Joe Collins Mountain Dulcimers

Each month, a new set of two high quality dulcimer tabs will be available on this page. Please do not sell or mass distribute these tabs. I am making them available for individuals and for dulcimer clubs that wish to use them. If you like my tab, I hope you will consider purchasing some of my tablature books.

Simply click the title below to download the tab file. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, see instructions below.

I Will Sing of My Redeemer (DAd) - This is a hymn out of my new tablature book, Sacred Hymns of the Old Church. The lyrics were written by Phillip Bliss, a well-known composer of hymns in the late 19th century. The story behind this particular hymn, however, is especially fascinating. The lyrics were recovered from a train wreck that took the life of 38-year old Bliss and his wife while he was on his way to an engagement in a religious service. The hymn has been set to at least two tunes, and I've included the two tunes I know in Sacred Hymns. This one is Hyferdol written by Rowland Pritchard. It is a hymn that has been used for a number of other hymns, including "Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners," "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," and "Praise the Lord! Ye Heavens, Adore Him." I've included a midi sound track, as usual, below; however, I also added a track off of the companion CD available for Sacred Hymns.

Pretty Polly (DAA) is a murder ballad that has been found in a number of versions in the British Isles and in Appachia. In some versions, poor Polly is seduced by some scoundrel and leaves her home only to be murdered and buried in a shallow grave by the man who seduces her. In most versions, Polly is not outdone because her ghost rises to take vengeance on her would-be lover, driving him to suicide. In this particular version, collected in Arkansas in the 1950s, Polly's revenge does not wait so long. After seducing Polly to rob her parents and come away with him, the scoundrel declares that he is going to murder Polly. However, his greed gets the better of him and he demands that Polly take off her fine clothes so they won't be spoiled in the murder. Polly, playing the part of a modest maid, will not undress until the scoundrel turns his eyes away from her nakedness. When he turns around, Polly pushes him into the sea where he drowns. Polly then goes home and convinces her pet bird to cover for her, and her father is never the wiser for what transpired during the night. Page 2 contains this set of lyrics.

This DAA version sounds great, using the "one-string" method. Just play all the melody on the melody string(s) and allow the bass and the middle string to maintain a constant drone. Or you can use the chords that are suggested.

Pretty Polly (DAd) - same as above, except that the arrangement is for the DAd tuning.

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Different authors use different conventions when writing out tablature. I have chosen to do mine in a way that is easy for beginners to use. First of all, the numerals that are in bolder, larger print represent the melody of the tune. If you do not play chords, you can simply use one finger (or more) to play only the melody notes with your noting hand while strumming all the strings.

If you do choose to the play the chords I suggest, realize that I do not put down the complete chord for every single note. I feel like doing so clutters the page with too many numerals. When you change into a chord (designated above the musical notes by letters - D, A, Bm, F#m, etc.), I assume that you will hold that chord until the next chord change. In other words, all fingers will stay in the same position except the ones for which the numerals change until the next chord change. When one numeral is listed for a note, it does not mean that you can hit only that string. Provided you keep the chord position that is listed under the most recent chord name, you can continue hitting all the strings.

Occasionally I will use an "X". This means to avoid hitting that string at all. Otherwise, it does not hurt to strum all the strings.

If a capo is called for, I follow the same conventions each time. I do not renumber the frets except for the fret where the capo is placed. That way the open position is still "0," just like without a capo. However, 5 still represents the 5th fret. Therefore, with the capo on the 4th fret, I have no numerals below 5, except for, of course, "0."

The tabs are in an ACROBAT format. If your computer does not presently have Acrobat Reader, it is available free of charge at the click of a button below. Just click and follow directions. You will then be able to read and print out the files using Acrobat Reader.

Click the box to download the reader necessary for reading and printing the tabs.

Do you need to hear the song in order to learn it? I know that for me, it is easier to learn a song if I can hear how it goes first. You can download the following files. They are in a midi format and can be played on a windows media player. If you do not currently have a media player, one can be downloaded by clicking HERE.

The Foothills Dulcimer Club of Shelby, NC meets once a month. The featured tabs for the meeting are the same ones as on this site. Please click on the button below to find out more about the club, its meeting times, etc. We'd love to have you come and join us!