Swedish bagpipes

The music

Happy piper (the author)

Not much is known about the tunes played by the bagpipers of old, nor how they played them. There is a (very short) list of tunes known to have been played by bagpipers, but all of them passed through other instruments on their way down to us.

Consequently, almost nothing is known about how, and to what extent, the old piper's ornamented their tunes. However, ornamentation in Swedish traditional music has never been that strict anyway - it is almost always improvised. So, the modern piper's ad hoc gracing may be exactly what the old pipers did as well.

There is no consensus on how a Swedish bagpipe chanter should be fingered, and most chanters are very forgiving to strange fingerings. Most experienced pipers play in a half-closed manner to facilitate a trick to simulate pauses and staccato notes; The six-finger note (e' on an E/A-chanter) is normally the same, and approximately as loud, as the drone note. So, momentarily closing all six finger holes gives a very convincing illusion of a pause. This can be heard in the music examples below.

You can read more about playing technique, including how to squeeze a few extra notes from your bagpipe, if you follow the link on how to play.

As for the music, the piper must go through the treasure of Swedish traditional music and search for the fraction of tunes that are playable using the cramped scale of the pipes. A lot is discarded, of course, or sometimes rewritten to fit the pipes, while some tunes fit in theory but never play well for other reasons. Some tunes, however, fit so well on the pipes that it is tempting to conclude that they were bagpipe tunes from the beginning. There is a certain thrill in finding such tunes.

The adjoining music example is one of the most well known tunes among Swedish bagpipers. It is a polska - the most Swedish of all Swedish dances (but actually with Polish roots and closely related to the mazurka and polonaise). This particular polska is attributed to Nedergårds Lars - a legendary 19th century piper from Dalarna. Nedergårds Lars was a bear hunter (among other things), which explains his nick name, "Björskötten" (the bear shooter).

Click the music score to hear the tune (541k, 1:09, mp3)

Here is a video where I play the above tune:

and here is another video, where I play a wedding march, also after Nedergårds Lars:

Visit my YouTube channel for more videos.

Here are some other mp3 examples of traditional tunes, played by me on pipes made by Alban Faust:

• Enkronaspolskan ("the one crown polska", 700k, 1:30). This is a form of polska called "Bakmes" and is after Omas Ludvig Larson (GIF score)
• Polska efter Troskari Erik (453k, 0:58) is from Malung. (GIF score)
• Another polska efter Troskari Erik (501k, 1:04), played on two bagpipes.
• Gärdsbygubbarnas polska (628k, 1:02). This tune is from Dalsland and is played here together with my good friend Peter Frodemo on guitar. (GIF score)
• Brudmarsch från Dalby (486k, 0:48). This is a wedding march from Värmland. One wonders if the marriage was a happy one ... (GIF score)
• Springlek från Lima (990k, 2:10). Played on a bagpipe in D/G with two drones (GG). (GIF score)
• Säckpipslåt från Norra Råda (2520k, 2:45). A bagpipe tune from Värmland, played in D on two bagpipes in D/G. (GIF score)
• Ljugaren/The Miller of the Dee (3330k, 3:38) is a set of two tunes, played on two bagpipes in E/A. The first is a Swedish traditional tune, said to have been played by a woman after having seen her husband go through the ice and drown in lake Ljugaren. The Miller of the Dee is an English traditional tune with a long history and many common characteristics with Ljugaren. The two may very well have a common source. (GIF score of Ljugaren) (GIF score of The Miller ...)
• Polska efter Måns Olsson (1430k, 3:08). A tune from Jämtland, played on a bagpipe in D/G. (GIF score)
• Yet another polska efter Troskari Erik (977k, 2:05). One bagpipe in E/A. (GIF score)
• Polska efter Oppigårds Lars (597k, 1:16). Oppigårds Lars was a neighbouring fiddler to the above mentioned Nedergårds Lars. One bagpipe in E/A. (GIF score)
• Polska efter Carl Magnusson (959k, 2:02). A polska from Dalsland. Played in D on a bagpipe in D/G. (GIF score)
• Brudmarsch efter Bleckå efter Maklin (1314k, 2:47). A wedding march from Orsa in Dalarna, played on a bagpipe in E/A with a low E drone. (GIF score)
• Bröllopsmarsch efter Nedergårds Lars (927k, 1:58). A wedding march, played in F on bagpipes in D/G with a low C drone. (GIF score)
• Glad Sigfrid (1454k, 1:30), is a polska after Sigfrid Fridman, Norra Råda, Värmland. I learned it from Anders Norudde, who usually plays this tune with neutral thirds (pipes tuned halfway between major and minor). I play on pipes tuned in major, but I alternate between minor and major thirds. See the section on how to play for details. (JPG score)

Bagpipe by Peter Frodemo

Furthermore, I have collected and edited a set of 25 tunes after Petter Dufva (1756-1836). Petter Dufva was a fiddler but many of his tunes fit well on the bagpipes. The collection is commented in Swedish only, but the written music is of course language independent. Some of the tunes require the more advanced playing techniques described in the section on how to play.

Note that the version played is sometimes quite different from the corresponding music score. Swedish traditional music leaves plenty of room for free interpretation and there are very few 'rights' and 'wrongs'.

Here is an example which does not belong to the Swedish tradition, but nevertheless fit nicely on Swedish pipes:

• Mit guenstlichem herczen (1760k, 1:55) is a a very tight canon (the voices are very close) by Oswald v. Wolkenstein (1377-1445). Played on three pipes in D/G. (GIF score)

A few recordings

The quartet Blå Bergens Borduner (The drones from the blue mountains) include three Swedish bagpipers. Their only record, by the same name as the group, include 8 tracks with Swedish bagpipes.

Another classic is the CD Bordunmusik från Dalsland (Drone music from Dalsland) with Alban Faust. Most tracks include bagpipes of Swedish, French, German or Flemish origin. 10 tracks include Swedish bagpipes.

Then there are a number of records where bagpipes are used, but more sparingly. Groups to look out for are, for example, Hedningarna, Lure (Valramn), Faust, Frifot, Dråm and Svanevit. Piper names to look for include Erik Ask-Upmark, Stefan Ekedahl, Alban Faust, Pär Furå, Per Gudmundson, Olle Gällmo, Ulf Karlsson, Anders Norudde, Anton Olausson, Harald Pettersson, Anna Rynefors, Jan Winter and Jonas Åkerlund.

(Erik, Alban, Olle, Ulf, Anders, Anton and Anna have received the honorary title "riksspelman" on Swedish bagpipe, which would roughly translate to "piper of the realm")