The Relaxing Sounds of the Mountain Dulcimer
Jerry Rockwell's Gentle and Soothing Music of the Mountain Dulcimer
I’m psyched to have my ambient electric dulcimer track Restful Mind included on this wonderful, peaceful playlist by the amazing Suzanne Doucet. I’ve been part of this anthology in a few previous years, and it is always such a joy to hear all the others!! This time around we really NEED this peace and anchoring…..
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6m5omBqEX7RkVCGF1F5qHc?si=-KJD8DMORBSRotpLOKLRAw
This playlist on Spotify has a good sampling of my recent recordings of electric and acoustic dulcimer. Most of this music is extremely relaxing and soothing: great for winding down, chilling out, meditating, or even sleeping!
If you like this playlist, I have some huge playlists on Spotify featuring some of the finest acoustic guitarists on the planet, along with some folks who play other string instruments, like harp, hammered dulcimer, and even Chapman Stick!!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4nP9Y0YtF9prGlShavLuDJ?si=8Ss904s0Skuat6V_t4fVgQ
I’ve been curating this playlist on Spotify for a few years now, and it really is one of my favorites. It started out as a very dreamy and sleepy set of tunes, and has evolved into more of a sunrise cycle — a “greet the new day” kind of vibe…..
Waking Up On Cloud Nine:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Hrlwo683AF4fuQURPJsv5?si=cRw3Jlr4TmefYHjAXg9qMg
Here are some links to my brand-new single:
This is a brand-new version of an original tune from about 1993. It is in the spirit of an Irish slow air, and it has strong modal flavoring throughout. The original recording was just solo acoustic mountain dulcimer….fingerpicking style and just some open string drone in spots. This new recording uses a few tracks of electric dulcimer, along with some ambient wash in the background. I have also added more chords: making it a bit less of a dronal texture.
Here is the link for doing a pre-save on the major streaming platforms:
I’m so psyched to have my brand new collaboration with Norwegian guitarist Tommy Berre LIVE on all the major streaming platforms!! Tommy added some soulful, expressive nylon-string guitar to my foundation of electric dulcimer:
For the last 4 or 5 months, I’ve been spending more and more time gradually building quality playlists of relaxing and meditative instrumental music on Spotify. Thanks to this platform’s Spotify For Artists program, I’ve had some success in networking with other musicians who are also building great playlists. Here I want to introduce you to the playlists that I’m personally building, and encourage you to follow them and listen:
Relaxing Acoustic Instrumentals – This one is one of my more popular playlists. It includes the wonderful guitarists Michelle Qureshi, Tommy Berre, Lance Allen, and Vin Downes. It has the wonderful hammered and mountain dulcimer of Thomsina Levy on her collaborative new album with David Darling, a master cellist who is a very popular and influential New Age artist. And we also have the stunning Chapman Stick playing of Andy Salvanos, of Adelaide, Australia! This playlist leans slightly toward the folk and Celtic influences, though there is a wide variety of music included.
Atmospheric Calm, Ambient Guitar, Dulcimer, and Chapman Stick – This one features some of the leading “post-rock” artists, like Helios, Hammock, The Echelon Effect, and Lowercase Noises, as well as great ambient guitarists Erik Wollo and Jeff Pearce.
Hypnotic, Circular, and Mesmerizing – I am a huge fan of minimalist, constantly-repeating and circular chord cycles!!! This music is positively trance-inducing, and it will often get your mind out of ruts it does not need to be in!! Here we have Tracey Chattaway, Message To Bears, The American Dollar, Clem Leek, and many more amazing masters of this circular music.
Waking Up On Cloud Nine – These are the dreamiest most sublime tunes I can find! From Parijat (my current favorite) to Meg Bowles, to Iceland’s phenomenal Olaf Arnalds, it just doesn’t get any dreamier than this!!
If you’d like to hear some of my music on Spotify, here is a link to my official “Spotify For Artists” profile:
Here is a playlist on Spotify that I’ve been slowly building for a while. It has some great acoustic guitarists, like Vin Downes, Lance Allen, Michelle Qureshi, Tommy Berre, Al Petteway, and many more, but there are also some players of Hammered Dulcimer, Mountain Dulcimer, Chapman Stick, and Harp. Many of these tunes have strong Celtic influences, or are actually traditional Irish or Scots tunes. Enjoy!
Here is a playlist on Spotify I made of some great ambient guitar and other atmospheric, relaxing sounds:
Ambient Guitar and Atmospheric Calm
I am currently taking delight in (slowly) building some big playlists on Spotify, and some even contain a few of my own electric and acoustic dulcimer tracks. If you are on Spotify, look me up and we can share our new discoveries!
At Spotify, I made a 14-tune introductory playlist for my catalog of electric and acoustic dulcimer music. This spans three full-length albums, with a shorter album, due 9/15, arriving shortly.
This is great music for relaxing, reading, studying, doing yoga, meditation, and even winding down into a deep sleep.
https://open.spotify.com/user/122820830/playlist/6m5omBqEX7RkVCGF1F5qHc?si=nn45tiyGTwCaCkisArEPOg