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Hello!
That was an amazing weekend at Halsway Manor. Many tunes were played! I've been busy editing videos post weekend. If you were there then you get to see the concert again by checking it out on the resources page. I wanted to make the second song I sang public, so it's at the bottom of this blog entry! I've also included the final workshop session where we all played together some of the things that we'd learnt. It's an incredible loud sound that you need to be there to experience! The tunes that I taught will be appearing on the site over the next little while.

So to start with here are two lovely waltzes by Jonny Dyer. A Little Swedish Vals and New Vals.

Some really exciting news. I have negotiated a workshop weekend at the Eric Sahlström Institute - or Nyckelharpa HQ as I like to call it. This will take place next January 19th-21st 2024 and although some details are yet to be released it's time to register your expression of interest. I will be teaching British tunes to the Swedish contingent and there will be a second tutor that will teach Swedish tunes to everybody else. This tutor is yet to be announced - more information on this next week - but for now. Get in touch to be added to the list as numbers are limited!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
As this blog entry goes out I will be driving to Halsway and another weekend of awesome nyckelharpa-ness. I'll report back next week! We have a pdf of the top 40 tunes and I'm working my way through the missing videos and lessons. So this week we have: Edvards Glada and Karolinermarschen.
On the flute we have The Quizzical Snob

So Playford in shorts is progressing! This week we had:
The Whish, Stingo or Oyle of Barly, The Wherligig, Picking of Sticks, The Old Mole, Grimstock, and Woodycock or The Greenman

Next week I'll be reporting back from Halsway!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
It's now only one week to go until Harpas at Halsway 2023! The heat here has made working conditions tricky and as a result a lot of work has been done between the cooler hours of midnight and 3am! My tunes are all now decided, so the next stage is to do the post course resource films.

We had the Symmetry Zoom this week and created the now usual post watch film. Unfortunately we suffered our first ever during Zoom power cut which, although only lasted a minute meant that our record files were all corrupted. So we decided to sit tight after the dance and film them again. This means that the video is a mix of live zoom and post film. Enjoy! I filmed the lesson for Pablo Goes Fishing which was the waltz this week.

As Halsway is so close I did some more filming for the Halsway Session PDF. This week we have Anna Maria Kiss Me - which is a really pretty tune written by Ingela Ader.

The Playford in Shorts (as I've affectionately named it this week!) is going apace and we have tunes 2-8. Click the links for the videos and the dots to play-along with me!

Blew Cap for Me
The Night-Peece or The Shaking of the Sheets
Boat-man
The Beggar Boy
The Parson's Farwell
Bobbing Joe
Durham Stable or The New Exchange

Halsway Next week!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
There is so much happening this week - I can't edit fast enough!!

It's two weeks to Halsway and much preparation needs to be done! However.... 2023 marks 400th the anniversary of the birth of John Playford the music publisher that brought us The Dancing Master. In celebration of this fact I've decided that my next 104 #shorts should be the complete 1651 dancing master. This is the first edition. If you want to play along I've created a new module where you can find all the dots. There isn't a lesson for each tune - but there are lessons and information for quite a lot of them!

We had a great dance on Tuesday and the video is all edited and ready for you to play-along with. I spent some time this week filming some of our waltzes so we have a new lesson for Farewell to the Astra. We have another dance on Tuesday - so hope to see some of you there!

We also have Jan's Waltz on the flute. I'm busy filming and editing at the moment at the same time as preparing for Halsway, so there will be some new Scottish smallpipe and fiddleharpa next week!

:))
Vicki

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Hello!
It's three weeks to the Halsway Manor Nyckelharpa Festival! I'm three days away from returning home for the summer so my head is starting to fill up with all the little jobs I need to do. One room has come up as being available so if you want to come and want a single room - don't delay, book it! There are a few dorm room beds left and unlimited camping.

This week we've been up in the north of the country at Warkworth Castle. This weekend it's Dover Castle - the complete opposite end of the country!

So what's new this week? A bit of a mixed bag!
Washerwoman's Bransle - this is in the moraharpa course, but it's in a great place for nyckelharpa or fiddleharpa.
Lybeus Distonys - the lesson for this is on nyckelharpa and moraharpa, but I usually play it on the sienaharpa. So you have options for this one!
Reinländer från Norge - this is for standard nyckelharpa and is super groovy!

Enjoy!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
I'm still not technically home - but have a weekend to turn things around and clean the house! So what's new on the site this week? I decided to bring over my show Nyckelharpa! Voice of an Angel - Soul of the Devil. So this is now added to the Subscribers section. There was a back story in the show that was published on the internet in the run up to the first performance - this is included spot you can follow the whole story. There is also a short making of the show too. There were also a few tunes that were integral to this back story. So these are all now on the site too:

The Näckens Polska
The Näckens Dream Waltz 
The Näckens Dream Polkette

On the flute we have My Lady Winwood's Maggot

I've also been hard at the Shorts as usual, so I've put those below!
One more week of medieval castles and then I can get the camera out again!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
It's another week on the road with a brief 24 hours at home - in which I was recording for a radio play in Germany. So not much time to turn ourselves around before heading off again. We spent the week at Sidmouth Folk Week and played for over 26 hours of dancing. I took at least one video each dance and posted them up as shorts. So as I've not had time to make any other videos this week enjoy the shorts! We've got two more weeks on the road, so take the time to wander around the site. It's difficult to say how much is here - but I have created 872 lessons to date across all the instruments! More from the road as August progresses. Normality will be restored soon!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
We had a great time up in Northumberland. Came home - recorded like crazy for the secret project and then it's straight back out again! So it's been hard to find time to add any new videos. We had a great Symmetry dance on Tuesday night and now the video is edited and ready to play along!

So what is new?
On the nyckelharpa we have Hambo Polska efter Erik Hartvig, a nice little easy polska.
I decided it was time to do Eklundapolskan Nr 3 on the flute. It was fun to play.

We're at Sidmouth Folk Week next week with a pretty full schedule and very little internet!
Have a good week!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
I had a quick trip to Sweden last week and I've been doing some recording for a secret project. It's an exciting project - but you'll have to wait until 2024 before I can tell you all about it! This has meant that I've not managed to film anything new this week as I've had my head down recording and being away. I am writing this from the van on the way up north as we head to Medieval Northumberland, so no filming this week either! I have added a few more links to the 'our tunes' section. That is going to take a while to get completed!

So what's new this week?

In the Scottish Smallpipes we have The Trickling Stream.
In nyckelharpa we have The Old Favourite. It's a jig and it's very nice.
The Symmetry video for the 4th July is all up and ready for you to play along with! I'll be publishing two of these a month (Subject to not messing up the tech!)

Our next dance is Tuesday 1st August and the music is up already for you to have a look at!

More next week!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
We are now entering a crazy time and it turns out there really aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done! I'm back doing a recording session for a film that I (again) can't talk about. I think it's going to be another massacre type film! But it's fun recording it! So what is new on the site this week?

We had another Zoom dance for Symmetry on Sunday night so there is a new play-along video for you. You'll find the video and the music by clicking here!

On the flute we have probably the most famous Swedish tune: Äppelbo Gånglåt.
On the Scottish smallpipes we have St George's Dance written by Jonny.
On the nyckelharpa we have the nice easy Cockles and Mussels.

I'm off to Sweden and then off to Northumberland with recording filling in all the gaps, so next week it will be another update from the road!
Enjoy!
:))
Vicki