Bringing in the Strings is a truly unique and affordable program designed to bring stringed instruments into the elementary schools. The program is designed to integrate into the basic curriculum taught in the elementary grades 1st – 6th.
Teacher Friendly
The advantage of using the dulcimer in the elementary grades is that the children can quickly become successful on the instrument. They have only 3 strings and can be played on the lap or on the floor. The numbered melody strings can be fingered with one finger or a wooden dowel noter, and the strings can be strummed with a pick, fingers, or even a feather. The children can play and sing at the same time. Paper Tune Dulcimers sound great and make a terrific teaching tool. A three-hour in-service educates teachers in the various components of the program and includes all of the necessary components to carry the program successfully into the classroom, including a Dulcimer for each teacher.
About the Bringing in the Strings Program
The basic program was designed by, David Cross, an elementary school teacher, and David Johnson, master dulcimer maker for Black Mountain Instruments from Calistoga California. Together they developed the Paper Tune Dulcimer. The body of the Paper Tune is formed from a recycled wood made into a resonant 200 pound test cardboard. The Mahogany fingerboards have nickel/silver frets and mechanical tuning machines. David Cross also created a system of numerical tabulature on the dulcimer fret board that enables even beginning students to learn how to play the instrument quickly and successfully. The songbook and instructional cassette system teaches students and teachers how to tune the dulcimer and play 50 traditional songs, introduces chords, scales, and more. We have successfully used this system to teach dulcimer to groups of children as young as four, five, and six years old.
