The Nyckelharpa Effect: May 2020

Saturday, 30 May 2020

The Lockdown Halsway Bar Nyckelharpa Session - Number 4

Hello!
Welcome to the fourth session! This week we're back to Swedish tunes again. The video goes live at 2pm on Sunday on YouTube, but you can start to get ready by looking at the playlist today!

There are five tunes in this session and they are all very well known and generally will be played at any nyckelharpa session in the UK. As usual I have invited Jonny Dyer to join me on the accordion for this session. Again, if you fancy filming yourself playing along to this session and I get enough I will edit it together so that it at least sounds like we're all in the bar together!
The tunes for this week are:

Hälleforsnäspolskan
Spikens Vals (3rd version!)
Byss-Calle 32 (we promise it'll be steady!)
Stensele Polskan
Härjedalsschottisen
Click Here to download a printable of the tunes for session 4

So enjoy this fourth session, there will be more! If you have a request get in touch!
See you at the next session - especially if you send me your video file to edit in! (Remember to wear headphones whilst you're listening to us!)

If you enjoy the sessions, please consider buying a 'Session Coffee'. These go towards funding the sessions. Each session 'costs' about 50 coffees, so every 50 coffees, we'll film, edit and upload the next session.
:))
Vicki

Buy a Session Coffee

Sunday, 24 May 2020

The Lockdown Halsway Bar Nyckelharpa Session - Number 3

Hello!
Welcome to the third session! This week we've got some British session tunes. Put in your request now for what you'd like for next week! There are four tunes in this first session and they are all very well known and generally will be played at any nyckelharpa session in the UK. As usual I have invited Jonny Dyer to join me on the accordion for this session. Again, if you fancy filming yourself playing along to this session and I get enough I will edit it together so that it at least sounds like we're all in the bar together!
The tunes played this week are:

Three Around Three / The Cotillion
The Man in the Moon
Butter'd Peas / Old Tom
100 Pipers / Jeannie's Blue E'en
Click Here to download a printable of the tunes for session 3

So enjoy this third session, there will be more! If you have a request get in touch!

See you at the next session - especially if you send me your video file to edit in! (Remember to wear headphones whilst you're listening to us!)

:))

Vicki

Buy a Session Coffee

Sunday, 17 May 2020

The Lockdown Halsway Bar Nyckelharpa Session - Number 2

Hello!
Welcome to the second session! This week we still have Swedish tunes. This will change for next week - but as yet I haven't decided what I'm going to film - so put in your request now! There are four tunes in this first session and they are all very well known and generally will be played at any nyckelharpa session in the UK. Just like last week I have invited Jonny Dyer to join me on the accordion for this session. Again, if you fancy filming yourself playing along to this session and I get enough I will edit it together so that it at least sounds like we're all in the bar together!
The tunes played this week are:

Tierps Polskan going into Vendelpolskan
Stures Schottis
1814
Kadrill Cozaken
Click here to download a printable pdf of the four tunes for session 2

So enjoy this second session, there will be more! If you have a request get in touch! Next week definitely won't be Swedish.

See you at the next session - especially if you send me your video file to edit in! (Remember to wear headphones whilst you're listening to us!)

:))

Vicki

Buy a Session Coffee

Friday, 15 May 2020

The Spring Lockdown Harpas at Halsway

Hello!
At this very moment in time I should have been on the road travelling down to Halsway Manor to teach beginner and intermediate nyckelharpa players from around the UK. As with all other events and gigs it was cancelled. (All our work until September has vanished).
But I really love teaching the nyckelharpa and decided I should do something online. So I have prepared up a digital event. It runs from 2pm on Saturday afternoon for about 1 hour 45 minutes.
You can join with me on the premiers at the times listed below or take part whenever you like! Then on Sunday there is the second session in the Bar.

The warmups are based on the morning warm ups that I do everyday at Halsway (you'll either need bean bags or some balled up socks for the first one).

Then you get the wonderful Kirsty Money, who was supposed to be coming over from Canada to teach. Kirsty will teach a tune. Then I teach a couple of tunes and finally we end up in the bar at Halsway for a session. Because the weekend was geared towards beginners who had started the instrument at the weekend, this is a special session. It consists of a list of my favourite beginner tunes that I teach. If you started off your nyckelharpa life (or indeed yet to come) with me. Then these tunes will be very familiar. So even if you're no longer a beginner, join with me for a bit of a blast from the past!

:))
Vicki

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All times are British Summer Time (GMT+1)
Saturday 16th May
14:00 - Warm Up 1 - rhythm warmup - you'll need bean bags, or socks balled up!
14:08 - Warm Up 2 - get the feet moving - you'll need your nyckelharpa
14:15 - Warm Up 3 - get the bow arm moving across the strings - you'll need your nyckelharpa!
14:30 - Kirsty Teaching
14:45 - Vicki's Workshop - pdf of the tunes (you don't need to print this until afterwards!)
15:15 - Session zero

Sunday 17th May
14:00 - Halsway Lockdown Session 2

Session Zero is going to consist of the following beginner tunes:

14:00 - Warm Up 1 - Rhythm warmup - you'll need bean bags, or socks balled up!

14:07 Warm up 2 - get the feet moving - you'll need your nyckelharpa

14:15 Warm Up 3 - get the bow arm moving across the strings - you'll need your nyckelharpa!

14:30 - Workshop with Kirsty Money

14:45 - Workshop with Vicki Swan

15:15 - Session Zero in the Bar at Halsway Manor

Halsway Lockdown Session 1 - this was premiered on the 10th May and is live

Sunday 17th May at 14:00 - 14:00 - Halsway Lockdown Session 2

Sunday, 10 May 2020

The Lockdown Halsway Bar Nyckelharpa Session - Number 1

Hello!
I've often talked about Halsway Manor and about how wonderful the place is and how much I love teaching there. We've lost four of our five courses planned for this year and we're hoping with all our might that the big September course can go ahead. But I decided I should change things up a little and move away from the Zen scales. So this is my latest scheme. Holding a session in the bar at Halsway. Of course, to do that right now needs a little green screen magic, but we would love it if you joined us in the bar and played along! I'm going to build up a whole evenings worth of session gradually over time. Starting with the simple tunes and gradually getting a little harder. So I am proud to present the first Covid19 Lockdown Nyckelharpa Session in the Bar at Halsway Manor! There are four tunes in this first session and they are all very well known and generally will be played at any nyckelharpa session in the UK.

This session is now moved to my new website

I invited Jonny Dyer to join me on the accordion for this session. If you fancy filming yourself playing along to this session and I get enough I will edit it together so that it at least sounds like we're all in the bar together! Anyone following me in my World Nyckelharpa Day adventure will have seen this in action with players all round the world.

So enjoy this first session, there will be more! If you have a request get in touch! They won't all be Swedish, each session will have a different feel to it (but the first two are Swedish as it happens!)

See you at the next session - especially if you send me your video file to edit in! (Remember to wear headphones whilst you're listening to us!)

:))

Vicki

Buy a Session Coffee

Friday, 8 May 2020

Linnéavalsen

Hello!
Here is a second tune from he 24 Tunes in the Swedish style for you. Especially for those people that bought the book after the last blog entry - thank you!
This is Linnéavalsen. The Linnéa flower is the county flower of Småland and was my Grandma's favourite flower. As before I've uploaded up a few versions of the tune:

The full lesson
A version with me playing both
A version with me just playing the melody
A version with me just playing the harmony

To buy the book and get the dots - CLICK HERE!

So you can play along with which ever version you like! If you enjoyed this - then you can put in a request for more videos!

Enjoy!

:))

Vicki

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Monday, 4 May 2020

Skomakaren

Hello!
A good few years ago I put together a tune book and I thought I would teach a tune from there. So instead of the dots being on the website this time I'm encouraging people to buy the book! It's very reasonably priced and I will film and put up tunes by request from the book! So this is one to start with. Skomakaren - means The Shoemaker. The Shoemaker in question is really my Great Grandad - Thomas Karlsson and he lived in the small village of Taberg, near Jönköping in Småland. I've uploading up a few versions of the tune:

The full lesson
A version with me playing both
A version with me just playing the melody
A version with me just playing the harmony

To buy the book and get the dots - CLICK HERE!

So you can play along with which ever version you like! I have already filmed a second tune from the book and if you enjoy this - then you can put in a request for more videos!

Enjoy!

:))

Vicki