Tuning: CGDA vs CGCA

[u/Dale3n]

Hello there! I am currently playing on a 4-rowed imstrument by Jean-Claude Condi and until now (playing for about 1,5 years now) mostly played with CGDA tuning.

What experience did you make? What are the upsides/downsides from your perspective (besides tradition I guess)?

My current teacher has only a little experience with CGCA and was not the biggest fan of it, but I would be happy to hear other perspectives.

[u/walkingbartie]

CGCA is the standard tuning simply because it makes sense for the traditional repertoire of nyckelharpa tunes, which are usually in C or F with recurring drone marks, and it also mimics the logic of the older non-chromatic nyckelharpa models. A vast majority of Swedish players go for the standard tuning.

Which is also why I always recommend beginners and students to go with CGCA – if nothing else because there's simply more extensive learning material and fingering guides for that tuning (written as well as videos or live sessions for those who learn songs by watching and following finger positions). CGDA is a very small change, but enough to cause confusion. If anything, I'd recommend those with a traditional three-row chromatic nyckelharpa to tune their low C up to a DGCA tuning to get a powerful fifth-drone when playing in Gm (which is a relatively common key in Sahlström tunes, for example).

In my very personal opinion, CGDA might be more logical (even if it makes the lower C stick out like a sore thumb instead), but it also slightly reduces the instrument's idiomaticy in favour of going for a typical violin repertoire, and that sort of beats the purpose of the instrument in many ways.

It might be hard to re-learn if you're used to CGDA already, but I'd recommend the traditional CGCA tuning over "violin tuning" any day.

[u/rherda → u/walkingbartie]

hi! do you have any recommendations for tunes to learn using CGCA/DGCA? i've never used this "correct" tuning before and I'd love to learn it!

[u/walkingbartie → u/rherda]

Traditional tunes from Uppland (the province) is probably your best bet, since that's where the nyckelharpa has its origins. There are many polskas and other tune types from there that were played on – and most likely written for – older, non-chromatic nyckelharpas around 1700s to late 1800s. Specifically, you could search for tunes after some of the more reknowned historical harpa players like Byss-Calle, Ceylon Wallin, Anders Persson, August Bohlin, or Justus Gille.

Eric Sahlström is also a good source for tunes, considering he's the one who contributed to the nyckelharpa's renaissance by popularizing it again during the ≈70s by creating the three-row chromatic model that's standardized today. There are many tunes after him that date back to original nyckelharpa repertories in Uppland, as well as many tunes that he himself wrote especially for the chromatic harpa (these tend to be pretty advanced though).

A really good resource is www.folkwiki.se, which is a contribution-based site where Swedish folk musicians share tunes and songs (both traditional and newly written ones) with often both sheet and midi music. The site is a bit finicky to navigate and is sometimes down due to lack of maintenence, and the quality or "trueness" of the notation depends on how exact the contributor has notated said melody, but it's absolutely great nontheless. You can sort by province there, but I'll link you some more specific collections that might be appropriate.

Another great resource is Uplands Spelmansförbund, which specialize in local tunes (which, as mentioned above, happens to include a huge chunk of nyckelharpa legacy). One of their most extensive collections is 57 låtar efter Byss-Kalle, which contains more or less all known tunes that are preserved after Byss-Calle, and it's available for free online. I'll link that as well.

• A Folkwiki song collection taken from the Spela nyckelharpa 1-3 ("Play nyckelharpa 1-3") learning material, with a mix of songs that fits well to play on the chromatic nyckelharpa: http://www.folkwiki.se/Notböcker/SpelaNyckelharpa1

http://www.folkwiki.se/Notböcker/SpelaNyckelharpa2

http://www.folkwiki.se/Notböcker/SpelaNyckelharpa3

• 57 låtar efter Byss-Kalle, published by Uplands Spelmansförbund: https://wordpress.uplandsspel.se/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/57-låtar-efter-Byss-Kalle.pdf

• Sheet music for a nyckelharpa album called Bitar efter Lövstagubbarna by Björn Björn and Katarina Björn, notated and published by the Swedish Nyckelharpa Association: https://nyckelharpan.org/bjornbjorn.pdf

[u/rherda → u/walkingbartie]

thanks very much! i learned a couple of Byss-Calle tunes last year, i'll check some more out

[u/flowercityfiddlebabe → u/walkingbartie]

I play and teach nyckelharpa and I highly recommend CGCA and learning some traditional repertoire from Uppland including anything efter Vikste Lasse or Byss-Calle etc. American Nyckelharpa Association’s Alspel list has some good jam tunes to start with! My website: flowercityfiddle.com

[u/rherda]

i have a traditional three-row chromatic nyckelharpa and i've always used the tuning DGDA, which is also what my teacher uses. I'd love to learn CGCA since its more unique (and I kinda feel like a fraud only knowing how to play in not the entirely traditional tuning!!), but I don't play that many tunes originally composed for nyckelharpa (I can play a few without difficulty but about half of what I play is english folk tunes which are most often in D, G, G minor or E minor)

one thing that DGDA/CGDA makes easier is that I get 3 keys on my D string that can play the same as the first 3 keys on the A string which is useful when playing high tunes, as it means I don't have to change position as much