September 2025 - "I Wonder As I Wander"
John Jacob Niles ca. 1960
After having moved to Nashville in the 1980’s, David Schnaufer began a recording project that eventually would be released as 2 separate albums on cassette tape format - “Dulcimer Deluxe” and “Dulcimer Player”, both of which were released in 1989. (In 2004, Davide released a CD called “Dulcimer Player Deluxe”, which was a combination of most of the tracks from both of those original cassette tape recordings). One of the tracks on “Dulcimer Player” was an instrumental arrangement of the Christmas hymn “I Wonder As I Wonder”, in honor of the legendary folklorist, musicologist, and dulcimer player John Jacob Niles (1892-1980).
Niles had started collecting folk songs in the Appalachian mountain region at the age of 15, and continued following that passion throughout his entire life. He also composed and performed original folksongs in that tradition. He often accompanied himself by playing dulcimers that he had built himself. Most of them were crafted with elongated shapes and extended fretboards for a sound that better suited his dramatic, high-falsetto vocal style.
In 1933 while traveling through western North Carolina, Niles happened to hear a young girl sing just a few lines of a song about the birth of Jesus. He tried to get her to share more of it, but those few lines were all she knew. He became so inspired by the haunting melody and fragment of the verse that he set out to expand them, and composed the song we know today as “I Wonder As I Wander”. He performed it for the first time at a conference at the John C. Campbell Folkschool in Brasstown, NC in 1933. Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the song being sung by Niles, accompanied by himself on dulcimer:
David usually performed this tune using D-G-D tuning, and capo’ing at the first fret, which put him in the key of Am in the Dorian mode. One of the unique aspects of his arrangement was his method of playing the first line as harmonics one time through the piece. Here’s a link to a YouTube video of David’s recording of the tune:
The arrangement presented here uses standard D-A-d tuning with no capo required, and is played in the key of Bm. You should have plenty of time to work this one up in time for the holiday season!
In music and friendship,
~Tull
As a reminder, shortly after David’s untimely passing in 2006, Deb Porter started the “Dulcimers for David” project. Its goal is to honor David’s memory and continue his vision by providing dulcimers to young people who have expressed an interest in playing but may not have a means of getting an instrument of their own. To support that effort, a number of CDs and DVDs have been produced, and 100% of the sales of those items go to support the project. (NOTE: Several of the “Dulcimers for David” products that were previously sold out are now back in stock!)
Costs related to maintaining this website to provide these monthly tabs continue to rise. If you can, please consider making a donation to help offset some of these costs. Thank you!