Nyckelharpa Retreat Week

Join Vicki Swan for an extended course of nyckelharpa playing.

Taking inspiration from Vicki’s Online Nyckelharpa Summer School – you can expect a little bit of everything. Workshops will include mostly Swedish music, focusing on the different types of dance tunes, ensemble playing and technique. Expect to work on tone, flexibility and swing! Everything to help inspire better and more fun playing.

This course is slightly longer than the Nyckelharpa weekends, so there should be time for a trip up the Quantocks.

Who is it for?

This is a chance for Nyckelharpa players who want to immerse themselves in a week of playing Swedish music and improving their skills. You’ll be working in a mixed ability group (no complete beginners). You’ll be building on your existing skills, technique and repertoire, and the course will be spent working together in one group. You’ll need to be able to learn by ear, and for some of the more technical work, note reading will be a real advantage. You won’t need to prepare anything in advance, and Vicki will make a timetable and any relevant music available before the course starts.

This course is also open to fiddle players (any technique work will be aimed at nyckelharpa players as Vicki doesn’t play fiddle – but will be suitable for either instrument).

The Team

Vicki Swan studied at the Royal College of Music on the double bass. She also plays the various types of bagpipes, flute, recorder, piano and nyckelharpa. On leaving music college, Vicki started down the long path of folk music and was only seen on rare glimpses back in classical orchestras. You’ll find Vicki now inhabiting the troll-ridden forests on the hunt for new and exciting tunes from the näcken.

Vicki plays not only the standard 3-row modern chromatic, but also the 1408 sienaharpa, the 1526 moraharpa, the 1700s kontrabasharpa and the 1800s silverbasharpa. Over the pandemic Vicki has worked tirelessly on a Virtual Music Room to try to help isolated nyckelharpa players remain motivated and focussed on playing and learning. She also set up and actioned World Nyckelharpa Day. http://www.swan-dyer.co.uk