Jennifer Rose grew up singing and dancing with her family in Berea, Kentucky.
While earning her BA in vocal music at Berea College, Jennifer was in the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers and Country Dancers. Since her graduation in 1992 Jennifer has worked as Entertainer at a dude ranch, taught music & dance at hundreds of schools across the US, and presented solo concerts in the US and Europe.
Jennifer’s goal is to preserve the natural integrity of Appalachian music and present it as the cultural treasure that it is.
Her educational programs are in high demand. She has published two teaching manuals, released ten recordings of Appalachian music, and is featured on KET's Toolkits for Music and Dance and the series,"Art to Heart." Jennifer is a regular faculty member for the Arts & Humanities Academies, as well as many Kentucky Arts Council programs.
"I Can Play the Appalachian Dulcimer" 5-10 day music project for grades 3 through 12
Students will learn about the origins and history of the Appalachian lap dulcimer, and how it produces sound. They will learn to play several songs on the dulcimer, using numeric notation and ear training. Before I pass out the cardboard student dulcimers that I provide, I demonstrate a song on my dulcimer and explain the difference in materials. The cardboard instruments sound amazingly good, and we discuss how sound is affected by shape and materials. Students learn correct posture for playing, whereto put their fingers, how to strum, and how to play as an ensemble. I encourage students to solo for the class when they feel relatively confident with the piece we are learning. At the end of the project we often have a performance for families and peers.
My programs are always designed to fit in with the school's curriculum and Kentucky's Core Content standards. This particular project primarily addresses the following Core Content: Structure - rhythm,tempo, melody, harmony, form, timbre, dynamics; Humanity - Appalachian and Early American folk music; Purposes - recreational and artistic expression; and Processes - improvisation, solo performance, ensemble playing, and simple notation.
I provide a letter on my letterhead to parents explaining the project, who I am, and who is funding the residency, which can be sent home with students. In the letter is a boldface invitation to attend the students' performance of the material they have learned during the project (if a performance will be given) and an invitation to families to contact me with any questions. Many schools also allow me to invite parents to stop in and watch me work with their children, which I welcome.
There is something magical about playing a musical instrument. It unlocks something in a person's soul that encourages creativity even in people who thought they had none. I love watching the students as they realize they're actually playing a song, and playing it well! They begin improvising introductions and endings, alternative rhythms and even new melodies as they tap into their creative selves. This also opens their minds to the idea that they might be good at playing other instruments if they just tried it.
Many of the songs we learn on the dulcimer in this project are historically interesting, and some have strong social statements in their lyrics. In discussing the history and meaning of the songs, we learn about how music communicates ideas. After the residency, teachers are encouraged to assign a writing project, such as "Why I'm Proud to be a Kentuckian." Within the project we often write new lyrics for a song or two that we are playing together.
This project is about accessing creativity in musical expression. Although we learn to play established songs as a group, I encourage students to figure out how to play songs they know on their own and share them with the class. I also encourage students to compose their own melodies on the dulcimer, which the class can learn. Students help me arrange the songs we are learning, with introductions, cadences, and harmonies.
This project is more than a studio class in playing the dulcimer. It is about the history of the instrument, the development of Appalachian culture, the importance of folk music, and the pleasure of playing together with other musicians. It is relevant to teachers and education because it addresses not only music curriculum but math (intervals, fret numbers, vibrations per second), social studies (Appalachian culture and history) and science (the physics of creating sound, wood as a conductor of sound). It is an in-depth look at an instrument and its culture, with the added benefit of being able to play several songs and feel confident on the instrument in performance.