A nyckelharpa

The nyckelharpa (Swedish for key harp) is traditional in Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when the key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string. Download high resolution version (1126x404, 47 KB)A nyckelharpa made by my father. ... Download high resolution version (1126x404, 47 KB)A nyckelharpa made by my father. ... A key is a small rectangular button on a musical instrument that is depressed to cause the instrument to create a sound of a particular pitch. ... The harp is a chordophone which has its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... A chordophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. ...

History

The nyckelharpa is similar to both a fiddle and a hurdy gurdy, and is known played from Sweden since 1641. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the nyckelharpa was known throughout Germany, Denmark and Sweden. The Swedish province of Uppland has been a stronghold for nyckelharpa music since the late 16th century, including the 1960s revival which drew on musicians like Byss-Calle (1783-1847) from Älvkarleby. The pitches of open strings on a violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart, the lowest being the G just below middle C. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which... Drawing of a hurdy gurdy A hurdy gurdy (alternately, hurdy-gurdy) is a stringed musical instrument. ... Events The Long Parliament passes a series of legislation designed to contain Charles Is absolutist tendencies. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Uppland ( â–¶) is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Älvkarleby is a Municipality in Uppsala County, in east central Sweden. ...

Changes by August Bohlin (1877-1949) in 1929/1930 made the nyckelharpa chromatic and straight, more violin-like instrument. The best-known modern nyckelharpa player is probably Eric Sahlström (1912-1986), who was a major player, teacher, and builder of the mid 20th century. He helped re-popularize the instrument by his playing. In spite of these innovations, the nyckelharpa's popularity declined until the 1960s roots revival. The chromatic scale is any musical scale that contains more than one consecutive half-step (in other words two adjacent pairs of scale degrees or members which are separated by a semitone). ... The pitches of open strings on a violin The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart, the lowest being the G just below middle C. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which...

The nyckelharpa has been a prominent part of several revival groups later in the century, especially the trio Väsen and the more contemporary group Hedningarna. Väsen is a Swedish folk music band originally consisting of Olov Johansson (nyckelharpa), Mikael Marin (viola) and Roger Tallroth (guitar). ... Hedningarna Hedningarna is a Swedish and, for some years partly Finnish neo-folk music band that mixes electronics and rock with elements from very old Nordic folk music. ...

Variants

There are at least four major variants of the nyckelharpa still played today, varying by the number and arrangement of keys, number and arrangement of strings, and general body shape. Modern nyckelharpas have sympathetic strings which are not bowed directly but resonate with the other strings. Early variants favored drone strings. Sympathetic strings are strings on musical instruments which begin resonating, not due to any external influence such as picking or bowing, but due to another note (or frequency). ...

See also: Music of Sweden Sweden shares the tradition of Nordic folk dance music with its neighbouring countries, which include including polka, schottis, waltz, polska and mazurka. ...

External link

• The American Nyckelharpa Association