Tips on buying a new nyckelharpa
If you are interested in acquiring a nyckelharpa, the following sources and general comments might be useful. You can find current exchange rates here.
You might also be interested in tips on buying a used nyckelharpa.
Please note that the ANA does not sell nyckelharpas directly, nor does it favor or endorse any one of the following sources over any other. This page is merely intended to be a help those not living in Sweden who are interested in buying a nyckelharpa.
In an effort to help deter e-mail harvesters, e-mails are not listed as links. You will need to copy and paste the address, and replace (at) with @, and (dot) with a period.
American Sources
The first place to look is the nyckelharpa email list, which is the most direct way to contact or read latest nyckelharpa news.
Bart Brashers
3039 NW 62nd Street
Seattle WA 98107
Telephone: 206-789-1120, Fax: 603-676-4884
bart(dot)brashers(at)nyckelharpa(dot)org
I Usually have at least one nyckelharpa on hand for sale. Good (grade “B”) quality instruments with good keys. Perfect for the beginner. I also have (or can get) bows, straps, cases, etc. See my ad in the Oct 1996 Nyckel Notes for more info.
I know a lot of nyckelharpa players in Sweden, and can likely assist in finding you a nyckelharpa, or at least more detailed information. I’m willing to act as middle-person for those who speak no Swedish wanting to contact Swedish makers with poor English skills. I’m not really in this for the money — I’m just a fan of the nyckelharpa and want to promote it in the US.
Most of the information and contact info that I have is listed here on this page. The maker of the harpas described above has asked me to keep his/her name off the internet, but you can contact me directly and I’ll give you the contact info.
Lark in the Morning
PO Box 799
Fort Bragg CA 95437
Telephone: 707-964-5569, Fax 707-964-1979
http://www.larkinam.com
Lark in the morning is a retailer selling instruments made by Åke Ahlstrand. Keep in mind that their prices may be higher than other sources listed here…
Don Peterson
234 North Market Street
Paxton, IL 60957
Telephone: 217-379-4683
http://www.petersonsswedishgifts.com/music.html
Don is a skilled woodworker, experienced with violin restoration and repair and building nyckelharpas.
Swedish Sources
The makers are listed alphabetically. Most makers sell their harpas privately, so you don’t have to worry about being charged Swedish VAT.
Figure about 700 SEK (a little less than $100) for shipping from Sweden, above and beyond the price of the nyckelharpa and any extra cost for a bow and case.
Leif Alpsjö
Rångsta, VIKSTA
SE-74030 Björklinge
SWEDEN
Telephone and fax: +46-18-37 23 00
leif(at)alpsjo(dot)se
http://www.nyckelharpa.com
Excellent English skills
Leif has been a dealer of nyckelharpas and fiddles for 20 years or so, and really knows his stuff. He used to have a retail shop in Uppsala, but now runs the business out of his home. He speaks excellent English, and carries many nyckelharpas of varying quality and price, including harpas made by others listed on this page. He is the sole distributor of new harpas made by Harry Hedbom. See his web site or his for more info.
Björn Björn
Botvide, Lau
SE-62016 Ljugarn
SWEDEN
Telephone +46-498-49 10 08, Fax +46-498-49 10 95
bjorn(dot)bjorn(at)i(dot)lrf(dot)se
http://www.bjornbjorn.nu
Good English skills
Björn is the 1998 and 2002 World Champion in the gammelharpa class, and a fine maker of nyckelharpas. He has a shop/store on his farm in Gotland. He sells ready-made instruments, kits and plans for medieval nyckelharpas (a copy of the one found in Esse, Finland), kontrabasharpa, silverbasharpa, and modern nyckelharpa as well as a whole lot of other instruments. He also sells bows, cases, rosin, etc. His web site says you can deduct 20% for the Swedish value-added tax (VAT) if you live outside of the EU.
Hasse Gille
Kölngatan 3
SE-74063 Österbybruk
SWEDEN
Telephone: +46-295-208 35
hasse(dot)gille(at)swipnet(dot)se
Excellent English Skills
Hasse won the World Championship title in gammelharpa class in 1992. Hasse makes very fine nyckelharpas that are more like the ones from the last century in sound, though they have as many keys as the modern ones (i.e. a standard 3-row chromatic nyckelharpa). He also makes reproductions of the the older types of nyckelharpas.
Mikael Grafström
C/O Folkan
S-620 12 Hemse
SWEDEN
Tel. +46-70-225 28 44
mikael_grafstrom(at)hotmail(dot)com
Excellent English skills
Mikael is 27 years old [Feb 2003], and as such hasn’t had time yet to establish himself as a maker, but he comes recommended by the likes of Esbjörn Hogmark (his building teacher) and Marcus Svensson (his playing teacher) as well as Ben Lagerberg Teitelbaum and other players.
Esbjörn says about him: Mikael is one of Sweden’s youngest nyckelharpa builders. He has been a good student, very detail-oriented and ambitious. If he continues to develop as he has thus far, he will be counted as one of the country’s best makers..
Esbjörn Hogmark
Gyllby 206
SE-748 94 Örbyhus
SWEDEN
Telephone: +46-295-107 06, Fax: +46-295-104 81
esbjorn(at)hogmark(dot)com | Web site
Excellent English skills
Esbjörn is in the top tier of nyckelharpa builders and his instruments are top-of-the-line. He is constantly searching for the ultimate nyckelharpa sound, balancing the quality features of the ancient 18th century Kontrabasharpa with the 20th century Eric Sahlström chromatic model. The concept of a full spruce body, which is common among other makers today, is a result of this development.
Between 1980 and 1986 he visited Eric Sahlström on a regular basis to learn his music and technique for building nyckelharpas. Now, he regularly leads building workshops and master classes, and in this respect, carries on in the tradition of the late master builder.
He is also in charge of the annual winter seminar and the distance education course in nyckelharpa making at The Eric Sahlström Institute. (http://www.esitobo.org)
Since 1986 Esbjörn has been president of the jury for the annual nyckelharpa maker’s competition, held during the Nyckelharpstämma in Österbybruk.
Esbjörn got his recognition (called “Riksspelman” in Swedish) playing Eric Sahlström tunes in Västerås in 1983.
Take a closer look at one of his instruments on his web site: http://www.hogmark.com/esbjorn/nyckelharpa/
Tord Johansson
Tjädersvägen 6
SE-14834 Ösmo
SWEDEN
Telephone: +46-8-52 03 04 39
Poor English Skills
Tord Johansson and his associate Ivar Johansson (no relation) make 4-row nyckelharpas, an innovation from the late 1960’s. Tord was among the first to extend the idea of adding keys to the low drone string, to make it into and additional melody string. Thus all four strings are playing strings, as opposed to the 3 playing strings and one drone on the modern chromatic nyckelharpa. Both still have the additional 12 sympathetic vibration (resonance) strings.
There are basically two approaches: (1) add keys to the low C string of the 3-row nyckelharpa (tuned C-G-C-A) and (2) make a 4-row nyckelharpa that is tuned like a violin (tuned G-D-A-E). The Lundin harpas of the 1970’s were of type (1) here’s a picture) while Tord’s 4-row nyckelharpas are of type (2) (here’s a picture) and as such sometimes called a ‘fiddleharpa’ in the US. Perhaps the prime difference between them lies in the order of the rows of keys — fiddleharpas have the keys that stop the highest string as their bottom row, while 3-row nyckelharpas and type (1) 4-row harpas have them as their top row. This inverted arrangement of the rows of keys is to mimic the violin. Imagine fingering a G on the E string and a B on the A string of a violin — note how your 1st finger is ‘on top’ of your 2nd finger. Now rotate 90 degrees away from you, to the angle of the keys on a nyckelharpa. If the keys are ‘upside-down’ relative to the 3-row harpa, such that the E string is the bottom row, your 1st finger is still on top of your 2nd finger. Thus fiddle players can quickly switch to type (2) 4-row nyckelharpas, without having to invert their fingerings ’sideways’ to the strings.
Tord and his associate (his student in building, really) make two kinds of 4-row ‘fiddleharpas’. Both weigh about 2.25 kg when finished. The first kind has 7 keys on the G and D strings, 11 on the A string, and 16 on the E string. The second kind has 11 keys on the G, D and A strings, and 17 on the E string, and costs a bit more than the version with fewer keys. The fewer-key version will do for most folk musicians, since most folk music does not leave 1st position on a violin. Here’s a schematic that might help. Blank spots have no key to make that note on that string.
Click to Enlarge
The E string on the Johansson harpas are shorter than the rest, to give a better sound and keep from breaking so many E strings. They keys are carved bent to accommodate this, so the user doesn’t really have to think about it much. He also uses springs behind his keys, an experimental feature which most nyckelharpa makers in the post-1970’s era have rejected. Springs (or foam, as was also used in the 1970’s) are strictly not necessary, since gravity does the work of returning the key after a key-press. Many makers feel that springs or foam add unnecessary hinders to speed — you have to do mechanical work against the spring/foam to push the key in, and in the long run that work will make your hand unnecessarily tired. I think many 1970’s makers used foam and springs in lieu of making precise key-to-slot fits, letting the spring push the key out and overcome the friction of unfinished or rough joinery at the key/slot interface. Tord however believes in springs, and includes them in two different strengths per the user’s request — the stronger springs make for faster outward key movement but require more mechanical work to push in.
Glenn Greene of Knoxville has purchased one of Tord’s ‘fiddleharpas’, contact him if you want to know more about Tord’s work. Thanks also to Leo from Australia who recently purchased a 50-key harpa, and was kind enough to give us an update on Tord’s building methods and pricing.
Peder Källman, Violin Maker
Gahns väg 3 C
SE-79132 Falun
SWEDEN
Telephhone & Fax +46-23-21151
info(at)pederkallman(dot)se
www.pederkallman.se
Good English Skills
Peder Källman is perhaps best known for building many of Johan Hedin’s new experimental nyckelharpas: the tenornyckelharpa and altnyckelharpa. He also makes traditional 3-row chromatic nyckelharpas, and does restoration work. He has played nyckelharpa since the early 1970’s, when the “folk music wave” of that decade hit Sweden. He is also a member of the jury for the annual nyckelharpa maker’s competition at Österbybruk.
Tage Larsson
Hentorpsvägen 54
SE-54152 Skövde
SWEDEN
http://welcome.to/tagesnyckelharpor
Telephone: +46-500-41 67 22
Poor English skills
There’s a nice article about a visit to Tage in the February 1999 issue of Nyckel Notes.
Nikolaj Marks
Genbroekstraat 32
5912EE Venlo
Netherlands
Telephone: 01131-077-3522155
cabrette(at)orange(dot)nl
http://www.nyckelharpa.nl
Fluent in English
The Summer 2007 / Number 38 issue of Nyckel Notes featured an article about Nikolaj.
Bo Nilsson
Sickla Allé 35
131 65 NACKA
SWEDEN
Telephone: +46-8-716 96 96
harpa(at)bonilsson(dot)se
http://www.bonilsson.se (best viewed in Internet Explorer)
Very Good English skills
Bo Nilsson is a relative newcomer on the harpa-building scene. His work with a contracting firm doesn’t allow him a lot of time for making harpas, but he manages two or three a year. One of his harpas got “Best in Show” at the builder’s competition in conjuction with the Österbybrukstämma in 2008. He will build to order, if you require something special, like a child-size harpa. Or even a green one…..
Olle Plahn
Herrhagsvägen 463
SE-79176 Falun
SWEDEN
Telephone: +46-23-235 64
http://www.tongang.se/olle/welcome.html
Good English skills
Olle Plahn got the highest marks in 1996 at the annual judging of nyckelharpa makers at Österbybruk.
Martin Westermark
Bergsjö
Telephone: +46-652-10120
asmyran(at)swipnet(dot)se
www.MartinWestermark.com
English skills Unknown
Peter “Puma” Hedlund turned us on to Martin, saying that although he’s not as well-known as e.g. Sören, his quality is very good.
Sören Åhker
Berge 5687
SE-82071 Ilsbo
SWEDEN
Telephone +46-650-74 22 40
soren(at)sorenahker(dot)com
www.sorenahker.com/
Good English Skills
Sören’s instruments are top-drawer and he is considered among the very best makers alive today. Sören also sells just about everything else having to do with nyckelharpas! He has written a book about nyckelharpa building that is available in English and Swedish and is the subject of a documentary DVD by Rita Leydon. Paul Morrissett writes:
“My new instrument has 6 extra keys (8 extra if you count the Eb and F# keys high on the A-string that are usually missing). They are the Eb, E, and F on the G (3rd) string, the B and C on the C (2nd) string, and the high G# on the A (1st) string.
I had always wanted a B on the C (2nd) string so that all twelve notes are represented on the C (2nd) string, in particular for harmonizing with a G note on the A (1st) string to imply a G chord. In Oct 1998 I was in Stockholm at music shop in Gamla Stan and a guy who works their said he had an instrument with 2 extra keys on both the G (3rd) and C (2nd) strings. So I decided to ask Sören for those same 4 keys thinking that maybe I would come up with a use for them. He initially said that he thought the C key on the C (2nd) string would be difficult and offered an extra key on the G string instead.
When I got the instrument from him in October 1999, I found out that he had been able to make a C key after all and also had included a G# on the A string which we had not discussed (but not at all to my displeasure). I do wish that I had requested both the G# and the A above it which would make a full 2 octaves available on the A (1st) string. Peter Hedlund played my instrument a month or so before I ever saw it, and seeing the G# made him think about ordering an instrument with a high A. He plays a tune that uses that A, but currently he gets it by reaching to the front of the instrument and touching the string to create the harmonic.
When adding the B key, a decision has to be made as to whether to make a straight G# key on the A (1st) string so that the B key can be straight, or to bend the B key out of line so that the G# can be in it’s usual out of line place. I chose to have both keys be straight. There is plenty of room to straighten the G# into the row with the other A (1st) string keys, and I did not want to have one and only one key on the C (2nd) string out of line with the others.
The C key turns out to be more useful than I thought. It sounds much better to me when I play the high C along with the other 3 strings if the interval is one octave rather than two. So I would heartily recommend the B and C keys to better players who are ordering instruments, as long as they can deal with having one key (G#) in a non-standard place.”
