Danny Shepherd
I was born and raised in Hopkinsville, KY. After high school
I attended Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN, until
being drafted into the U.S. Army. My first assignment was
with the 101st Airborne Band as a Percussionist. My next
assignment was the Armed Forces School of Music in Little
Creek, VA as a Percussion Instructor, where I gave private
and group instruction and performed in faculty ensembles.
After four years of teaching, I was assigned as a Solo
Instrumentalist with the United States Continental Army
Band at Ft. Monroe, VA. My final Army tour was with the
79th Army Band in the Republic of Panama where I served
as the Enlisted Band Leader (1st Sergeant). My military
years were filled with wonderful travel and performance
opportunities across the United States, Central and South
America.
After my Army retirement I returned to my Kentucky “roots”
and completed my Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education.
I've taught K-5 Elementary Music for the past eleven years.
About six years ago I purchased a cardboard mountain
dulcimer kit in a Fredericksburg, TX dulcimer shop. About
four years later I finally got around to pulling it out and
putting it together. The first time I played it I was “hooked”!
It wasn’t long before I began using the instrument in my
3rd-5th grade music classes.
As a Music Educator, I have the opportunity to pass on the
heritage and traditions of American music. One of my goals
is to teach children about American folk music and the
instruments used to perform it.
My book “Mountain Dulcimer for Children (and the Young At
Heart), The Color and Play Method reflects concepts I have
been teaching for the past several years in my classroom.
This method has worked very well with my 3rd – 5th grade
students and in 2008-2009 I’ll begin using it for the first time
with 2nd grade students.
My dulcimer books were designed to:
 | | Introduce children of all ages (and the young at heart) to | | | the Mountain Dulcimer
| | | Provide a simple method for learning to play the dulcimer | | | with one finger, on one string
| | | Provide immediate success and gratification from the first | | | song you learn to play
| | | Provide core rhythm concepts from the very beginning, so | | | students have a solid foundation on which to build
| | | Teach to a variety of individual learning styles:
| | | Visual (looking at graphics, text, numbers, colors, shapes, & | | | patterns)
| | | Auditory (by saying the rhythms out loud, singing the songs, | | | listening to the companion CD)
| | | Tactile/Kinesthetic (using the crayons to color the circles | | | on each page using the color guide at the bottom of the
page – reinforces, shapes, numbers, and patterns of notes
and rhythms)
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About my Cardboard Dulcimers
Limited funding for musical instruments motivated me to find
an affordable solution for providing one instrument per
student in my classes. Although I’ve purchased a few
wooden instruments, I’ve also built cardboard dulcimers
from kits to use in my classroom.
Recently, after self-publishing my books, I wanted some
means of providing a “system” or “package” for parents,
grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, and music educators,
which would give them everything they needed to start
playing the dulcimer.
This led to building more “cardboard dulcimer’s” from kits
combined with colorful fabric patterns and an art medium
originating in the 17th century (known today as
decoupage). I’m now able to offer my teaching method,
along with an attractive and affordable student level
instrument.
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