| Traditional Nordic Dance Music |
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| nordic folk music | |
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Nordic folk dance music consists of various dance rhythms, that do not originate in the Nordic countries but once were the fashion dances among the European nobility. With time these dances spread to common people, and in some cases they remanined there long after the nobility had exchanged them for new fashionable dances. Many of these rhythms can also be found in other parts of Europe, and some of them have also been used in Classical Music . The majority of the tunes are in Minor Key s. Traditionally, there were many tunes in Keys that can not be classified as either minor or major. Traces of this still exist, but most of that disappeared when the Accordion became popular. The majority of the dances that go with this music are Partner Dance s, though exceptions do exist. Such exceptions include the Minuet s that are common in some parts of Finland and that can also be found in parts of Sweden , the solo-dance Halling , generally considered typically Norwegian but also found in parts of Sweden, and the Finnish Quadrille danced by several couples in formation. The most common dance rhythm is the Polska . It is in 3/4 (three Beat s to the Bar ). In the most common polskas, the third beat is accentuated as well as the first. There are many local versions of the polska rhythm, and generally local variations of the accompanying dance correspond to these differences, though many of these local dances have disappeared. The Schottische , also known as reinlender, Polka and Waltz are other common dance rhythms. In addition there are many other more uncommon dance rhythms (e.g. the Anglais ), despite a small number of surviving tunes. The most typical instrument is the Fiddle . In most cases normal violins are used, but there are exceptions such as the Hardingfele , used in parts of Norway , which has a set of Sympathetic String s in addition to the normal four strings. Another unique instrument, the Nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), probably once existed in a large part of Europe , but survived until modern times only in Sweden. Other instruments that were used traditionally were simple Clarinet s, and later Accordion s. Contemporary Nordic traditional dance musicians might also use other less traditional instruments, as well as writing new tunes in the old style. SEE ALSO |
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