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by Patrice George

Anyone interested in Sweden's unique bowed instrument, the Nyckelharpa, can now take a two-hour master class through their computer, with this beautiful new DVD. Peter "Puma" Hedlund, two-time world champion of the chromatic nyckelharpa, and Rita Leydon, an American designer, and nyckelharpa player, have released the first of an intended three-volume set, to share the technique and repetoire of the "keyed fiddle". The nyckelharpa has grown in popularity world wide thanks to internationally known Swedish folk-music bands like Väsen. There are over 100 hundred players in the USA already. This DVD disc includes an elementary lesson with Hedlund, filmed in both full-figure postion, and left-hand position views. Twelve classic tunes for nyckelharpa are introduced, in both slow and regular tempo. Choose between English or Swedish language instruction, supported by text and music transcriptions that can be printed through Adobe Acrobat PDF files. A special gummed label for your nyckelharpa or fiddle case is also included. Although the goal of this DVD is to help nyckelharpa students without access to a master teacher, regular fiddlers will also appreciate this as an introduction to Swedish intrumental folk music.

For more information on the Nyckelharpa, see the American Nyckelharpa Association
website at www.nyckelharpa.org.