The fiddle traditions The violin comes to Norway It is believed that ...

The springar is in triple time, or a mixture of triple and duple time, and inVestlandet the springar rhythm is, so to say, completely even. There is, at thesame time, no strong emphasis on the first beat, so a Vestland springar’s tripletime feel is almost as light as a feather:- Try to say: 1 1 1 – 1 1 1 – 1 1 1 – 1 1 1 …- Compare with the waltz: 1 2 3 – 1 2 3 – 1 2 3 – 1 2 3 … (Say it loudly!)- Try to “speak” the rhythm with a two-feel whilst you tap the beat lightlywith your foot:||: dei dudi | dam da | sudidudi | du da | dei dudi | dam da | sudidadi | då:||… and so on- Try to “speak” a 6/8 feel (not so quickly):||: dudeli dadeli | dudeli dei | sudeli sadeli | sudeli sei :|| … and so forthMore tune typesThe gangar is 2/4 or 6/8, likewise the rudl, which is a common dance inVestlandet. In Voss and in Inner Hardanger it is called a rudl (rull), whilst inother places it is called a Vossarull.The halling is the most widespread of the tunes in duple time, and is played forthe well-known dance where the boy has to kick a hat off a stick held high bydoing a halling leap. The name probably originally means “to dance like ahalling” (someone from Hallingdal). Now and again it is difficult to distinguishbetween a gangar and a halling from the music. The halling is often a little faster,with a marked bow stroke.Wedding marches (bruremarsjer) and wedding tunes (brureslåtter) are a groupof tunes which are associated with wedding ceremonies. The fiddler was animportant person at famers’ weddings in earlier times. He had many dutiesduring the celebrations, which could well last for several days. Nowadays,wedding marches are still used. They are played on the way to the weddingservice, the fiddle leading the bridal couple. The fiddler, as a rule, goes on foot,but can also sit on horseback, in a wagon or in a boat.