Chord Charts 

Neither the title nor the chord progression of a musical work can be protected by copyright.  That’s a very good thing because there are a limited number of chord progressions that work well. Melody lines and lyrics  are protected by copyright unless deemed to be in the public domain. 

Two sources about tunes that are copyrighted may help you decided whether you can legally perform, record and print copies without paying royalties to the copyright holder.

Public Domain Music is a good source for finding 19th century tunes that are not protected by copyright.  The data base was derived from the Library of Congress and collections at the Johns Hopkins University.

Harry Fox   is the most significant mechanical licensing, collection, and distribution agency for music publishers in the U.S. Their service, Song File, is a quick way to identify copyright holders.  If you are going to record a copyrighted tune and press 2,500 or fewer CDs, you execute a license and pay the royalty on line.  When you use this service remember that a public domain tune is NOT protected by copyright.  However, a specific arrangement may be protected.  The files in Harry Fox list both the original tunes and many arrangements and recordings. 

The chord progressions suggested  in the attachment work for many songs. Most are in dulcimer friendly keys. To use them, you’ll need to know the melody of the song, find those tones on the dulcimer, and then develop the chord support for the composition. Some of these progressions are simple. Others are pretty tough to work out. Developing some of these songs into performances will give you excellent ear training and experience as an arranger. In the end, you’ll be a much more proficient player, and your audience will love these familiar, but unexpected tunes on a dulcimer.

A VERY loose and fallible rule of thumb is that, if a tune was written before 1922, it is probably NOT protected by copyright.

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To hear samples from Said the Moon or Spring Tide on the Tump,
  Click on the images.