holistic and confidence-building music training

Over the last 25 years Dan has taught well over 6,000 musicians and singers of all levels, from novice to professional, and he has taught at festivals in many parts of the USA.

Students have travelled from all over Europe and beyond to attend his transformative singing course, which received amazing feedback. He has even coached a pop singer, who promptly rose to no.1 in the UK charts.

To Dan, music is more than the just dots on the page. Posture, emotion and mindset also play their part. Indeed, your body language and how you think and feel about the music are key to an engaging performance.

22nd February 2018

dulcimer starter session

level

pitched at your level ~ depending upon your experience with the dulcimer, other instruments and music generally

topics

a health-check on your instrument to make sure it is working as it should
posture for comfort and to avoid health issues
best practice playing techniques
an introduction to Tablature notation
an introduction to modes and tunings
the huge potential of the dulcimer – songs, airs & instrumentals
your big decision DAA or DAD ~ the pro’s and cons of each and their far reaching ramifications

21st February 2018

tree and stage backdrops

For UK concerts Dan can bring his tree backdrop – to enhance the visual appeal of the stage – and for local concerts to Olney, he can also bring the blue background panels (they fill the car and require a separate trip) – the panels not only look good and hide instrument cases but they also absorb noise and help with the sound on stage.

21st February 2018

Lavendon concert with Rebecca & Andy

Sun 18th Feb 2018 – 2:30 – 5:30pm

Lavendon Village Hall, near Olney

another sell-out concert

‘The three of you were a great success, as you could obviously see from the audience’s reaction at the end of your numbers. Speaking to many of them before the event, very few knew what they were in for, because they did not know what a dulcimer was. They do now! It’s the first time we have had a sell-out in the hall and that was without your Olney following, who had heard you a few months previously.’ John Salter – event organiser

12th February 2018

Waves film

Waves is a track off Dan’s Autumn Dance CD album (DSM5 / 2003) about waves lapping on a lonely beach – a jazzy piece, it is played very freely on an acoustic guitar in Open C tuning with a coil pickup processed through digital multi-effects and sampling – the music, ocean and seagull sounds all come simultaneously from the guitar.

The photos were all taken by Dan within an hour on a camera that was new to him on a windy morning on the North Norfolk coast.

12th February 2018

The Garden Waltz film

Studio recording of Dan’s guitar piece ‘The Garden Waltz’ from his ‘Let It Be Me’ CD album (DSM6 / 2010) – with photographs of some of the beautiful gardens he worked in as a photographer.

12th February 2018

Age Of Steam film

One for train enthusiasts ~ photographs of Didcot Railway Centre, Buckinghamshire Railway Centre and the North York Moors Railway (NYMR) ~ set to original dulcimer and guitar music, including: from Dan’s Spirit Dancing CD (The Journey) and his Au Vieux Moulin CD (Bullet Train).

12th February 2018

Requiem performed at Olney concert

‘A requiem composed for a lovely person I once knew, who passed in her prime – performed here on electric dulcimer for the first time at our Olney Concert in September 2017’ ~ Dan