Hello everyone,

This week we are going to look at a hymn called “Precious Name.” Many of you know this hymn by the name of “Take the name of Jesus with you.” In 1860, Lydia Odell Baxter and W. Howard Doane wrote the words and music to this Baptist invitation song. Although his name isn’t represented as the official composer, Robert Lowry also helped to write the melody of “Take the Name of Jesus With You.” He was a professor of literature at Bucknell University, he became an ordained Baptist minister and pastored several churches throughout the New England states.  Eventually, he wrote several well known hymns; such as "Nothing But the Blood," "Low in the Grave He Lay", "Shall We Gather At The River?," and "How Can I Keep From Singing?” I hope you all enjoy this week’s hymn.

God bless,

         Ben

Hello everyone,

            As many of you know, news about The Dulcimer Hymnal: Volume 2 has been on my site since last month. I’m glad to say that Volume 2 will be ready to be ordered on Friday, May21st, 2010! Recently, I’ve posted three new youtube video samples of some of the hymns that are featured in the new hymnal. The free samples are of the hymns "Be Still, My Soul," "Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy" and "Man of Sorrows." You can play along with the videos by downloading the sheet music from my site for free. Hope you all enjoy the second book in the Dulcimer Hymnal series!

God bless,

-Ben
 

List of Hymns features in Volume 2
http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-hymnal-volume2

Sheet Music and Video Samples
http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello Everyone,

              After a short recess from the dulcimer hymnal website, I finally uploaded some new hymn sheet music! This week I made an arrangement of the hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” with the tune ST. PETERSBURG. Most of us know the version of this hymn that uses the SOLID ROCK tune (This hymn is arranged in the Dulcimer Hymnal: Volume 1). It’s a very familiar hymn in most churches. Many hymnals have usually have two versions of this hymn (Using both tunes, same words). I thought we might want to check out the other version on the dulcimer. Hope you enjoy!

God bless,

-Ben

Hello Everyone,

            This week we are going to look another Lenten Hymn called "Behold, the Dying Savior". There is not much information about this hymn online or any of the books I own, but Daniel S. Warner was a well known poet around the turn of the twentieth century. He wrote many hymns and Christian poems. I hope you all take the time this week to prepare your hearts for Easter. Mediate and pray during this time within the year. I hope you all enjoy the arrangement and I'll join you all again next week!

God bless,

-Ben

Hello everyone,

        As many of you know, Lent is upon us and I haven’t added one Lenten hymn to my site. This week I’ve added a hymn that just recently became a part of my repertoire. “Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted” has amazing lyrics and a haunting melody.  I’ve lowered the key signature so it’s easier to sing. I hope you enjoy this Lenten hymn throughout the rest of March and beyond.

       This week's video of this arrangement focus's on chord changes and phrasing. It is important to have certain notes heard more than others when you are playing the dulcimer. Much like a pianoist, we also play many notes at teh same time, but we want the notes within the melody to be very dominant even when you are playing full chords. Come check out the video!

God bless,

-Ben

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
’Tis a true and faithful Word.

Hello everyone,

This week’s hymn is called “Wonderful Words of Life”. It’s a familiar hymn to some of us, but if you don’t know it, play this arrangement a couple times; It might become a favorite of yours too!

As we are in the time of Lent, would suggest we all mediate on the words within scripture more diligently and over the hymn texts we sing every week we pass by so quickly. I believe the church year is beautiful, yet if all we do in the time of lent is give up a worldly possession or vice; I think we missed the big idea and we are only going skin deep. Christ gave up everything, not chocolate or TV, and took all of our sin upon himself on the cross. Let us think of the enormity of this claim! Lent is a time of sorrow and celebration. Think of the sins you had died to through the strength that God has given to you, think of the sins you still commit. This is a time to be sorrowful for the sins we hold dear, yet celebrate what God has done in our lives already!
This week’s Hymn text is below. With the season of lent in mind, mediate over these words.

1.
Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.

Refrain
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

2
Christ, the blessed One, gives to all wonderful words of life;
Sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life;
All so freely given, wooing us to heaven.

3
Sweetly echo the Gospel call, wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify us forever.


Philip Bliss wrote both the words and music to this wonderful hymn. He grew up in Pennsylvania in the 1840’s and left home at the young age of ten to make a living for himself. Although he worked in the lumber yards and the pay was small, he also was a regular at Methodist camp meetings and revivals because of his strong Christian upbringing. Education was very important to him, so in-between the time he was at church or work, he found time to study and attend school. When he was about eighteen years of age he had already completed the requirements for being a certified teacher and he took a job as a schoolmaster.

“From that point, Bliss' path began to cross with many of the best known Christian evangelists, hymn writers, and composers of his time. He received voice instruction from J.G. Towner and guidance from William B. Bradbury. He met D.L. Moody during a revival in Chicago, and was invited by Moody to become his music director. Bliss turned the offer down, and Moody teamed up with Ira Sankey instead. In the years that followed, Bliss would combine with Sankey to prepare many hymns and hymn collections. A month before his untimely death at the age of 38, Bliss was approached by Horatio Spafford, the writer of It Is Well With My Soul. At Spafford's request, Bliss composed the tune for that famous hymn.” (http://www.hymnsite.com/lection/cep5.htm)

Philip Bliss achieved so much in his lifetime yet it was by the grace of God that he was able to do what he did. I like to always find stories like this in my own generation, because God works in so many lives and through them He impacts so many other lives. I hope you enjoy this week’s arrangement. If you have any hymn requests for future weeks please tell me! I’ll see you all next week.

God bless,

-Ben

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhz6XfpGDlI

Sheet Music

http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello Everyone,

             This week we are going to look at a very familiar song; “Kum ba Yah”. It is an African-American spiritual song that was written in the 1930s. It gained most of its popularity in the 1960’s as folk sings like Joan Baez sang it. Today, most of us know “Kum ba yah” as the most likely song to be played by the guy who brought a guitar to the camp fire.

            There are two stories of the origin of the Hymn. The first story began in the 1920’s when a group called the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals collected a song on the west coast of  South Carolina that resembles the “kum ba yah” we sing today. “Come be yah” was the songs name and it sung in “Gullah” (A Creole language that mixed was mixed with Hebrew and pidgin). Between 1926 and 1928 four songs we recorded with the refrain “Come by yah” attached to them.

             The second origin story began in 1936, as a man named Reverend Marvin V. Frey claimed he was inspired to write the hymn after hearing a prayer that was delivered by "Mother Duffin" (who was a storefront evangelist in Portland, Oregon). Frey eventually published the hymn in 1936. but didn’t change the name of the hymn to “Kum ba yah” till 1936 when he hear that a missionary family had sung his song in Africa, but changed the words for the African locals.

            The second story was the long standing answer to “who wrote kum ba yah???” for decades. The fact that recordings of this hymn were made two decades before Frey even changed the name can’t be ignored, and completely contradict his story.  I hope you all enjoy the arrangement of this familiar hymn and I’ll see you next week!

God bless,

-Ben

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l_NZGdf_Y8

Sheet Music

http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello everyone,

I want to apologize for not updating my site on Monday, as I usually do. I think I caught a cold over the weekend. Since I had some extra time at home, I remained busy and this week I am hosting two new tunes on my site; “Leaning on the Arms of Jesus” and “The Lambs are Crying Out” (Canaan Hymn #163). One is a hymn favorite for many people in the United States and the other is a popular hymn to millions of underground Christians in China.

“The Lambs are Crying Out” is the first “drown” style hymn I’ve ever uploaded onto my site and I doubt it will be the last. The original harmony probably sounds nothing like a dulcimer drown, but the text lends itself to that sound. The drown of a dulcimer can be a powerful sound, and as this hymn calls Christians to get up and serve and “not hold back the gifts the Lord gives us”, what better way to play this hymn! Below is a sound file of Xiao Min (The Hymn’s writer) singing this hymn into a small hand-held recorder. If you want more information about the Canaan Hymns, go to canaanhymns. org for free videos, music and records of the hymns that have blessed China so much.

God bless,

-Ben


"Leaning on the Arms of Jesus"

Sheet Music
http://thedulcimerh ymnal.com/ dulcimer- sheet-music



"The Lambs are Crying Out"

Sheet Music
http://thedulcimerh ymnal.com/ dulcimer- sheet-music

Original Recording of Xiao Min singing the Hymn
http://thedulcimerh ymnal.com/ resources/ media/xm163. mp3

Hello everyone,

      I wanted to apologize for not updating my site on Monday, as I usually do. I think I caught a cold over the weekend. Since I had some extra time at home, I remained busy and this week I am hosting two new tunes on my site; “Leaning on the Arms of Jesus” and “The Lambs are Crying Out” (Canaan Hymn #163). One is a hymn favorite for many people in the United States and the other is a popular hymn to millions of underground Christians in China.

    “The Lambs are Crying Out” is the first “drown” style hymn I’ve ever uploaded onto my site and I doubt it will be the last. The original harmony probably sounds nothing like a dulcimer drown, but the text lends itself to that sound. The drown of a dulcimer can be a powerful sound, and as this hymn calls Christians to get up and serve and “not hold back the gifts the Lord gives us”, what better way to play this hymn! Below is a sound file of Xiao Min (The Hymn’s writer) singing this hymn into a small handheld recorder. If you want more information about the Canaan Hymns, go to canaanhymns.org for free videos, music and records of the hymns that have blessed China so much.

God bless,

-Ben

"Leaning on the Arms of Jesus"

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK8BEDSqzYg

Sheet Music
http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music


"The Lambs are Crying Out"


Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuCuMdpDAGU

Sheet Music
http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music


Original Recording of Xiao Min singing the Hymn
http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/resources/media/xm163.mp3

Hello Everyone,

     This week we are going to look at Psalm 31. I have written a new melody for the text that can be found in any metrical Psalter. A metrical Psalter? Let me explain. When you read the book of Psalms, you can clearly see that the poetry doesn't rhyme and isn't like the poetry that is written today. Psalters that have been made since the Geneva and Scottish Psalters centuries ago have a text that rhythms because it has been re-written to fit within a poetic meter that poets use for songs or hymns. That's what a metrical psalm is; a psalm text that has been re-written for the purpose of fitting the words into a specific meter.

     This hymn is 6/8, much like “Farther Along” (Last week’s video), so if you need some help with strumming, be sure to look at last week’s video to get some tips on strumming in 6/8. Hope you all enjoy the arrangement and I’ll see you next week!

God bless,

-Ben

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OpodzcU1AI

Sheet Music

http://www.thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

This Week’s hymn is a southern gospel hymn called “Farther Along”. The writer Rev. W. A. Fletcher made this song known just by being in the right place at the right time. Fletcher was travelling by train to the Indian Territories as a missionary. Fletcher’s wife was expecting a child very soon and he felt depressed he probably wouldn't be present for the occasion. Fletcher began to write some hymn lyrics to calm himself down on the train and to reflect on his trip’s purpose. Sitting next to him on the train was J. R. Baxter, a gospel music promoter who was quite taken with the lyrics that Fletcher was writing and offered him $2.00 for them. Mr. Baxter subsequently had them put to music and the song has been quite popular in the gospel music arena ever since.

I've been playing and reading China's "Canaan Hymns" lately, and this hymn reminded me of the words that Xiao Min (The Hymns' writer) wrote about being in prison. Her whole church in China was brought to prison for worshiping God. The prisoners asked "Why are you here, what have you done wrong?". Xio Min's church members took turns fasting and praying within the prison and even evangelized to some of the prisoners. Eventually they were set free. This hymn talks about believers being punished, yet people that are evil in this world are rewarded and are comfortable. Life is for Christ and life is in Christ. True comfort comes from the love of God. If we seek it come somewhere else, the water will always run dry and we'll have to constantly walk back and get more. With God, we are fulfilled. Hope you all enjoy the Hymn this week!

God bless,

-Ben

Sheet music

http://www.thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello everyone,

                  This week's free dulcimer hymn arrangement isn't a hymn arrangement at all! I arranged Psalm 89 for the dulcimer this week. Before last week I never heard this tune, but I find it catching and of course I love the words. This tune is named "New Jerusalem" and can be found in most of the new Psalters today. I posted a small overview of how to play the psalm on Youtube and slower tempoed play along video will be added to Youtube shortly. I just wanted to say thank you for all the feed back and your shared love for hymns and psalms. I'll see you all next week!

God bless, 

-Ben

Sheet music (begginer and intermediate)

http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello everyone,

I'm hosting a video on Youtube.com called "From the Hymnal to your Dulcimer!" There are two parts to the video. The first one shows you have to play "O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" and the second is a play along video. Hope you all enjoy.

God bless,

-Ben


Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwRfq-41N68

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BywOu1F-UfE

Sheet Music Page
http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello Dulcimerites!

            How are you? Here in the Chicagoland area, we are in the middle of a small snow storm. Let's just say I'll be in the house for a while today. This week's dulcimer hymn arrangement is of the hymn "O the deep deep love of Jesus". I must say, this hymn is fun to play on the dulcimer, and because of that I've found a new love for this hymn. With this arrangement (and any of my arrangements) it's easy to sing along with. The original key was F minor, and I brought it down to E minor. I Hope you all enjoy the arrangement. Below is a link to a great devotional and story about this week's hymn.

God bless

-Ben

Site

www.TheDulcimerHymnal.com

Sheet Music

http://www.thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Devotional and Hymn Story

http://www.songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/o-the-deep-deep-love-of-jesus

Hello everyone,

Hope you had a great week. This week’s free dulcimer arrangement is of a hymn that was sung in a movie that won two Academy Awards in 1984 called “Places in the Heart”. The Hymn is called “In the Garden”. The hymn text is about Mary finding Jesus in the garden

She (Mary) whispers, “If thou hast borne him hence”… “He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” Just one word from his lips, and forgotten the heartaches, the long dreary hours….all the past blotted out in the presence of the Living Present and the Eternal Future.

I hope you all enjoy this week’s arrangement and I’ll see you again next Monday!

God bless,

-Ben

http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello Everyone,

          Besides writing hymn arrangements and writing my books, I enjoy playing old American folk songs on my dulcimer. I added an arrangement of "Ellen Bayne" to my tab and sheet msic page because Stephen Foster is one of my favorite American composers. This piece of music was written in 1854. Hope you all enjoy the arrangement!

God bless,

-Ben

http://thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music

Hello everyone!

             I hope you all had a great week. This week's free dulcimer hymn arrangement is of the hymn "Pass me not o gentle Savior." This is a favorite hymn for many of us because of it's meaningful words and beautiful melody. This is another popular hymn written by Fanny Crosby and after searching for stories about this hymn and it' impact I ran into one story repeatedly (See below for the story). I hope you all enjoy this arrangement and I'll see you again next week with another arrangement.

God bless,

-Ben

As earnest Christian pastor told of a young man about whom he had long felt much anxiety, as he had seemed so unconcerned about his soul, and was, in reality, a real cause of disturbance and interruption in classes for other young men. Meeting him one day, the loving pastor sought once more to influence him, urging, “We want you for Christ and his service.” There was a certain change in his manner which did not escape the eye of the prayerful watcher for souls, and—lacking time to do more—he seized the opportunity to secure the presence of his young friend at a Christian Endeavor meeting soon to be held. True to his promise he was there. When an opportunity was given for some of the young men to choose a song, it was seen that he was urging his companion to select some particular hymn. The other, yielding to his request, asked if the hymn, “Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,” might be sung; and both young men joined in the singing with evident interest and heartiness. Later in the evening it was requested that all who were definitely on the Lord’s side would confess their allegiance by standing. Whereupon the one over whom the heart of the pastor was specially yearning rose at once, and with decision.

“Tell me about your conversion,” the thankful pastor requested at the close of the meeting, when hands were clasped in glad, brotherly welcome and recognition.

“Oh, yes,” assented the other. “It was all through that hymn we have just sung. I was working on the canal at G–, and there was a meeting being held at the Mariner’s Chapel, nearby. The words floated out over the water, and from the tug where I was working I could hear them plainly enough. When they were just going to sing those lines—‘While on others Thou are calling, Do not pass me by!’ a great fear came over me, and I thought, ‘Oh, if the Lord were to pass me by, how terrible it would be!’ Then and there, on the tug, I cried out, ‘O Lord, do not pass me by.’ And”—with a bright smile—“he didn’t pass

Hello Everyone!

            It's been awhile since I've added a new hymn, but I really needed a long personal break. This week's hymn is a hymn I found over the Christmas break called "Be Still". This hymn shouldn't be mistaken or the hymn "Be Still, My Soul" (Which is one of my fav's). Hope you enjoy this week's arrangement.

God bless,

-Ben

Hello Everyone,
         

          Another Week of Advent and yet another Dulcimer arrangement of a Advent hymn. This week's arrangement is of "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence." This favorite hymn for many of us was originally a Greek hymn sung by early Christians and today is set to a medieval French folk melody. Of course in the last centuries musicians have put new chords and harmonies to the original melody. I hope you all enjoy the arrangement and have a great Advent season!

God bless,

-Ben

"Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand."

Hello everyone!

           I finally got around to putting some more MP3's on the free music page. Two duets were added;"In the Sweet By and By" and "Near the Cross." The first one was recorded with two dulcimers as a duet (as it was written), but the melody ducimer keeps a rhythmic bass throughout the hymn. I also recorded it in a way that the First part is heard in the left ear and the second is in the right. It sounds pretty cool. The other is "Near the Cross." I went with a completely different playing style with this one; picking. It's a bit of a lighter sound, but i hope you enjoy.

The last MP3 added was this week's Hymn "We Gather Together." I hope you all gather together with family and friends today as we celebrate thanksgiving. I'll see you all later!

God bless,

-Ben

http://www.thedulcimerhymnal.com/dulcimer-sheet-music