Introduce Yourself!
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Hi, I'm Lisa. I love in Marquette, Upper Michigan, two blocks from Lake Superior. I enjoy playing musical instruments, mainly woodwinds until now. clarinet, recorder, Native American flute, irish penny whistle and simple, cheap bamboo flutes. I was terrible at improvising until I took up NA flute five or so years ago, I couldn't let go and just play.
I've always loved string instruments, but have been frustrated by the learning curve. I'm not a singer, and just strumming chords was boring to me, and finger picking a six string or even a ukulele was beyond my level of patience and time. I do love playing the kalimba or thumb piano, I have a small collection of those. Very easy and fun to play.
I remembered in the 80s, one of my friends got a dulcimer kit for Christmas, which she and her dad built. I vaguely remember playing it a few times, but I was too into clarinet to be interested.
Now, my musical tastes have matured, and I enjoy world music, especially Irish traditional music, slow ballads, music along those lines.
While surfing youtube, I stumbled upon the dulcimer, and knew that's what I've been looking for.
I've got a cheap cardboard dulcimer on the way to use until I find a nicer one to purchase.
I'm currently reading the forums heavily to get a grasp of what I should be looking for, as whatever I get will come in the mail. There's nothing local for sale, and I don't know any players.
I'm glad there's such an active forum to read, it's very helpful for someone in my position.
In real life, I work as a care aide for a home health and hospice company. I'm kind of the jill of all trades, I work half in the office, half in the field doing visits and training new aides. Music is necessary for me to decompress, it can be extremely stressful at work.
I have a husband, 21 yr old stepson, three rescue dogs, and take care of my 89 year old mother, though she lives alone, for now. I'm 51 years old, and my job has taught me not to wait too long to do something important to you, life can get messy really fast. This is important to me, I'm really looking forward to my dulcimer journey.
Best regards, Lisa
And.. 14? You go, girl.
