~ Scandinavian Tunes ~

~• Marches & Related Tunes •~

• Thomas Møller, harmonica and Anders J. Ørts, guitar, https://youtu.be/nkxMGGH71Ss, May 16, 2009.

• Olivia und Lars beim Kulturnatten 2013 in NUUK, https://youtu.be/nkxMGGH71Ss, March 4, 2013.

• Elsewhere I present three additional transcriptions of this tune Closer Look at a Few Tunes . Two are based on the playing of Olivia and Lars about whom I haven't found any information although they are excellent musicians. They change keys part way through and there are corresponding differences in the way they play it. One is based on the playing of Thomas Møller and Anders J. Ørts; it is quite different from the other.

• Here I tried to keep the spirit of the tune while combining many of the most enjoyable variations into a single version that reflects how I like to play it. It really is a Greenland polka; I keep it with Scandinavian tunes for convenience.

• Bruce Sagan, Scandinavian Jam Session, Northern Week, Ashokan, 1997

• Also played by Spaelimenninir under a different name but I haven't located it yet.

• Eric och Kalle Sahlström, Vi e ju Uplenningar ve, Valbo 1974. Jougo Music, JGOCD02, CD, 2004.

• The tune seems best accompanied with harmony, so I've omitted chords.

• This is a tune from Munga in Uppland. According to the Swedish Wikipedia it was played by C. G. Englund, a nyckelharpa player from Munga at a fiddling competition in 1910, and immediately became very popular. The recording this is transcribed from is a concert recording, and the audience starts singing in the background part way through.

• Spaelimenninir í Hoydølum, Umaftur. Tutl SHD002CD, 2000.

• Written for the band of the same name. It has too many measures to be used for a phrased contradance, but it would work very well for a grand march, and it would make a great polka. (I believe that it's actually a sønderhoning but I can't find any supporting documenation.)

• Spaelimenninir, Malagrot. Tutl, SHD066, 2003.

• From the liner notes, Jens Christian Svabo (1746-1824) was a linguist and ethnographer, but also a fiddler; he likely played for dances. In 1928 a manuscript was discovered in an attic that turned out to be Svabo's handwritten collection of tunes dated 1775. This was one of the tunes.

~• Schottisches •~

• Andrea Hoag, from a class at Northern Week at Ashokan.

• People who have heard this tune have said it might be from the northern part of Sweden, and it might be a song. So far I haven't been able to learn much about the tune.

• Learned from David Kaynor at Ashokan, many years ago.

• David likes to end the A part with a G chord sometimes. This surprise contrasts with the minor-key A part and leads nicely into the D-major B part.

• Old Grey Goose, Workshop, Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, 2018. Played by Carter Newell.

• In the key of C as played by Carter Newell; also presented in D.

• Old Grey Goose, Workshop at the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, 2018.

• Transposed to D; also presented in C.

• This is a fairly popular tune among Swedish musicians, not to be confused with another popular schottis from Idre in Dm. Note the contrast in the B part between the major and minor portions. I understand that some musicians reverse them, playing the first two measures of each line in minor and the next two in minor. The two Dm chords in the upper row are alternative chords. When listening to recordings I noticed that some people start the B part with a Dm. Although the end of the B part is usually shown as resolving to a D major, I think it sounds right with a Dm as well.

• This is a modern Swedish schottis. Julia was originally from the United States but spent a number of years in Sweden learning about Swedish traditional music. While she was there she wrote this fun tune.

• Leroy Larson & the Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble Play Scandinavian-American Old Time. Banjar Records BR-1828, 1975.

• Spaelimenninir í Hoydølum, Spaelimenninir í Hoydølum. Tutl, SHD 1CD, 1977, 2000.

• Commonly known as Pindsvine, but called Westby Schottische by the Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble. The Spaelimenninir liner notes say it is known in both Sweden and Denmark. The Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble liner notes say they learned it from a Norwegian fiddler. This version is based on the Spaelimenninir recording.

• Selmer Ramsey's Old Time Music Volume 1. Mark Custom Records, MC6197, 1977.

• Selmer Ramsey (1914-1978) was a Minnesota fiddler. He played for dances around the state for many years, and composed several tunes. This is from the first of his three records.

• Laurie Hart, Northern Week, Ashokan, 2010

• There is a second version of the tune with suggested ornamentation. Dotted note pairs are played with a lightly dotted rhythm.

• Ornamentation based on the playing of Laurie Hart, Northern Week, Ashokan, 2010.

• There is another version of the tune without ornamentation that may be easier to read for basic melody. Dotted note pairs are played with a lightly dotted rhythm.

• Spaelimenninir, Burturav. Tutl SHD004, 1980.

~• Polskas (including Hambos) •~

• Written when I lived in Dover, NH. To my surprise it sounded more like a polska than anything else.

• Karl Grönstedt's Dragspelsorkester and the Swedish Folk Dance Fiddlers, Swedish Polkas and Hambos. Capitol Records, T-10039, 1956.

• The recording is in A, but I believe it is more commonly played in G by fiddlers. I present it in A as well elsewhere.

• Karl Grönstedt's Dragspelsorkester and the Swedish Folk Dance Fiddlers, Swedish Polkas and Hambos. Capitol Records, T-10039, 1956.

• The recording is in A, but I believe it is more commonly played in G by fiddlers. I present it in G as well elsewhere.

• This is a very well known Swedish polska, often used for a hambo. In Sweden both parts are generally played for double the length shown.

• Haven't you been wishing for years that you could play Road to Boston as a hambo?

• This is a variation on Road to Boston that has been hinted at here and there for years. I've attempted it in the past with some success, but this version which came to me in the shower is the first I've heard or come up with that is clearly Road to Boston as a hambo and that also sounds at least vaguely Swedish.

~• Waltzes •~

• Spaelimenninir í Hoydølum, Umaftur. Tutl SHD002CD, 1977, 2000.

• This is a fun tune that I've enjoyed playing for years.

• Spaelimenninir, Burturav. Tutl SHD004, 1980.

• A fairly careful transcription from the recording on Burturav. I have also included a transcription of the core melody that is easier to read.

• Spaelimenninir, Burturav. Tutl SHD004, 1980.

• This is a transcription of the core melody from the recording on Burturav. I have also included a transcription with some additional details of melody and ornamentation, which captures the Scandinavian style more accurately.

• Learned from Jane Orzechowski a long time ago. It's really much more suited to accompaniment by fiddle harmony than by a chord instrument.

• Leroy Larson & the Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble Play Scandinavian-American Old Time. Banjar Records BR-1828, 1975.

• The tune should be played with a slight reverse dotted rhythm.

• Selmer Ramsey (1914-1978) was from Minnesota and played for dances for many years. He made three records. I have two and this waltz isn't on either; I don't know if it's on the third. But it was very popular among upper midwestern Scandinavian fiddlers. This transcription is based on the playing of the Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble.

• Based on a transcription by John Chambers in 1998.

• I've also included a transcription of the American version of the tune, under the name Blacksmith's Waltz.

• This appears to be an American version of Smed-Jens Vals. I learned it a long time ago, but I'm not sure of the source. I have also presented the Scandinavian version of the tune under the name Smed-Jens Vals.

~ Other Fiddle Tunes ~

• Frankie Rodgers & Gaby Haas, Play for a Horilka Party. Point Records, PS 302, 1968.

• As played by Frankie Rodgers.

• So how did Frankie Rodgers come to write a kolomejka? In 2002 Albert Brien had a concert/workshop in the Fiddler's Loft in Kingston, NH with British Colombia fiddler Yvonne Hernandez. She played the tune and taught it during the workshop. I asked her that question. Her mother, who was in the audience called out that despite his name, Frankie was of Ukrainian background.

• Isidore Soucy et son Ensemble, La Veillée chez Isidore. RCA Victor, CPG/CPGS-215, 1968.

• This is a great recording from his radio show. In the third part the "+" represents a pluck. It used to be common to alternate with tapping ("x") the four corners of the fiddle with the bow. These days the tap is often replaced with a rhythmic chord on the A and E strings. The last time through he played a long string of taps. This likely involved going around the four corners of the fiddle and possibly going across the diagonals. This was often done in the middle of the tune as well as the end.

• La Famille Soucy, Vol. 6: Quadrille de Rivière du Loup, Franco Fun 22-1306 (CD).

• These days the range of variations played is much greater. Pascal Gemme, one of the leading fiddlers of Québec, played a set of variations at Maine Fiddle Camp in 2018 that included doubling of notes, ghost notes, double shuffles and more.

• There are a few other transcriptions of this tune, all of which are fairly different in many places. They may have used a different recording of the tune. I used a recording of La Famille Soucy with Fernando Soucy fiddling). Because of the calling and low volume of the fiddle in the mix it was very difficult to figure out the melody in places.