Hammered Dulcimer Led Her Down Paths Unexpected

Sharon Gartley began lessons on the hammered dulcimer in 2003, and her life has since changed in unexpected ways.

I will be 55 in March. I took piano lessons for 5 years as a child but then didn’t play much at all after quitting when I was 12. In my late 30s or early 40s I began to play again and learned how to play by chords instead of just reading music. That opened up a new world for me and I began to enjoy playing piano. I wasn’t all that great at it and I didn’t know the theory behind it, but I could make music flow without struggling to get the notes “right.” It was very freeing.

Somewhere along the line I heard a man playing a hammered dulcimer at a craft fair and I fell in love with the sound and beauty of the instrument. From that point on, I had a dream in my heart of learning to play hammered dulcimer. It seemed to be an impossible dream but after many years of waiting and dreaming, I finally acquired a dulcimer in 2001.

Now I am a smart and capable person, and I knew how to play piano, so I thought I would be able to figure out how to play the dulcimer without too much trouble. Some people can, but I apparently was not one of them! At that time there weren’t a lot of resources readily available online as there are now and I really struggled with learning to play.

I finally just kind of gave up on it until I found a wonderful teacher, Mark Wade, in November 2003, and began to realize my dream of playing hammered dulcimer. Mark had just moved back to the area and had amazing credentials. He was the 1998 national hammered dulcimer champion and he also was working on his masters degree in music education.

In addition, he was raised in a bluegrass family and could play pretty much any kind of music, from written music and by ear. It didn’t matter that he was only 26 years old and I was 48, old enough to be his mother!

He has since earned his doctorate and is an assistant music professor at Denison University in Ohio, and I am still taking lessons from him. We have become good friends and he has seen me through a huge amount of fear and frustration as I have learned this new skill.

Also, I have discovered musical gifting I didn’t know I had. I’ve found I love writing arrangements. I have written arrangements for several instruments and somehow know how to do that. Also, I memorize everything I play because it’s hard to read music and play the hammered dulcimer at the same time. I never memorized anything on piano and it never even occurred to me to do any arranging prior to playing the hammered dulcimer.

It is hard work learning a new instrument at this age! I was used to being good at things and being successful, and suddenly I was neither of those things. It has been very humbling, and frustrating and maddening, and discouraging, and wonderful, and delightful and life-giving.

I tell people that God has used my hammered dulcimer adventure to work through a lot of issues in my life and it has sometimes gotten ugly! Also, since I don’t want to just learn how to play things on hammered dulcimer, but want to really understand music theory, that has been very challenging at times, like learning a new language.

It’s hard, but it’s so rewarding. I am working on chord theory and learning more about playing improvisationally. It’s not only the understanding of music I struggle with but my pride. I hate feeling stupid and messing up and I hate ‘playing without a net’ in front of my teacher.

It’s all really good for me and I have grown so much, and continue to grow. There’s still so much I want to learn and want to be able to do. I feel like we’ve finally gotten ‘me’ out of the way to the extent that I can really begin to get somewhere now. It has been quite a trek.

I play my dulcimer most every week with our worship band at church and do occasional specials. I have done a few things in the community. I want to grow in that and would love to have a group of people to perform with. I had a horrible time with stage fright for several years but have had real victory in overcoming that. I am not brimming with confidence but, hallelujah, I no longer have to deal with paralyzing fear of playing in front of people.

I am realizing a dream and I am actually amazed at how I have stuck with this. I love it and want to be playing my dulcimer until the day I die. It’s a beautiful thing. I am looking forward to continued growth as a musician and to stepping out more and more in whatever God has for me to do in this realm.

I have never named any inanimate object before, but I had a desire to name my dulcimer. I wanted to name it something that would reflect my heart and my reasons for playing. I finally decided on “Beatrice,” which means “bringer of joy.” Isn’t that a great name for a musical instrument?

Sharon Gartley
Marion, Ohio