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(Originally presented in Mel Bay’s Dulcimer Sessions – http://www.dulcimersessions.com)
Editor’s Notes: At a dulcimer festival in the early ‘80s I chanced upon a wildly happy group of
young children who were playing and showing us brightly colored mountain dulcimers they had
made. They took me over to a man named David Cross, who had showed them how to make
and play their dulcimers. I could tell we were onto something important because of the way the
children so easily became friends with these cute instruments, from the pretty music their
dulcimers made, and from how happy this experience had made the children.
Around 1984, David convinced me I would love teaching dulcimer building and playing to
elementary schoolchildren. Twenty-four years later, having taught some 19K schoolchildren with
Backyard Dulcimers, I have had great human and musical experiences and am grateful David
opened this path for me.
At a time when adults were enjoying the fruits of the Dulcimer Renaissance of the ‘60s-‘80s,
David and his new Backyard Music company brought the mountain dulcimer into schools and
music education. They are now commonly found in the hands of schoolchildren, beginning adult
players, and music educators.
To find out how this all came about, here is our interview with David Cross, owner of Backyard
Music.
Lois (DulcimerSessions.com):
Hi, David! How did you come up with the idea of a children-friendly mountain dulcimer to build?
David (David Cross, Backyard Music):
A few years after my introduction to mountain dulcimers - that’s another story - I read an article
in Dulcimer Players News by a 4th grade teacher, describing how he made cardboard dulcimers
with his students. I knew the mountain dulcimer would be the perfect instrument for children,
with its diatonic scale laid out so clearly, melodies on one string, etc. I couldn’t figure out a few
of the construction details from the article, so I headed to the workshop in the basement,
experimented a while, and came up with a fret board that would fit on cardboard panels from
the 2’ long boxes in which lunches arrived, every day, in the school in West Philadelphia, where I
was teaching 3rd grade at the time. There was a limitless supply of free cardboard! I suppose I
had the confidence to attempt this because I had under my belt the experience of assembling a
Hughes banjo kit a year before.
Lois: What was your inspiration to start Backyard Music?
David: Several things came together: The mountain dulcimer was a great instrument for
children and teaching music theory; the idea of a kit that children could put together
themselves. Plus, in 1979 I was taking a sabbatical from teaching, and I figured a little business
selling dulcimer kits might offset the lost income as I switched careers. At least, it would make
my attendance at music festivals tax deductible!
Lois: How are Backyard dulcimers and kits different from other dulcimer kits?
David: We differ from most wooden kits because our fret board is a single piece of wood, so
there is no separate scroll piece to attach. And we use corrugated cardboard for the sound box
instead of wood. This saves money of course, but - even more important - it makes assembly
very quick, safe and easy. You just paint the die-cut cardboard piece on both sides, let it dry,
fold it up, and glue the fretboard over the seam, holding the whole thing together. Even if their
schools could afford wooden kits, very few teachers would have the time to build them.
To read more from this interview with David Cross, please visit http://www.dulcimersessions.com/apr09/hornbostel.html
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Great article!
Musically,
Ms. Goodhead