I Knew You Were Trouble with a Dulcimer

I've liked Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" for a long time, but the pop hit version never felt right when I tried to sing it. Then somebody told me about the version she performed on her 1989 tour: Dark, intense, troubled, minor-key...begging to be adapted to the dulcimer! So ... this is Sam's version.

Though usually associated with old folk songs and tunes, the mountain dulcimer is a natural instrument for pop and rock music. In fact, I call it a more logical first stringed instrument than guitar -- with fewer strings and (usually) fewer frets, it just seems to me that there ought to be millions of kids wanting to play, if only they realized it was relevant to their music. I do these videos to inspire more people to play and listen to dulcimer music, in diverse, non-traditional styles.

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Song written by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, and Shellback. Check out Taylor's 1989 Tour version of this at    • Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble - 1...  

Technical details: Played on my Rod Matheson 3-string chromatic dulcimer, tuned DAD, played in the key of Dm. I'm running the dulcimer through a Headrush Pedalboard, using a rig that includes a wah-wah, overdrive, chorus, phaser, delay, and reverb. (Some of these are used only during parts of the song.) In addition, right after the wah is an FX loop with a Boss OC-3 to add an octave effect just to the lower strings.

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