WARSAW — A crowd of over 50 people attended hammered dulcimer musician Ted Yoder’s concert at the Warsaw Community Public Library on Tuesday, May 30.

The Goshen based musician was propelled to notoriety last year when a Facebook Live video of him playing Tears For Fears “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” on the hammered dulcimer went viral. The video of Yoder playing the stringed instrument in his backyard racked up seven million views in 36 hours and jumped to 53 million views in four days. Yoder said the video is currently up to 94 million views and counting.

Yoder explained he first learned about the hammered dulcimer, an instrument his describes as the “grandfather of the piano,” ten years before he had the means to buy one. In 2008, he issued his debut album, Hymns, recorded in his basement. Two years later, he was declared the National Hammered Dulcimer champion.

The hammered dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument that’s played by striking the instrument’s strings with small mallet hammers. The technique to play the instrument is a combination of skills needed to play percussion, guitar and piano. When playing the instrument, Yoder looks down at 91 crisscrossing strings.

During the concert, Yoder played a variety of pieces on the hammered dulcimer, with some accompanied by singing. He played renditions of Beatles songs, original arrangements and the famed “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.”

Yoder welcomed guests to ask questions in between arrangements about the hammered dulcimer or about his career as a musician. Individuals in the crowd had many inquiries about how Yoder had learned of the instrument and about his background in music.