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Hello!
I'm right in the middle of Dracula up at Whitby Abbey. It's sequel to the book, but you'll have to come up and watch it to find out what happens!

Excitingly my little trip to the Eric Sahlström Institute in Sweden has been filling up nicely. Emilia's class is full and there are now only 3 beds left - so that means only 3 spaces left in my class! So if you want to come and be part of the adventure - there are only three spaces left!

For nyckelharpa this week we have Hårgalåten. I tell the story of this one and although I set it as a story for May Day - it is just as appropriate for Halloween!
On the flute we have Polska No. 25 efter Byss-Calle.
On the Scottish Smallpipes we have Lie Peacefully There by Jock Agnew.
On the fiddleharpa we have Brudmarsh efter Johan Johansson. It's the same as we've done on nyckelharpa, but I've filmed it on fiddleharpa - because I plan on making this tune the Global World Nyckelharpa Day tune!
More next week!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
It's been a week of preparing again and filming and editing.
We had the Symmetry Zoom Dance dance this week and it was 100% nyckelharpa for a change. So take a trip over to the page and play-along!
Emily’s Waltz is a lovely waltz written by Jonny for nyckelharpa. It goes up to a B, but it is really lovely!
We also have Vals Nämdemans Ola for the nyckelharpa. A tune I taught at Halsway back in September.
On Top of the Clints is a great little jig for the Scottish Smallpipes written by Jock Agnew.
More next week and maybe some photographs from Whitby Abbey!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
This week has been full of dances, filming and editing! I've been back home from Fürsteneck for a few days now and have edited all the tunes that I taught and the videos of the class. It was a lot of fun in Germany and I look forward to my next trip back sometime in the future! One of the things I taught was Jonny's New Vals - so I have added a video below of me playing the duet.

So what is new this week?

We have a new lesson in the technique course and that is the New Vals Bowing Exercises.
We have a lesson for The Parson's Farewell - this was in the Playford in #shorts too, so a good tune to teach!
On the Swedish Säckpipa we have Långdans från Sollerön. A great tune that all säckpipa players play!
On the Scottish Smallpipes we have Winter's Waltz written by Jock Agnew.

We also had our Symmetry Dance this week so there is a brand new play-along video for you to watch.
Enjoy! More next week.
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
It's been an incredible week! We were working at a local castle and then I headed off to Germany to teach at Burg Fürsteneck. So I was in Germany when I should have sent this out! I hoped you all wouldn't mind a late blog! So what is new this week?

On the flute we have Fanteladda.
On the Säckpipa we have Polska från Gladhammar.
We have Käki se Kukuu on the nyckelharpa
We also have Vals efter Jonas Johansson that I taught at Halsway.

More next week - I now have a bunch of videos to edit from Fürsteneck!
:))
Vicki

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Hello!
It's been a week of intense filming and editing and also preparing for teaching at Burg Fürsteneck. So what is new on the site this week? In other news Jonny and myself were also on Channel 5's Harvest on the Farm. So if you're in the UK you can watch us playing away! We mananged to play the tune from Grandpa Joe, Lightening the Load, Japonica Jig and verse and two choruses from Jiggle the Old Bones!

We decided to sing the final song Heroes and Heroines from Nights of Legend this week in the Symmetry Zoom dance. So I've put this at the bottom of the page.

I filmed and edited week three for beginner Fiddleharpa, so if you're following that course now is the time to start on Day 15!

On the flute we have Hambo-Polska efter Gustaf Elfström.
On the säckpipa we have Polska efter Gabriel Fredrik Johansson.
On the nyckelharpa we have Brudmarsch efter Jonas Johansson.
We also have another tune from the top 40 session tunes at Halsway Manor and Älgschottis.
Playford in #shorts is continuing apace! Check them all out!
:))
Vicki

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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