way to live." After making over 7,000 instruments, Ledford, according to my kid brother,
knows it all! Now over seventy years old, he is still goin' strong.
Years ago, when Ledford was only twelve or thirteen years old (my age),
he made
his first instrument, because his family was too poor to purchase a fiddle.
His first
instrument was a guitar. Well....sort of. It was more just a lard can and
some old strings.
It was original, but it didn't exactly play very well.
"Wow!" I murmured in amazement. I play one instrument, the violin, and
I might
start the flute soon. I find it hard to fit practicing the violin one hour a
day a hassle to fit
into my busy schedule. However, Ledford plays 13 instruments! Practicing 13
instruments at the minimum 30 minutes a day would be impossible. So how does
he do it?
He doesn't practice all of them on the same day. His favorite is guitar so I
figure that he
practices that one the most.
Ledford likes to be original and creative. With his instruments he is
just that.
Some of his most unusual instruments are the dulcijo, fiddlephone, dulcibro,
dulcitar, and
the wonderful musical saw! All of the dulci instruments are a cross between
two
instruments. For example, a dulcijo is a cross between a dulcimer and a
banjo. A few
years ago Ledford played "My Old Kentucky Home" for me at a Christmas Party.
I
thought it was amazing. He had a violin bow that he ran across the saw and
to make
different pitches he moved the saw up and down. How can he get the right
notes? I
always wonder. "It just takes practice," he says.
"I got where I am today by just plain hard work and luck," Homer Ledford
quoted. "I worked hard and got lucky, that's all there is to it." Now he
has a band, "The
Cabin Creek Band" and has met many interesting people from around the world.
Even so,
learning thirteen instruments, I would throw in the towel somewhere along the
way.
Ledford didn't though. He never quit. He persevered with courage.
Strings
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