Up until now, if I was asked what my all-time favorite song was I would have said “Ode to Joy”.  Now I’m not sure that’s the right answer!

This past weekend at the East TN BP Gathering the comment was made that a piece of sheet music titled “Ode to Joy” was really called "Joyful, Joyful".  This raised my curiosity and I did a little research.  

Beethoven wrote his 9th and final complete symphony over a 7 year period, 1818-1824. By that time he was considered totally deaf (some…

If I was still in school and the teacher asked me what I did on my summer vacation, I'd have to tell her about Violet.

Violet is a doll I made. She is all crochet and has her own bowed psaltery. As time allows I'm planning on making her some friends. Some of her friends will play bowed psaltery and some will play other folk instruments.

I hope you like her. She was very fun to create.…

A friend of mine loves to tease and poke fun at the bowed psaltery and my playing (maybe it's more about my skills then anything else ). It's not his type of music so I get it and ultimately he is supportive of my musical endeavors.

Recently he was at the airport and heard a familiar sound wafting through the air in an underground tunnel. He looked around and saw a woman playing a bowed psaltery with a jar out for donations. He approached her and asked if her…

Our member, Jon Williams, made this comment and I think most, if not all, of us here feel this way. Jon, I hope you don't mind my quoting you.

" I am focusing on Bowed Psaltries because I can play them better, love the sound, the looks, the way it sounds like a violin in a cathedral. I have seen people shed a tear after playing Amazing Grace for the first time. I still love a well played mountain dulcimer but the bowed psaltry touches my heart. Also I can teach anyone able to breathe…

Having friends to play music with is a gift.

Some of us are lucky enough to live in an area rich with music, some of us may be in such an area and not know it and of course some of us might just be out of…

I'm here in beautiful West VIriginia at Tamarack. The practice began this morning and we've taken a break for lunch. What a fun morning trying on a few of the songs we're scheduled to perform on Sunday. It's wonderful to be surrounded by people who love music and the bowed psaltery, very good energy in the group!

We have beginners to advanced players and we're working well together, it's comfortable and there are lots and lots of smiling faces.

Tamarack itself is a beautiful…

Here is a link to a video of my music teacher and Psaltery Strings member, Dona Benkert, at the Folk-Lore Center run by Dona and her husband Dan.

Please take note of the adorable American Eskimo, Biscuit the Wonder Dog! She is a music critic for sure!

Thanks for all your patience and laughter during lessons Dona !!!…

There are a lot of wonderful festivals and folk music events in this country (except where I live) but from my perspective, never enough and there will probably never be too many. Tish and Greg Westman are adding another one this year and hoping to make it an annual event.

The 1st Annual Bowed Psaltery Symphony will take place at Tamarack in Beckley, West Va. on April 16,17 and 18. If you're not familiar with Tamarack, here's a blurb from their web site and a link for more info:…

I was sending Richard a message today and I used the term psaltrist. At that point it dawned on me that I had no idea how a psaltery player would be referred to other than as a "psaltery player".

Dictionary.com and other searches found nothing for psaltrist, psalterist, psalterer or psaltress. There were a couple casual references using psaltrist and psalterer, but nothing that leads me to believe there is a specific suffix used for…