A Dulcimer for Barter 2000

Some twenty-five years ago, when I was big into making quilts, a friend brought some quilts blocks to me and asked what she had to do to put the blocks together.  Jane and Chet belonged to an Air Stream Trailer Club and ladies in the club had each made a block for the quilt.  I went into explicit details explaining the job to be done.  I was amazed when a year later, in the early fall Jane returned with the same blocks in the same condition and asked how much I would charge to make the quilt.  Well, I knew her husband was a woodworking person and that they spent their winters in a Florida camp with a topnotch wood working shop. I also knew he had made a dulcimer or two.  So I set my price for making the quilt at a dulcimer.  This is what we country hoosiers call “bartering.”  It’s actually the same thing as when my mother used to trade butter and eggs to the peddler for whatever she needed.

When spring came and the folks returned to Marietta, where we all lived at the time, the quilt was ready for delivery and I received a beautiful handmade dulcimer, complete with hand made tuning pegs.  It has the authentic cut out hearts etc.  Supposedly hearts are on dulcimers because they were used to play romantic songs in olden days.  In case you are not familiar with a dulcimer, it’s a simple string musical instrument which rests on the lap to be played.  It’s an Appalachian Mountain instrument which was has a drone sound and was made even before pianos.  Mine has four strings; however, some have three.  I use a noter (a piece of small wooden dowel) in my left hand and a pick in the right hand.  I never learned to chord, but good dulcimer players can do both.  The dulcimer is an instrument that should have singing along with it.  The sound is a drone -somewhat mournful – similar to bagpipes.  Some dulcimers are fish shaped – fish being a Christian symbol; however, mine has an hour glass shape, which is the shape of a lady.

Dulcimer

Now these folks thought I would just hang my new toy on the wall to admire, but they were wrong.  I was determined to learn to play it – although not very well.  There was a renowned mountain music person living in Marietta at the time and I took a one-day workshop from her and learned how to tune it and just a little about playing and singing simple songs.  I attended several dulcimer get togethers and learned a little more.  A blind lady, who played, would come to visit – I would cook for she and her husband and she would help me with the difficult task of making music.  Once I made a dulcimer case, using quilting fabric, for us both and she was so appreciative.  I would sit for hours on the patio of our Marietta home and try over and over to make some progress.  I wore shorts at the time and it was in the summer time – the back of the dulcimer has a little damage received from the dulcimer lying on the damp lap, but I enjoyed trying to play.

I played at the Marietta Garden Clubs quilt show one time and one of the songs I played and sung was Go Tell Aunt Rhody Her Old Gray Goose is Dead.  After the show closed, a very prominent Marietta Lady came to me and asked that I play and sing the Aunt Rhody song again.  When I finished and looked up at her, she had tears in her eyes, remarking: “That was Mama’s song.”  It seems her mama was a doll maker and loved the Aunt  Rhody song.  The next week this lady called and wanted to come to visit.  She brought me one of “Mama’s dolls” and an old quilt that had belonged to her mother. She said, “I knew when I heard you singing mama’s song you had to have one of her dolls.”  It was a very touching visit, to say the least.  Her mother had poured and then painted the “china” head, arms, hands, legs and feet and then using fabric made the body of the doll and then put the parts together.  It is one of my most cherished possessions even today.

Since my move to Alabama, I’ve played the dulcimer many times for children’s programs at libraries, schools, etc.  I used to get lots of enjoyment from the dulcimer, but for several years now its been hanging on the wall in my den.  I did visit a dulcimer club in Boaz once, but couldn’t get my instrument in tune with theirs and they suggested that I have metal tuning pegs put on my dulcimer.  No way!!  I wouldn’t alter this instrument for the world, so this was my last visit there.  I threaten to take the instrument down and strum it again – just for my own enjoyment.  Perhaps I’ll do that when I get some of these other jobs caught up.  Ha!  Anyway this is how it is with my style of country living.