Hello! We had a really lovely week on the Isle of Wight this week. Filled with Victorian music and the Maypole. Below is a maypole's eye view! So what is new this week? We had a Symmetry Dance on Sunday and the video is now edited and ready for playing and or watching along. Catch Club this week is Cosy Cabin's Four. It's an easy catch written for the four new cabins for people to sleep in at Halsway Manor! We also have Gavells-Ella efter Sigvard Stolt on the nyckelharpa. We also have Gärdsbygubarnas Polska on the Säckpipa. More next week! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 22: Victorian Week
Hello! We're back home - but only briefly. We got back from The Netherlands on Sunday. Then had a lovely gig down in Dorset for the Ninebarrow walking week. We get to do another two of these in the coming weeks! We also had a lovely dance in Symmetry on Tuesday and that play-along video is now ready! So go along to the page and watch/listen/ playalong!
What is new on the site this week? I've added the Playford tune Jamaica and with the adding of this tune and some sums I have this as the 700th different to be added (across all the instruments!) We also have Hästkuttet, it's a Rejländer. But someone pointed out it was also a Scottish tune, so I did some digging. Visit the lesson to find out more!
On the Säckpipa we have Polska efter Jonas Hansson - I've done this tune on the nyckelharpa on this site, but now the säckpipa version is up!
More next week! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 21: Brief visit home!
Hello! We're still on the road, but have stopped at my cousin's for a couple of nights breather and the chance to catch up with the admin! Switzerland was amazing, such breathtaking scenery and now we're heading on up to The Netherlands. So what is new on the site this week?
I have made a new lesson for the concert that Jonny and I did for World Nyckelharpa Day and added all the music so you can play along with it! Click here for the concert and music.
We are back at Symmetry for a Zoom dance on Tuesday 21st. The music is up and ready for you to look at!
Before we went away I filmed a little technique video all about bowing. The idea was to try to help people get good tone: Bowing Basics.
One of the tunes we did at Halsway was Pollsa - Ur Sven Lorens Bruuns Notbok. I love this tune, very Byss-Calle like, but it's from Småland!
Finally Catch Club is back this week! We have March of the Daffodils - which is a nice and easy beginner Catch. It premieres at 10pm on Sunday as usual. Enjoy! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 20: Hello from the Road
Hello! I have merged the Friday update for weeks 18 and 19... we were away at Halsway last Friday and then I kept my head down editing the Global Brudmarsch efter Jonas Johansson. We ended up with 104 nyckelharpa players from 15 different countries - which is a record and really amazing! The videos came in right up until the last minute - so this is the final count and accurate!
Adding content to the site has been tricky over the past couple of weeks with World Nyckelharpa Day, Halsway and now we are away on tour in Switzerland/The Netherlands. I had hoped to film a few things before we left last weekend, but time was against me. We now have slightly sporadic internet for the moment, but I wanted to get this update out!
I hope to get some things updated before we go home next week - but it might be another sparse update next week. Then I'll crack out the camera and get filming!
Enjoy and take care. :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Weeks 18/19 On Tour
Hello! It's been a week or preparation for World Nyckelharpa Day. Lots of filming, lots of editing, lots of admin. The YouTube Playlist is massive - so put it on in the background and watch all the videos as they premiere throughout the day!
Catch Club is a little different this week, it's at a different time to fit in with the World Nyckelharpa Day. The wonderful Lee Ann Bonacker wrote a canon which we've recorded. So it's Canon for Vicki this week.
The really important event though is the Zoom So how do I come along? I hear you say. Either drop a donation into World Nyckelharpa Day - or send me an email. My vision is that people can come along do the workshops and have a chat with other nyckelharpa players around the world! So if you can - drop in at some point in the day! Here’s the schedule to tempt you along!
Schedule - note these times are in UK times (UK is 5 hours ahead of Eastern and 1 hour behind CET) 11:30 - The World Nyckeharpa Day Global Zoom Cafe opens 11:45 - The official Global Brudmarsch preparation starts 12:00 - 12:05 - The Brudmarsch gets played 12:05 - 12:45 - Play-along: Vicki Swan - The Halsway Top 40 play-along pdf. 13:00 - 13:45 - Workshop: Alyssa Rodriguez to do a workshop 14:15 - 14:45 - Presentation: Anders Persson and Olov GIbson Live from Källunge 15:00 - 15:45 - Workshop: Kirsty Money to do a workshop 16:00 - 16:45 - Workshop: Regina Kunkel to do a workshop 17:00 - 18:00 - Talk: Esbjörn Hogmark talks about the UNESCO project 18:00 - 20:00 - American Nyckelharpa Association Zoom Jam 20:00 - 21:00 - Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer do a concert (with lots of different nyckelharpas) 21:00 - The World Nyckeharpa Day Global Zoom Cafe closes
More next week from Halsway Manor! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 17: World Nyckelharpa Day
Hello! There is lots going on right now! Halsway last weekend was amazing! The Halsway Parade was filmed from a Birdseye view this year! We have a pencilled in date for the Spring weekend already: Friday 28th-Sunday 30th March 2025. We're pretty sure it's going to be that date.
Catch Club this week is another easy catch called Bowl Barrow. I was aiming for some nice crunchy chords! We have two more Playford tunes to get you ready for our YouTube Play-along video for World Nyckelharpa Day - Let Monarchs Fight from Dioclesian by Henry Purcell, adapted by Fried de Metz Hermann and The Black Nag in A minor. On the fiddleharpa I've added a technique lesson in string crossing. It's the string crossing exercise for An Air for Aires. We had a Zoom dance on Sunday and that video is now edited and ready for playing along to.
It's World Nyckelharpa Day in just over a weeks time and I am busy editing videos, there is a lot going on and the YouTube playlist is looking pretty healthy. But the big thing this year is the Global Zoom Cafe. It's opening at 11:30am and is going to stay open for about 12 hours! We have workshops (Alyssa Rodriguez, Kirsty Money and Regina Kunkel), a session (The American Nyckelharpa Association) and a concert (by myself and Jonny). But the big thing that is very is exciting is that we are going to have a stream coming in from Källunge Church on Gotland - the very place where the stone statue is. This is not to be missed!
So how do I come along? I hear you say. Either drop a donation into World Nyckelharpa Day - or send me an email. My vision is that people can come along do the workshops and have a chat with other nyckelharpa players around the world! So if you can - drop in at some point in the day! More next week - I have a lot of preparations to do before the day! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 16: Did I Mention World Nyckelharpa Day?
Hello! This weekend we're back at Halsway Manor for the Spring Nyckelharpa Weekend. I writing this from the van M4. The van is brimming with instruments and stuff! So what is new this week? I've been working hard on the Saturday night concert and editing videos for World Nyckelharpa Day. I've now scheduled quite a few things. Next week will be sorting out some of the technical requirements for scheduling live-streaming to YouTube. (You probably figured out that the Global tune was never actually a real livestream but pre-recorded about a week earlier. I'll be doing that as a backup, but the plan is to actually stream from Zoom this year).
We had a Symmetry Zoom Dance on Sunday evening and that video is now edited and ready to play-along with. We have another Symmetry this Tuesday at 7pm UK time, so do pop on in! (Link is on this page).
Catch Club this week is another easy catch called Mardon's Marvellous Meal. I've published this one this week as to honour the wonderful Mardon Room at Halsway Manor. This used to be a store room and during the pandemic was converted into the dining room meaning we no longer had to vacate the Long Room whilst it was being set up for meals!
For World Nyckelharpa Day Jonny and I have filmed a Playford session. So this week I have added Hole in the Wall by Henry Purcell, which is a lovely tune! And also Buskin also by Henry Purcell! This is a more jolly tune. I've added a D-string version of the Global tune Brudmarsch efter Jonas Johansson.
There's going to be a lot of World Nyckelharpa Day over the next couple of weeks! So get your videos in! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 15: Back to Halsway!
Hello! It's April and I'm not totally sure how that happened! This meant that last Monday was April Fools Day and just like last year I decided to do a News Report. If I'd been organised I would have created it and shared it with everyone last week, but as it was I completed the video on Sunday ready for sharing on Monday 1st April. I started to set this Newscast back in January whilst we were at the Eric Sahlström Institute, so I'd like to thank everyone who humoured me whilst filming on the Sunday night! The Byss-Callemärke is now well and truly launched! Although the News Bulletin was done in humour - of course I made some badges, so you can buy them! I've made a new page where you can get hold of the Spelborgarmärkes and the Byss-Callemärkes - just remember, they're just for fun!
So what's new? I've been really busy filming and recording and preparing for World Nyckelharpa Day. Whilst we were at Halsway Manor last week we grabbed the camera and filmed a session for World Nyckelharpa Day, edited and put it up ready. Then I filmed all the tunes required for that session! So this week we have the first two tune lessons: Excuse Me and Black and Grey.
Catch Club this week is Five Reasons. On the Scottish Smallpipes we have SSP Tutor Chapter 3 part 2 . This is still a work in progress, but gradually the whole tutor will move over!
We are in Zoom on Sunday playing for Symmetry dance, so grab the music and come along. Or watch again afterwards, the link will come out next week. Again I'm featuring one of our lockdown sessions: Lockdown Halsway Bar Session 1. It's a nice simple session, but definitely a step up from the one I featured last week!
As we get closer to World Nyckelharpa Day I'll be spending more time on that. So make sure you're thinking about what tune you'd like to film and send me so that I can add it to the WND website! You don't have to have an active membership to my music room to do this - I just need lots and lots of videos! More next week! :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 14: Hello April
Hello! We've been at Halsway Manor this week playing for the Walking and Dancing Week. It's been a lovely week with lots of dancing, some walking and quite a lot of filming! I took the opportunity to film the beginner catches and a session for World Nyckelharpa Day! I'll be uploading and setting the premier up for that as soon as we get back!
So what is new? I've been going through the old Lockdown Halsway Bar Sessions and adding them into a new module in the Play-alongs course. It's going to take a while to sort through them, but I'll feature one each week. This week it's what call Session Zero and it's aimed at complete beginners. This is a session based on the tunes I teach all my beginners. So even if you're not a beginner, playalong for the nostalgia
This week I'm tying up Catch Club with the featured session. I have promised that every so often Catch Club will be aimed at beginners. This is a a beginner Catch week and what is it? Of course it has to be Perry the Partridge! I recorded a batch of these so they'll be coming out over time. (They're not filmed yet!) I've also made a new batch of Nobody escapes Perry the Partridge badges ready for the Harpas at Halsway Spring Weekend in a couple of weeks!
Hello! It's been the spring equinox this week and the pull to do some gardening has been strong! I did film a few more walk throughs for Catches and spent a lot of time putting together what I am going to teach at Halsway in a couple of weeks. I've started putting together a pad of catches for the beginner, so nice and simple. It takes a lot of work to put Catch Club together though - so you won't see those for a few weeks! We had a lovely Symmetry dance on Tuesday and that video is now editing and up for you to play along with! So what's new this week? We also made a little video of Hälleforsnäspolskan as an advert for the Spring into Scandinavia Week at the end of April. There are still spaces for accordions! It's a great tune, so if you don't know it go over to the lesson page! It's even there as a flute tune.
Plans are now afoot for World Nyckelharpa Day and the first mail shot went out. I defintiely need people to start sending in videos! So visit the blog entry on the World Nyckelharpa Day website to keep up with all the news! Have a good week. :)) Vicki
Posted inNyckelharpa|Comments Off on Week 12: Spring Equinox
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