Joyful Strings dulcimer group plays uplifting music for community members, elderly

The mountain dulcimer is a deceptively simple-looking instrument. Only about three feet long from tip to tip, with three strings and a neck full of frets, almost like a cross between a violin and mandolin, it doesn't seem like much.

That is, until the musician takes it up.

Joyful Strings, a group made up mostly of women, meets twice monthly to practice "whether we need it or not," says group leader Rose Mary Oxley, laughing.

There are about 10 members altogether, Oxley says, and usually about five will perform together, depending on who's available.

The group has performed at the Red House Interpretive Center in Cape Girardeau, the Lutheran Home, in Jackson at the Cape Girardeau County History Center, and several other venues.

A quote attributed to Old Joe Clark in 1892 is displayed on shirts worn by members of the Joyful Strings who played on the porch of the Red House Interpretive Center on June 4, 2017 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

"We play different places but mainly for fun and because we like doing it," Oxley says. The mountain dulcimer is the only folk instrument native to the United States, Oxley says, and grew out of the musical tradition of Appalachia.

There are several different kinds of music the group plays.

"We often play old fiddle tunes and music original to the instrument," Oxley says.

Other instruments were inherited from Europe and other places, and while the mountain dulcimer is somewhat similar to a German instrument called a zither, "this instrument originated in the Appalachian Mountains," Oxley says.

The group started in about 2009, and has added and lost members as the years have gone on, says member Gail Crader.

Cutline-Body Copy:Members of the Joyful Strings dulcimer group, from right, include Shirley Raines, Marj Suedekum, Rose Mary Oxley, Deb Beussink, Nancy Dougherty and Sheryl Dunavan, who gathered on the porch of the Red House Interpretive Center on June 4 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

The mountain dulcimer is easy to learn, Oxley says, and can be as complex as the player wants.

"There are only three strings: a high D, an A, and a low D," she says, demonstrating.

"The left hand does all the work," says member Marge Suedekum, who happens to be left-handed, but decided not to re-string her dulcimer to play left-handed.

"I thought, 'I am not going to do that, I'll play it like everybody else,'" Suedekum says. "It's such an easy instrument."

Oxley says because the instrument is held on the player's lap, it's easier to see what's happening. "You play with one finger," she says, "then move your other finger along the frets and can strum across all three strings but only play the top string -- really there are all different ways to play, from only one finger all the way up to harmonizing, chords, and from there you can get as complicated as you want. Start out very simply and add more as you go along," Oxley says.

Cutline-Body Copy:Dulcimer pickin' by the Joyful Strings at the Red House Interpretive Center on June 4 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

"It's very simple to play, and it's lots of fun," says Suedekum. "You don't have to read music. We play by numbers, tablature showing numbered frets."

Member Shirley Raines says she feels the dulcimer group has been a real blessing to her. "I look forward to the fellowship, to keeping my mind active," she says, and the friendship besides.

Suedekum says her favorite songs to play are gospel standards such as "I've Got Peace Like a River," "I'll Fly Away" and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."

Member Crader says she thinks her greatest enjoyment is playing for Alzheimer's patients. "They come in very quiet, peaceful, and then we start to play songs like 'Skip to My Lou,' they're patting their foot, then singing the words. When we do that, we know we've tapped into something greater than we are," she says.

"When they hear our music, and we're not the best, we know that, but we're touching someone who loves music and doesn't have the music in them anymore," Crader adds. "They're just sweet, and the joy of sharing our music with them, it can be overwhelming at times."

Sheryl Dunavan plays an Irish penny whistle with the Joyful Strings at the Red House Interpretive Center on June 4, 2017 in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

Crader says they play a lot of different venues, and each audience has its own personality, but "I think I like playing for those who don't have the opportunity to sing very much anymore," she says.

For her part, Oxley says she loves getting together and performing, especially at retirement homes. "We play old-time songs everyone knows, and it's inspiring to look out and see people in the audience singing with us and smiling, and sometimes you'll see people sitting in wheelchairs who look like they're half asleep, but we start playing and before you know it they're singing along, things they knew back in grade school, we kind of specialize," she says. "We just have fun."

"When we play, we try to cover a little bit of all different kinds of music," Suedekum says. "My favorite is gospel and hymns." She says it can really be prayer time, as it's very spiritual music. "It just does something for your soul. Happy and joyful. Uplifting music," Suedekum says.