Description
Dates: Weekly on Wednesdays – January 10 – February 28, 2024 Online, via Zoom
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 PM CST each week
Skill Level: Advanced beginners and intermediate players. You should be familiar with your instrument and fingering. It is recommended that you know and play the scales for the keys of C, D, G, and F. We will review fingerings and arpeggios for these keys.
Class Registration Fee: $160 for entire 8-week session
Anders Ljungqvist (10 May 1815 – 24 December 1896), also known as “Gås-Anders” (Anders of the geese), was a Swedish fiddler from Björklinge in Uppland. As a spelman he was very popular and extremely skilled, and it was said that nobody could sit still when he played dancing music – not even he himself. As he played he would jump around, dancing on chairs and tables. Gås-Anders left a legacy of upwards of 150 different melodies; both tunes he himself had written and those he had learnt from other fiddlers. Most of the tunes are eighth-note polskas; although you will be playing polka, schottis, and waltz as well.
It is expected that you play Bondpolska efter Båtsmandäck, Emmasvals, Bonden i paradis (vals), and Stenbergsmarsch or Flickorna Svensson. Audio and print music available to registrants as needed for these tunes. Be sure to know these tunes before class starts. Becky will be teaching in the traditional “C” tuning, but will be able to work with you if you normally play with the “D” tuning.
Students will be sent a form upon enrollment to fill out and return to Becky, listing the tunes you know, and the tunes you would like to learn.
Students need to bring: Nyckelharpa and bow, computer to play back audio, printer to print PDF files of tunes from classes to have as a reminder, paper and writing implement for taking notes during class or writing down questions.
Becky Weis has played and studied nyckelharpa on both sides of the Atlantic. She is known as a teacher and a player for dancers, and has fun teaching and making tunes danceable. Becky guides playing with technique tips, and likes the spirit of getting a good tune going.
Becky is also a scholar in the Swedish nyckelharpa tradition, the subject of her doctoral dissertation in ethnomusicology. She serves on the board of directors of the Twin Cities Nyckelharpalag, and has taught both nyckelharpa and hardingfele at St. Olaf’s College.
