22 • Dulcimer Players News
lorinda Jones y. musical experiences began when I was a little girl playing gospel piano at church fo r my dad, who was a Baptist minister. I followed him to the small churches th roughout the Cumberland region of Kentucky and Tennessee, playing wonderful o ld-time gospel music, with much of it based on the "shape note" traditions he taught me. Ilearned class ical methods in high school, where I played oboe, and at the Unive rsity of Kentucky, where I continued to study the oboe while I earned a degree in education. I was introduced to the mountain dulcime r through my fi rst job as an e lementary music teache r. I atte nded an Orff-Schulwe rk Confe re nce, where I learned the basics from David Cross, who also taught us to ma ke our own cardboard d ulcimers. Right away I was hooked, since the sound of the dulcime r struck a famil iar chord that reached back to that early childhood. I discovered Kentucky Music Week and the State Park Festivals, which offe red dulcime r workshops and introduced me to local dulcimer builder/playe rs like Warren May and Home r Led fo rd. My students loved the dulcimer, and in some part its effect on them led me to enroll at Tennessee Tech Unive rsity and pursue certification as a Music The rapist. While in Tennessee, I spe nt some time with the Knoxville Dulcimer Club. It was such fu n that I decided to start a dulcimer club in my local area. I offered dulcimer classes at the community college and the Heartland Dulcime r Club in Elizabethtown was formed. Th rough continuing classes and fes ti-
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vals, the club continues to grow. As a music therapist, I provide services to adult patients with
psychiatric disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and individuals with che mical depe nde ncy. I also work with children having developmental disabilities, especially that of autism. The dulcimer has proved an invaluable tool fo r increasing fi ne motor skills and attention spans, improving eye/hand coordination,
on the strings and has brought many a smile to a depressed or withdrawn patient. The du lcimer, for me, has been the root of a widely branching tree of rewarding experiences. It is a part of almost every day, my work, play, and socializing. Teaching others to play led me to publish two instructional books. Writing arrangements for our club led to the publication of th ree more books. Exposure to traditional music set me on a path to learn other traditional instruments including the Celtic harp, autoharp, tin whistle, and bowed psaltery. All of these have led to my most recent and rewarding accomplishments, two CDs, Night Cap and A Midwinter's Feast, and a th ird recording is on the way. Playing in a Celtic chamber folk group continues to expand my musical repertoire. I first learned to play "The Irish Lamentation" on the harp, but I fo und the lyrical melody also works well on the mountain dulcimer. 0
Lorinda Jones, PO Box 123, Rineyville KY 40162 502/862-9747 -Iosnotes@ne.infi. net
encouraging appropriate interactions, and introducing new
leisure skills. My courting dulcimer has had hund reds of hands
OAD Tuning Andante J= 80
Irish Lamentation
Irish Traditional Arrangement, 1998 Lorinda Jones
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