Also known as "Penknife Killer". It's a traditional Swedish tune that I learned from Vasen. It's featured on the recent CD with Mike Marshall, Darol Anger, and Vasen. Standard notation for those who want to learn: http://www.nyckelharpa.org/pdfs/pennkniv.pdf
As cool as that tune sounds on mando I bet it sounds great played on a Hardanger fiddle with all its sympathetic strings.
Ken, that was fantastic. I love Vasen and that tune is great.
Joe, it really should be played on a nyckelharpa (Swedish fiddle, kind of), but I wouldn't have the first clue what to do with one, even I could even find one to play!
That's quite an instrument. I bet it would sound good played on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa
Great playing, Ken, and what a cool tune and tune title.
Ken, I guess that is the best adaptation one can get without actually having a nyckelharpa, I especially liked the chording near the end. I found this video where a Scottish and a Swedish band play Pennknivsmördaren before and after a Scottish song - I think the guy in a white shirt on the right is playing a nyckelharpa, but it is not easy to see. At one of our sessions, a woman sometimes brings a nyckelharpa (aka keyed fiddle) - a wonderful instrument with a cathedral-like reverb (it has many resonance strings), a string orchestra in a nutshell. Bertram
Ken, I'm working on this tune, using the notation that you linked to. I'm sure I don't have it anywhere close to how it's supposed to sound, or the tempo (but you gotta start slow, to get to fast, right?).... cool tune!
Here's a YouTube video of a solo nyckelharpa player. He's quite good!
Wow, this is an awesome tune, and my favourite Swedish tune type, slängpolska. I'll have to dig out my husband's Väsen CD:s to get this original recording!! By the way, Ken, awesome playing!!!!!!!
Great playing, great tune! There's so much great Nordic music out there Vasen is probably my favourite. I'm definitely going to learn this one.
Ken -- very cool tune! Have you ever listened to LeRoy Larson and the Minnesota Scandinavian Ensemble? This is a great collection of Norwegin, Swedish, and Finnish tunes with some outstanding to die for schottisches, polkas and waltzes. There is a Swedish waltz on there called Tater Vals that is such a lovely tune. In fact, now you have me thinking about this CD I am going to learn that song today. To post to the Social Groups it has to be on a site so you can url-it right? Anyway here is a link to LeRoy and his group: http://www.musicoutfitters.com/artists/larson.htm
Bernie, I'm not sure I understand your question about posting to the social group, on site, url.... Also, can you recommend any of those CD's of LeRoy Larson? I haven't had that much exposure to the Scandinavian tunes... but I do live smack dab in the middle of Iowa in a largely 'Scandahoovian' settled area.... my man is half Norwegian....
Bernie, your guess about posting is correct. You have to upload your video somewhere else first (such as YouTube or your own site if you have one). After that it can be linked to from here. Bertram
Well, I've been working on this one for a little while so here is my attempt at it. I only recored playing the tune through once because I'm pretty sure I'd mess it up if I tried to play it twice. I had originally heard this one on a Malinky CD (the Scottish band Bertram gave the link to above). Many thanks to Ken for posting linking the notes because I'm sure I'd never have worked it out by ear!
Oops! It looks I messed up embedding the video. Here we go again.
Sounds great, Keith! I really like it in the lower register. Can you tell us a bit about the cittern?
Very nice, Keith, I love the sound of that tune on your cittern.
Good job, Keith.
Thanks everyone. Ken, the cittern was made by German luthier Christian Sandner in 2002 and I bought it from the original owner last November. It was built as a waldzither but the previous owner had the neck replaced with a longer one and changed it to 5 courses of 10 strings. It has a spruce top and a gorgeous rounded staved rosewood back (I'm a sucker for instruments with nice backs). I tune it GDAda. This is my first good quality instrument and I'm really enjoying it.
You guys, that sounds wonderful! Super cool song. Also, now I want a cittern. =-)
Finally getting around to videoing this. Certainly not flawless, but fun!
Nice playing Barbara. I like this tune a lot.
Very nice Barbara, you gave me the inspiration to learn this tune. Here's my try at Pennknivsmördaren. A very cool tune which was really hard for me to learn. Yesterday I couldn't play it to save my life but today it mostly came together. Played on my Fletcher tenor guitar with some pre-recorded guitar and bass as backup.
Nice, David, and I agree, its a very cool tune! Love your Fletcher Tenor Guitar... but you're showing me up looking all dressed nice, and I'm always in my jammies!! When I finally got this tune memorized, I'd find myself waking up in the morning, with it still rolling through my head!
Wonderful!! This is such a nice tune. Barb, don't worry about being in your jammies... that makes me feel better about my "after-working-night"-look or "studying-at-home-so-I-don't-care-about-my-looks"- look, LOL!!!!! (Actually a reason why I've started to not show my head in the videos!)
Nice David! The tenor's great.
Thanks very much for this tune, Ken. It´s one of my favorites now. Very interesting to hear it been played on all these different instruments. I tried it on the bouzouki in GDAD, capoed for AEBE and played like a G-tune.
Michael, that's just GREAT on the bouzouki! A very haunting tune, on a haunting instrument!
That sounds great Michael!
Thanks Barbara and Keith. It´s really fun to play Swedish Polskas on the bouzouki, because they work so well in the bouzouki tuning, especially these in Gminor, IMHO. What tuning are you using Keith?
My cittern is tuned GDAda.
