The Mountain Dulcimer: A Musical Possibility Box
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Jerry Rockwell |
TEDxStroudsRun
• October 2019
Here’s a relaxing and insightful introduction to the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer. Musician/craftsman Jerry Rockwell plays some soothing tunes on a mountain dulcimer he built himself. He explains his passion for designing and building fine, handcrafted dulcimers one at a time using traditional hand tools. And finally, he demonstrates a variety of playing styles and techniques, including some traditional ways and some more innovative techniques, like two-handed tapping and playing with the Ebow.
Bio: Jerry Rockwell is a musician and luthier who focuses his love of musical structure and fine woodworking on an uncommon American folk instrument, the mountain (Appalachian) dulcimer. A self-described "one-man music laboratory," he uses hand tools to build his instruments and digital tools for music publishing, recording, and streaming his performances online. During the past five decades, Jerry has played at folk festivals in England, Ireland, Iceland and around the US. He has published nine instructional tunebooks, is featured on many recordings and musical collaborations, has co-founded three dulcimer festivals, and continues to design and build custom acoustic and electric mountain dulcimers. Jerry encourages and challenges dulcimer and guitar students in workshops and online. His recent compositions explore the relaxing, meditative sounds of the electric dulcimer. Jerry’s recent tracks have found their way onto more than 120 playlists on digital streaming platforms.