~ FAQs (nuts & bolts)~

• Meetings are held the first and third Thursday of each month. Check the calendar!

• We meet at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 30650 Six Mile Rd, Livonia Mi.

• Regular meeting is from 7-9pm, with snacks at 8:30pm. After hours is 9-10pm. Often we hold classes on special topics before the regular meeting from 6:15-7pm.

• After hours is a jam held after the regular meeting. 

• In this jam we explore new music, more difficult music, anything the group wants to play.

• This session is informal and group led.

• Membership is $30 the first year, and $25 thereafter. If you pay via PayPal/Venmo, add $2.

• Yes in the hopes of holding the jam together, we amplify the bass, a lead dulcimer and the jam leader.

• During 'Variety Nights' we amplify the performers

• During performances, we amplify the jam leader as needed.

• Do you have experience with sound systems? Let us know - we could use help

• Great! the hammered dulcimer is very similar to a piano and alot more portable. There are lots of resources available to learn. Here are some from the Original Dulcimer Players club

• We have a library of lesson videos on YouTube. Search for #SilverStringsLessons

• We welcome all musicians from the beginner learners to those working on the 3rd or 4th instrument.. 

• We come for the music, and stay for the fun, friends and fellowship!

• A pop-up jam is an informal jam hosted by a volunteer at their house or a park. The jams are usually weather dependent. 

• No signups or comittments. Just come. Watch your emails for cancellations if the weather is iffy.

• Every month that has a 5th Thursday is designated to be a 'Variety Night' We have pizza and salad, and then various groups and individuals signup to perform their acts. 

• We get singers, poets, comedians. Our small groups sometimes play - The Ukes, Sweet 'N Psalteries, or Mountaineers, or after hours. We have had nose flutes, and poi balls with a drum. Anything goes!

• Camping is much more fun with friends! Reservations will start in March. Campout is in June. See the calendar for exact dates.

• Contact our VP of Programs to reserve your spot. Or come as a daily visitor. 

• We will be at Groveland Oaks County Park (14555 Dixie Hwy. Holly, MI), We have 30 sites. Each campsite has 30A electric, and there are 4 water faucets on the inner circle. (Hose splitters are not permitted in the park) Each site can have 1 trailer, one tent, and 2 cars. Restrooms, showers, and laundry are walking distance away. 

• There are Yurts and cabins available to rent.

• We have jams, workshops, bird watching, hiking, mini golf, corn hole. On Saturday we have a pancake breakfast and for a dinner a Potluck. We have campfire sing alongs.

• Come for a few days, or stay the week! We play frisbee. We ride our bikes, play cards, play more music, go out to eat and enjoy the campfire.

• We allow traditional acoustic instruments. We don't allow band instruments such as woodwinds, brass,  electric pianos or electric guitars.

• The instruments we play include: hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, guitar, fiddle, banjo, bones, autoharp, harp, cajon, saw, slide guitar, string bass, marimbula, mandolin, bowed psaltery, ukulele, harmonica, recorder, irish flute, penny whistle and more.

Spirit Jam was a jam hosted on Facebook Live during shut down, and perhaps again. All past Spirit Jams have been posted to the SilverStringsClub channel SpiritJam playlist

These instructions are for an Apple device but should be similar on an Android device.

Some people use headphones, ear buds or stream the sound through their hearing aids! Whether you use your devices speakers or a Bluetooth device is up to you. Enjoy the jam! 

1. If you haven’t already loaded the Facebook App on you device or computer, do so now.To get the app, go to the“store” that supports your device, i.e. App Store, Google PlayStore or the Microsoft Store. It is a free app.

2. If you are installing FB (Facebook) for the first time, you will need to enter your email address and a password. Be sure to write this information down for future use!

3. Once logged in or on Facebook, find your “News Feed” button and press it. Do it again just to make sure you are where you need to be. Make sure you do this so you will be at the top of the feed and not in someone’s profile or the middle of the feed. This will ensure that your “Search” searches all of FB for the Spirit Jam.

4. Find the “Search Facebook” bar. On the Apple device, it is at the top middle of the screen. Enter these exact words: “Spirit Jam-SSDS” and press Search on your keyboard. Do not enter the quotes on the search bar.

5. On the Apple device, you will see all the results for Spirit Jam-SSDS. The group SpiritJam-SSDS page should be at the top of your results. It says “Group 283 Members”. Press on this result. We are at 283 members at the time of this document creation, so it could be a higher number when you join or continue to the group page.

6. This will take you to the Public Group Page entitled “Spirit Jam-SSDS”. If you are not a member of this group yet, press the JOIN button. The Spirit Jam Admins will be checking frequently to approve new members, set up your instrument, playlist and device 5-10 minutes before 7pm. Keep refreshing the page at 6:58pm to 7:00pm until you see the Spirit Jam hosts. On the Apple device, refresh the page by pulling down from top to bottom. The Spirit Jam Leaders will be turning on their camera 1-2 minutes before 7pm to give us a chance to find the broadcast and prepare for the jam.

The music the club plays is an eclectic mix of traditional, Celtic and folk music, even some classical pieces. To get our music, just join us! Membership includes access to our 300+ library of tunes formatted for consistency and ease of playing. With chords! New tunes are added all the time.

• Our music is kept in a drop-box folder that you will be given access too after you join.

• Our music contains the melody and chords. As traditional players, you may 'embellish' the melody with ornamentation or explore alternate harmonies or styles of playing as you wish. 

• We usually play the tune a minimum of 3 times thru, unless someone yells out 'one more time!'

Apps are a great way to learn a tune by ear, or if you read music, to keep yourself on tempo and that tendency to speed in check. 

• Go to your computer or device’s browser and enter the following: www.dropbox.com/basic 

• Click on Sign Up forFree and follow the on screen directions tocreateyour account. Write down your email address and password that you will use for Dropbox!

• Go to your personal email and look for an email from silverstrings.webmaster@gmail.com. If it is not in your in box, be sure to check your spam box.

• In the email Dropbox invitation, click on the link to the SharedFolder and follow any other on screen directions. During this step the sheet music and other files will load into your Dropbox account.

• Go to your newly created Dropbox account and open each shared folder to make sure the content has been loaded.

UnrealBook is one of the several tablet apps that our members use to keep their music library. The following are instructions in how to load SSDS music from Dropbox and into unrealBook.

1. Log into your Dropbox account on your iPad. You may already be logged in. Check to make sure you can see the SSDS sheet music folders and the sheet music in the folders

2. OpenunRealBook on iPad.

3. Tap on the center of the screen. This is the “secret” spot as it makes a menu baron at the top of the screen. REMEMBER this! Try it several times until it is etched in your memory! It says icons ofSongs, Go-Do, dB, Circle, Pencil, Box with arrow and Gear. See it???

4. Turn the menu bar on. Tap on Box with Arrow. It displays an Action menu.

5. Choose Dropbox-Remote Files.

6. A Dropbox screen is displayed. Note the Menu Bar at top of screen. Press the HOME box. You may already be at Home but press it anyways to make sure. NOTE:If this does not display your Dropbox folders, you may need to Logout of Dropbox and Log back in Dropbox. Top right corner of screen. unRealbook remembers your password if you have accessed Dropbox before. If this is your first time doing this, you will be asked to enter your password to Dropbox. You may have to repeat Steps 4 and 5 several times until you see your Dropbox folders.

7. You should now see your Dropbox folders. You have 2GB free space so you canuse it for other personal files.

8. Press on Silver Strings Sheet Music folder. It will display all the sheet music files in the shared folder.

9. Press on Get New and unRealbook for transfer sheet music files that you don’t have into unRealbook. The screen will display the progress and show music being loaded.

10. When all new sheet music has been loaded, unRealbook will display Finished Downloading. Press OK.

11. Press Close at the top left of the screen to return to unRealbook

MobileSheets is one of the several tablet apps that our members use to keep their music library. The following are instructions in how to load SSDS music from Dropbox and into MobileSheets. 

1. Accept the Invitation from Dropbox: First, accept the Dropbox invitation to the new sheet music folder.

2. Open MobileSheets & Go to Settings: Tap the three dots for the menu, select "Settings."

3. Select Storage Settings: In the Settings menu, go to "Storage."

4. Set the MobileSheets Folder: Ensure that "Let MobileSheets Manage My Files" is checked. Below this, you'll see "Set the MobileSheets Folder." This is where you specify the local device folder MobileSheets uses. This should not need to be changed.

5. Go to Sync Settings: Back out of the Storage menu and go to the "Sync" or "Cloud Sync" settings.

6. Update the Sync Directory:

   • If a sync was already configured, it will now show an error or be pointing to the old, invalid path.

   • Choose "Sync to a folder on the cloud."

   • Select "Dropbox" as the cloud service.

   • You will be prompted to choose a folder. Navigate to and select the NEW Dropbox folder (SilverStrings/SSDS Music).

7. Initiate Sync: After setting the new folder, MobileSheets will compare the files in its library with the files in the new Dropbox folder. It is very effective at matching existing files, so it should not create duplicates. It will download any new files and flag any conflicts for you to resolve.

This process involves logging in to Dropbox for new users, and for all users, navigating to the

new Silverstrings / SSDS Music folder, and downloading any new music. It also shows you how to group the music by date uploaded to DropBox, making it easier to find the latest uploads.

How to use DropBox for forScore Users