Hardanger fiddle

Originally, the instrument had a rounder, narrower body. Around the year 1850, the modern layout with a body much like the violin became the norm. The F-holes of the hardanger fiddle are distinctive, oftentimes with a more "sunken" appearance, and generally straighter edges (unlike the frilly, swirly F-holes of a violin). Four of the strings are strung and played like a violin, while the rest, named understrings or sympathetic strings, resonate under the influence of the other four. These additional strings are tuned and secured with extra pegs at the top of the scroll, effectively doubling the length of a Hardingfele scroll when compared to a violin. The sympathetic strings, once fastened to their pegs, are funneled through a "hollow" constructed fingerboard, which is built differently than a violin's, being slightly higher and thicker to allow for these extra strings. The resonant strings lie on the center of the special bridge, attached to extra hooks (or fine-tuners) on the tailpiece. Carved out within the center of the bridge is a smaller secondary "bridge", or opening, designed specifically for these resonant strings to pass through. This is where the resonance is picked up and reverberated. The hardingfeles bridge is unique compared to other bowed instruments. It is somewhat taller and wider, resulting in the strings being slightly lower and further apart; this allows for the easy execution of double-stops (playing of two strings at once). A similar technique is seen in some American old-time and bluegrass fiddlers, who intentionally move their bridge back a few millimetres closer to the tailpiece, for better double-stops. This technique lowers the action, but may not make double stops easier, as the radius of the top of the bridge needs to flatten more to make double stops easier. The hardingfele is used mainly in the southwest part of Norway, whereas the ordinary violin (called flatfele, 'flat fiddle', or vanlig fele, 'common fiddle') is found elsewhere. The hardingfele is used for dancing, accompanied by rhythmic loud foot stomping. It was also traditional for the fiddler to lead the bridal procession to the entrance of the church, but not inside. The instrument is often highly decorated, with a carved animal (usually a dragon or the Lion of Norway) or a carved woman's head as part of the scroll at the top of the pegbox, extensive mother of pearl inlay on the tailpiece and fingerboard, and black ink decorations called 'rosing' on the body of the instrument. Pieces of bone are sometimes used to decorate the pegs and the edges of the instrument.

• Name — Hardanger fiddle (hardingfele) • Classification — Bowed string instrument • Hornbostel Sachs — 321.322-71 • Related — * Fiddle • Violin • Illustration — Playing a hardanger fiddle

Unlike the violin, the hardingfele is a transposing instrument, meaning sheet music for the hardingfele is written in a key other than the one where the instrument sounds when it plays that music. Specifically, the hardingfele is a D instrument, meaning that the hardingfele's written C corresponds to D on a non-transposing instrument, such as the piano. The notes given below for tunings are therefore relative to the hardingfele's written A, not to a concert A. • Illustration — The strings on a hardingfele The understrings are tuned to vibrate according to the main tuning. For example, when the main strings are tuned A-D-A-E, the understrings are tuned B-D-E-F-A. The tuning largely depends on the region in which the instrument is being played, or the requirements of a particular tune. In Norway, more than 20 different tunings are recorded. Most hardanger tunes are played in a common tuning (A-D-A-E). The hardanger fiddle can also be played in "low bass", the word "bass" referring to the lowest string, (G-D-A-E), the normal violin tuning. In certain regions, the "Gorrlaus" (F-D-A-E) tuning is sometimes used. Many well-known players (such as Annbjørg Lien) frequently employ E-scale tunings; i.e., instead of A-D-A-E, with tunes being mainly played in a D-scale, the instrument will be tuned to B-E-B-F#, so the tunes are mostly in an E-scale. Going higher still, the player Knut Buen recorded several albums in an F-scale tuning, C-F-C-G. This is possible only on a smaller-bodied instrument (such as a hardanger fiddle), being rarely attempted on a standard full-sized violin. As a substitute, many fiddlers who play standard violins will simply tune their G string to A, using the A-D-A-E tuning, enabling them to play the same style of music. Another tuning is called "troll tuning" (A-E-A-C). Troll tuning is used for the fanitullen tunes, also called the devil's tunes, as well as the tunes from the Kivlemøyane suite (thus associated with the hulderpeople as well as the devil). In the Valdres district of Norway, using this particular tuning is called "greylighting", a reminder that the fiddler tuned his fiddle like this when the morning was near, and he had played himself through a number of other tunings. Legend has it that the fiddler learned fanitullen tunes from the devil. This tuning limits the melodic range of the tunes and is therefore sparsely used.

The hardingfele has had a long history with the Christian church. Well known early fiddle maker Isak Botnen is said to have learned some of his craft from church lay leader and school master Lars Klark, along with the methods for varnishing from pastor Dedrik Muus. In many folktales, the devil is associated with the hardingfele; in fact many good players were said to have been taught to play by the devil, if not by the nix. During religious revivals in the 19th century, many fiddles (regular and hardanger) were destroyed or hidden both by fiddlers and laypeople who thought "that it would be best for the soul that the fiddles be burned", as it was viewed as a "sinful instrument that encouraged wild dances, drinking and fights." This happened in Norway, as well as other parts of Europe, and until the 20th century playing a hardanger fiddle in a church building was forbidden. Some fiddlers, however, played on, in spite of all condemnation, and thus valuable traditions remained intact. The first folk musicians to perform in a church were the fiddlers Johannes Dahle from Tinn, and Gjermund Haugen from Notodden. Dahle performed in the 1920s. Known modern fiddler Annbjørg Lien has played with church organist Iver Kleive, but even she has experienced prejudice before performance from the religious side. Also, the oldest known fiddles still in existence can be heard accompanied by the oldest playable church pipe organ in Norway (originally built for an 18th-century church) on the album "Rosa i Botnen" by Knut Hamre and Benedicte Maurseth. While the use of a hardingfele in church in Norway may still be a bit sensitive for some, fiddlers in other parts of the world have no problems playing in churches for all types of occasions, including weddings.

Notable hardingfele players include Lillebjørn Nilsen, Knut Buen, Hauk Buen, Olav Jørgen Hegge, Annbjørg Lien, Sigrid Moldestad, Myllarguten (Targjei Augundsson), Lars Fykerud, Lars Jensen, Nils Økland, Tuva Syvertsen, Benedicte Maurseth, Anne Hytta, Gjermund Haugen and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, the Irish fiddlers Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, and American players Loretta Kelley, Andrea Een, Dan Trueman and the multi instrumentalist David Lindley. In March 2010, Olav Luksengård Mjelva won the Spellemannprisen Traditional music/Norwegian folk category (the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy Awards), for his album Fele/Hardingfele, Røros/Hallingdal.