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I think many people are scared by the strange appearance of a Swedish Nyckelharpa , but it's very close to being a Viola! ...just tune your Viola D string down 1 whole step to C.
It has extra sympathetic strings (not played) to sound more haunting than the Norwegian Hardanger Fiddle, is maybe easier to play chords - and the way it is held to be played looks MUCH more comfortable than the way we play a big Viola! AND, if your instrument is tuned well, you don't have to worry about intonation 🤗 - because it uses keys! ...the only downside is a little noise from using the keys, because they are mechanical, but still cool.
A Brief History of The Nyckelharpa - from the American Nyckelharpa Association.
I think this is way cooler - I've attached a GREAT pdf "The Nyckelharpa in It's Historical Context" by Karen Myers. She shows an in-depth historical overview of not only Nyckelharpa, but all the related instruments - fabulous photos!
...check out the attachment.
Many Nyckelharpists also play the Fiddle!
I've posted wonderful tune tutorials by Emelie Waldken in The Vals - how complicated can it be? Thread & Anyone Interested in a "Scandinavian Fiddle Genre"? Thread. Sometimes she teaches tunes using the Nyckelharpa, instead of her Fiddle - never seems to be a problem.
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Emelie Waldken learned to play from Olov Johansson (Väsen), so thought it would be cool to learn more about him & his playing. Olov can also be seen playing the Fiddle, besides Nyckelharpa!
Matt Brown talked to Olov on his podcast "Relax Your Grid" - VERY insightful!
Here's a recording of it - PLUS, Matt added Olov's amazing BIO in the video description (check it out)!
"Little Fiddler in the Fire" - composed by Olaf, story in the video description.
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A while back I found a video about the instrument (in Swedish, with NO closed captions for English) and kept my eye out to find something translated - never found anything like this & it's such a historic video I'll share it.
Eric Sahlström is in it, starting at 26:00. He not only composed many great tunes, he was an engineer & made improvements to to the nyckelharpa that made it more favorable to play.
Eric Sahlström is one of those who most contributed most to the renaissance of the nyckelharpa ("key fiddle") in modern times. The instrument at that point had some small popularity amongst a handful of musicians in Uppland, but Sahlström as a design engineer and luthier further developed the instrument, including refining the chromatic nyckelharpa which can play any key. He also composed a large number of folk songs. (Wikipedia)
I have started learning Eric Sahlström's, "Hem Från Gesunda" (Nordic Polskor Thread)!
I have also really enjoyed learning some of Olov Johansson's compositions (of Väsen)!
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