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WOODBURN, Ind. (WANE) — In Woodburn, a music store tucked away between the local post office and a salon houses a unique instrument that cannot be found just anywhere: a dulcimer.
Although the business has been around since 1968, Folkcraft Instruments has called Woodburn home since 2007.
“When Folkcraft came up for sale back in 2007, I was looking for something to expand my business — I had a company that sold sheet music — and Folkcraft had been around since 1968. It was an old company. It was very well-respected,” said Folkcraft Instruments Owner Richard Ash.
While the music store’s products have changed over the years, Folkcraft Instruments currently specializes in mountain dulcimers, a type of dulcimer that is one of the few instruments native to North America.
“A mountain dulcimer is a folk instrument from the Appalachian Mountains of the United States,” Ash said. “It is a little over 200 years old.”
While retailers such as Sweetwater and Guitar Center offer a limited selection of dulcimers, Ash said Folkcraft allows customers to have their own dulcimer custom-made from scratch while also offering a selection of standard dulcimers.
One of Ash’s favorite characteristics of the dulcimer is its simplicity, which he said comes from only having three strings and being a diatonic instrument, meaning it does not have flat or sharp notes.
“I mentioned before about the dulcimer being a piano without the black keys: you don’t have the complexities of the sharps and the flats,” Ash said. “With the notes missing, this is a very easy instrument to get started on.”
One reason Ash thinks the mountain dulcimer is not as well-known as other string instruments such as the guitar or violin is because the dulcimer has not been around for nearly as long.
Ash also partly attributed the dulcimer’s popularity to its public perception.
“I think a lot of folks think the dulcimer is some guy in overalls or an old lady in a bonnet sitting at an old-timey festival playing an old-timey song,” Ash said. “That is appropriate for the dulcimer, but it’s also an instrument that is used for contemporary music.”
In recent years, Ash said some musicians such as Bruce Hornsby and Cyndi Lauper have used dulcimers in some of their music.
“Being diatonic and missing some of the notes, they pick and choose what songs they play dulcimer versus play guitar or other instruments,” Ash said.
While the dulcimer may not be as popular as the guitar, Ash said the dulcimer community is among the most dedicated and tight-knit he has seen in the world of music.
“Community — the sense of being with others when playing our instruments — is really important to dulcimer players, more so than it is for other instruments that I’ve played,” Ash said.
Folkcraft Instruments makes an effort to have a presence as a vendor at several dulcimer festivals throughout the year where likeminded dulcimer players gather to play music and meet friends.
“People are not doing that because somebody says you have to take a class. They’re not going to these get togethers in the evening — the jams — to make music because they’re obligated. They’re doing it because it’s fun,” Ash said. “They can learn songs. They can hang out with their friends, and it never hurts to meet more dulcimer players.”
In addition to working with dulcimers, Ash has partnered with Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation for nearly 10 years on an “Intro to Ukulele” class.
“It is one of the best things you can possibly do with your life: learning to play an instrument,” Ash said. “Learning to play dulcimer is obviously my business, and teaching dulcimer and performing dulcimer [is fun], but teaching and educating people about ukulele [is] almost as good.”
The next “Intro to Ukulele” class is Saturday, May 4 at Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation’s administrative office on State Boulevard.
Those interesting in signing up for the class can do so on the department’s website.
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