Learning a true American original in Campton Hills
Posted April 02, 2017 1:00 am
Dona Benkert of the Folk-Lore Center music school in Naperville has been teaching people to play the dulcimer for 30 years.
On Sunday, she brought her talents to the Garfield Farm Museum in Campton Hills for a Hands-On Dulcimer Workshop.
Six students from DuPage and Kane counties paid $25 each for a two-hour class to learn some of the basic skills needed to play the mountain dulcimer - considered by some as the only true American musical instrument - at the 1800s farm house.
While some of the class had never played an instrument before, some have dabbled with the dulcimer, and others were like Allison Buttoner of Naperville, a music teacher interested in expanding her musical skill set.
Allison Buttoner, right, of Naperville participates Sunday in the Garfield Farm Museum's Hands-On Dulcimer Workshop. A music teacher from Naperville, Buttoner took the class to expand her skill set.
Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
Above, Dona Benkert of Naperville teaches Sunday in the Garfield Farm Museum's Hands-On Dulcimer Workshop. Benkert has been teaching the dulcimer for three decades.
photos by Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
At right, Norman Walzer of DeKalb and Michelle Van de Water of Hampshire learn to play the dulcimer Sunday during the Garfield Farm Museum's Hands-On Dulcimer Workshop.
Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
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