Experience Finnish folk music on a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle.

The Hardanger fiddle is the national folk instrument of Norway. It is much like a violin. The major difference from a violin is that the Hardanger fiddle has a set of “understrings” that are not bowed or plucked, but are tuned to pitches that are mathematically related to the four strings that are bowed. These strings resonate when related pitches are played on the bowed strings. In the course of learning Norwegian tunes on the Hardanger fiddle at workshops and festivals, I’ve had some Finnish teachers, too, and have come across and learned a number of Finnish tunes. And while teaching Hardanger fiddle at St. Olaf College, I’ve had a number of students with Finnish heritage who have wanted to learn to play some Finnish tunes. Is it cultural appropriation to play Finnish music on an instrument designed for a different kind of music? Does Finnish music sound good on Hardanger fiddle?

Performer Bio: Sarah Pradt met the Hardanger fiddle in 2007 while listening to a random playlist. The instrument sounded like a cross between a violin and an electric guitar—-so that was it. At that time, she was traveling to Norway occasionally for work, and on a trip to Oslo in 2009 she found “Olav,” a fiddle with five resonating strings, a drawing of a cuckoo on the back, and lots of mother-of-pearl decorations. She and Olav have been inseparable ever since. Sarah plays and performs in the Twin Cities hardanger fiddle group (eighteen fiddles and growing) and teaches Hardanger fiddle at St. Olaf College. She also performs in the Twin Cities and around Minnesota with musicians who play Swedish, Danish, and Finnish folk music.