several treasures in this group. Neal’s “Hits of the Beatles” published by Hal Leonard includes copyrighted arrangements of Beatles tunes which you won’t find anywhere else. “Dulcimer Songbook” by Oak Publications is a lesson on playing in all the different modes. “It’s A Dulcimer Life” by Mel Bay is full of tunes with hammer’on’s, etc. It also includes different tunings such as AAD (to play in A minor). Can’t wait to play more of those tunes. I also like Neal’s “Celtic Songs & Slow Airs for Mountain Dulcimer” by Mel Bay. It contains a nice and pleasing variety of Celtic music. If you are an intermediate player and want to expand your repertorie, the tunes in this collection of books will keep you busy for quite a while. There is such a wide range of tunes in these books — many I have not seen anywhere else. Where did Neal learn all this music? I have enjoyed playing from these books over the years.

One book not in this stack is a music book of Shaker music. (Couldn’t find it.) This book does not contain dulcimer tablature but it is a thorough resource for all the wonderful music which the Shakers wrote. (Neal had just recently “discovered” a source of Shaker music and he did tab out several of these tunes for us at Swannanoa.) Neal also produced a multi-instrument C.D. which goes along with the Shaker music book. I am old school and still play the C.D. It still fits in with contemporary music.

A note about these tablature books, I point out that Neal’s style of playing is best suited for individuals and small groups. I find that many of these arrangements do not make good jam tunes for a large group. However, they are perfect for small ensembles as Neal has included chords — and sometimes fingerings — which a second person can play. And, I find ensemble playing to be very rewarding.

Back to “Lauda di Pomodoro”

While I was searching for really great tomatoes this summer, I thought about the tune which Neal played for us years ago at the Swannanoa Gathering. In the song’s intro, Neal states that he wrote the tune — Lauda di Pomodoro — “in praise of the wonderful Molino Creek Tomato -Davenport, California.” According to Neal’s story — which I sort of recall — he grew up in New York City and only exprienced tomatoes which had been grown for transport and shelf-life — not flavor and juiceness. Upon moving to California, he discovered the taste of a ripe tomato. He had an “ah ha moment” and hence the tune.

Well, I couldn’t find my copy of the song. After contacting Neal, he send me the tune and has graciously given me permission to post it in this blog. Of course, I post these tunes with the intention that my readers will download and play them. In this case, however, it is best to keep this tune to personal use and that of other players in your small group. The copyright of this tune — including dissemination beyond your own/friends use — belongs to Neal Hellman.

This tune uses lots of hammer-on’s, pull-off’s and slides. It also uses barre chords along with these oraments. It makes for a lovely tune! And as Neal said, playing these ornaments is his style of playing — you can omit any/or all of them to meet your playing needs. I suggest trying at least some of them. It takes practice, but the result is smooth playing as well as faster playing.

Enjoy some really ripe tomatoes this summer along with this tune!

Gourd Music and the Redwood Dulcimer Festival

In addition to tablature books and recordings, Neal hosts the Redwood Dulcimer Day, a virtual festival zoom. It is planned for August 18-19, 2023, this year. Check it out — it features a lineup of talented dulcimer instructors and musicians.

Links to the Redwood Dulcimer Festival and Hellman’s website for his Gourd Music, Co, where you can purchase some of these music books, his recordings and compact disks are:

https://www.communitymusicschool.org/dulcimer-day

https://www.gourd.com/