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@ELCBK youd probably like Darol Angers version of Grigsbys hornpipe. If you check it out the republic of strings version is what im speaking of. starts out a little jazzy but then transitions. usually that tune is in calico aeac# i belive it is. sounds similar to alit of your examples.
@ClaireS is mysoxyen on a cross tuned fiddle or something else? gonna have to add that to my jukebox as well.
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GregW said
@ELCBK we practiced this one last year. This is the only tune I know from that area. I Think its also known as Levan polka maybe? Its probably not considered in same style. I havent checked. This link has the sheet music and a play along with adjustable speed.https://wellington.session.nz/.....polka.html
Here is a youtube of it. the first part seems the same.. then either it goes into something else or another part. Theres some song versions out there if you start searching. Ive no idea what they are singing about so if its not PC sorry. too lazy to cut and paste in google translate today.
Ievan Polkka. ("Eva's Polka.") Made famous internationally when the a capella recording by Loituma was used in the viral "Leekspin" animation. I didn't recognize it at first because the melody is not quite the same as the vocal version I had heard before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?.....yh9i0PAjck
By the way, Finland has its own variations on a number of imported musical genres. Finnish tango is its own genre.
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@AndrewH probably this one i ran across and wasnt sure if it was actual lyrics or something more like a Miram Stockley Adiemus type song. bouncy though..as a polka should be. 
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@ABitRusty mysoxen is definitely in some sort of cross tuning. the difficulty is that the melody is on a hardanger fiddle, and those are actually tuned one whole step up from a regular violin, plus the tuning is not usually in straight fifths like a violin. so, while standard hardanger tuning is ADae, the actual pitches are BEbf# .... which while very neat and interesting, makes learning from ear a bit of a challenge!
I ended up putting my fiddle in AEae, got the melody in my head and then sort of slowly worked out how to do it a step down from the recording. but worth it because it is a lovely tune!!
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Ievan polkka, oh, that’s great! I had forgotten that it is so famous.
About the lyrics, google translator would never survive with this, because it’s all in one Finnish dialect spoken in Eastern Finland. Well, Finnish language can usually crush the translator anyway...😂
The lyrics of the song tells about the girl (Eeva) who goes secretly with her boyfriend to dancing. Her mother would not want to let the girl be with the boy, and gets very angry when they came to home. The boy tells the mother to shut up and says he will not ever abandon Eeva.
There is also a lot of just ”blabla” which means absolutely nothing. I don’t know the right word for this in English and google translator doesn’t help. 😂
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@Ilona Thanks! I thought that was what was going on in some places. especially toward the end. I figured they were filling in for where the accordian would play or something like that.
@ClaireS Thanks for the insight. Ive been tuning to AeAe and AdAe a little lately to see how it plays. Kinda neat..I have to have the tune in my head well and be past any sheet music or theres to much confusing for me trying transpose on the fly. 
I forgot and left it tuned up one time....the next time I went to play started to saw out something more for standard tuning and got very frustrated at my lack of memory. Then figured tuning the instrument first is important.
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ELCB said
Did you grow up in a house with a fiddle hanging on the wall? I never actually saw anyone play a fiddle/violin until I went to school - our school orchestra, even though we had a "family" violin (no one was still alive who played it) when I was young.
No, unfortunatelly I didn’t. 😔 Nobody of my family has ever played any instrument.
I was about 5 years old when I told to my parents I would want to play the violin. They said that it’s too difficult and I wouldn’t be able to practice. 😳 I asked many times again over the years, but they never gave me a chance to try. I don’t know why, maybe because they didn’t knew anything about playing that instrument. Later, I was allowed to attend piano lessons for a while until we moved to another city. I didn’t like the piano very much, because I always knew that the strings are for me.
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Interesting info everyone! My list of "MLs" (must learn) is growing terribly long - so much for saying I wasn't going to learn anything new for a while (lol)!
Am I loosing my mind (don't answer that) or does "Five Sheep, Four Goats" and "Mysoxen" sound very similar? Takes Danish String Quartet a minute or so to get up to speed but maybe it's just the tempo I hear similar...
I finally found some info on "Powerlåten" - it's by Swedish composer Ulrik Lundstrom. Actually, I have reason to suspect Lundstrom may be an "arranger", not a composer - or possibly both.
I'm including a link to audio samples of some other Ulrik Lunstrom work - "Powerlåten" sounds like a "Rock" tune here - VERY cool!
https://us.napster.com/artist/.....powerlaten
I've posted a video elsewhere, but I'll post it again since it's hard to find someone actually performing it. Wish I had a video of the "Rock" version, but it's still cool.
AndrewH - Finnish Tango seems quite tame. Not what I expected, but suspect this makes the dance more accessible to the general public. Much use of minor keys...
- Emily
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Here is the sheet music for Ulv, Räv, Hare violin parts!
The lyrics are in Swedish.
As you can see it's very easy, but sounds great when played together.
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I want to bring up Fiddlerman's tutorial "A Tune a Week #26" again, "Sommarpolska" - because I found a traditional Swedish tune "Låt till Far" that I think is a perfect pairing! If you can learn the one by tutorial you should have no trouble learning the other by ear.
Ilona - Thank you again for the sheet music.
I really enjoy all the great information you provide about Finnish music & on the unique Näppäri method of teaching young children their musical heritage! So sad you didn't have the opportunity to be a part of that method when you were a child
GregW - I think Darol Angers is a big tease w/Grigsby Hornpipe! Waited... waited... waited...
- Emily
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"GregW - I think Darol Angers is a big tease w/Grigsby Hornpipe! Waited... waited... waited... "
@ELCBK yeah he plays a little solo thing up till about 1:35 on the mp3 . not sure how long the youtube you watched.
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Ilona said
Here is the sheet music for Ulv, Räv, Hare violin parts!The lyrics are in Swedish.
As you can see it's very easy, but sounds great when played together.
This is perfect for me at the minute, thank you.
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jmckelly - 
So glad you found something you'd like to start with here!
Let us all know if you have questions. I do most of my learning by tutorials and by ear.
- Emily
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A little intro info on playing the Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle.
Here's a sample of a common Hardanger Fiddle tuning with 4 under strings. I've also seen 5 under strings!
About Norwegian Hardanger Folk tunes.
- Emily
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Here's an aural comparison - reg fiddle vs Hardanger.
- Emily
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Okay, I couldn't help myself - this just sounds fun and what a wonderful Norwegian name!
"Gjensynsglede" Vals - means "the joy of meeting up with someone you haven't seen in ages"! Here's a link to pronounce it.
https://www.howtopronounce.com.....nsynsglede
Here is Norwegian Hardanger Fiddler/Folk Musician "Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa" performing it.
Actually, after listening to this again (and this isn't going to make sense) I'm kinda expecting some buff guys will pop out of the woodwork, wearing lederhosen... hopping about while slapping their thighs & heels & "what nots"! So, not really visualizing Norwegians (lol), but I still love it!
- Emily
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I looked up the pronunciation, and I still can’t say it. LOL
As I was listening, I was thinking there were notes that go up high—I was thinking D6 or so? I was thinking that the player would need to shift, but I guess with the standard "up tuning" indicated by Rachel Nesvig in the above video, the hardanger has the high string (what would be the violin E) tuned to F# - and so I guess the player could extend the 4th finger to get to that D without leaving 1st position. Don't know if that is going on here (i.e., string tuned to F#, D6, stays in 1st positon), but it's interesting to think about.
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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Norwegians have bouncy dance music, but there's also many mesmerizing, repetitive/droning tunes associated with "many legends and stories about exhausted fiddlers who, after days of playing, have achieved a trance-like state of ecstasy". "Fanitullen" (Devil's Tune) is one of the best known.
SharonC - Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa played the reg Fiddle as well as the Hardanger, but if using the Hardanger for this tune (listening again, I kinda have my doubts) he most likely used the common tuning (like you said) because shifting isn't prevalent.
I hope everyone keeps an eye out for progress in ClaireS's thread "adding sympathetic strings to a violin". She's actually converting an old fiddle into a Hardanger!
- Emily
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Nobody's brought up the Swedish Nyckelharpa, yet. A bit of a stretch from a fiddle... or not? Here's a closer look.
Now I'm wondering, "what strange things can I do to transform my Ukelin?"
- Emily
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"Mittemellan Polska" (?) - good Swedish tune tutorial.
This video includes genre info and a tutorial for a Swedish tune (name isn't written/not sure how to spell it) that some of you might like to try. The actual tune doesn't start until close to 7 min in.
- Emily
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