I make Strumbolina stick dulcimers so everybody can feel the joy of creating music.

I've played musical instruments for a long time. I started with the trombone in elementary school, struggled with motivation to practice and eventually stopped playing. As an adult I found the banjo and ukulele and fell in love with music and I want my daughter to grow up knowing how to play a stringed instrument. After trying many different instruments, I found stick dulcimers and became so much of a fan that I learned how to make them and built a classroom set for my daughter's school. Now I want everybody to have one! They will make you smile!!

What is a “Strumbolina” stick dulcimer? It is a three-stringed instrument you play like a guitar or ukulele but it is fretted and tuned like an Appalachian Dulcimer. It is tuned to a single key. I usually tune to G (GDG). That is the top and bottom strings are a “G” note, one octave apart, and the middle string is a D. Since it is a single-key instrument, all of the notes sound good together. No stress, all fun!

I had a music teacher who explained music to me. Music, he said, is made of two things: notes and timing. Of those two, timing - by far - is the most important. The Strumbolina lets you focus on timing and rhythm by making the notes “just work”. Because of the way it is constructed, it only has notes from the key of G. That means that pretty much no matter which notes you strum, they will sound good. No worry - just play!

Playing a Strumbolina is like Planet Reebok - there are no rules. Give it a strum. Use your left index finger and press down on the lower string - the littlest one. That’s the 3rd string. Strum some more. Move your finger around. It’s all good - you’re playing a tune! I don’t know what tune it is, maybe you don’t either. It doesn’t matter - you’re doing it and it sounds great! Keep going, have fun!

Check out my YouTube channel for tutorials and songs!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHgEmF2jjVkJkwlgE1PUDlg