The music (which is beautiful) aside, it's interesting to read that an instrument isn't just a tool to be played, but has a history and perhaps a character, so to speak - looking for the proper strings and ways to play them so they won't break, sounds like the effort to successfully communicate to a person, not to string an instrument. Do you think all this (strings, pitch and playing style) have been a simple thing when the instrument was made? Or did Mr. Shemeikka have to put in the effort, as well?
@@hanterdrone3868 Iivana Shemeikka made several kanteles and developed the structure and the measures towards the sound he was looking for. The instrument was regarded as "holy" in his syncretic world of beliefs (ancient ethnic beliefs combined with teachings of the orthodox church). So, defenitely, he did put in the effort. I think he sold this instrument to the museum because he had a better one to play, the one he made for himself.
@@arjakastinen Thank you very much, I wish you a nice peaceful day and a good start into the new year .. I am currently trying, with more or less success, to transfer Kantele scales and even HandPan scales to the guitar. Let's see if it works ... :-)
How magical! I'm partially Finnish and I feel how something inside me resonates with this music. It's just my imagination though, the sound of this magnificent instrument makes people feel like home and at peace.
Thanks, Arja, for sharing this exquisite music! It feels somewhat hypnotic - it makes spirits to move around. By the way, do you have any kantele music recordings with a "Creative Commons" license? I need them for my videos, but cannot find anywhere.
Beautiful playing. As someone who has recently started playing I find your description of suggested finger positions very helpful. Thank you very much. What tuning do you use? I mean e.g. your tonic is on the fourth string what are the lower ones? (I have my 12-string tuned to a natural minor scale with tonic on the third. Bottom string is low dominant, next string is flat seventh.)
This scale is Mixolydian (like major but flat seventh), and it goes step by step up and down from the tonic. The other modes that old kanteleplayers used still in the beginning of the 20th century were Lydian and dorian. And of course major and (natural) minor. One player used also the nowadays called "jazz minor" which is like the major scale but the third scale degree is flat, which means that the first chord is minor, but the fourth and the fifth chords are in major. And sometimes the lowest string was tuned to low octave of tonic, then the second lowest would be dominant, and from their the scale goes upwards step by step.
Thanks very much Arja. With my natural minor (aeolian) rooted on the third string I can play mixolydian rooted on the second! I like the mixolydian - it always seems a very "Indian" scale. Maybe I should learn sitar as well!
Small kanteles are generally tuned diatonically with all notes in order. So if you you're tuning to, say, A minor with the tonic on the third string, then the second lowest string would be simply G and the lowest one F. An exception to this rule would be 10-string kanteles, where the seventh scale degree is missing, or if you have a kantele with bass/drone strings - those strings would be tuned lower. 11-string kanteles are usually tuned to D major or D minor with the tonic on the fourth string, so the tuning would be e.g. (starting from the lowest): A B C# D E F# G A B C# D. I'm not 100% sure about a 12-string, but I would guess it's adding one highest note, so E. I'd imagine the intended tuning would be given by the maker of your kantele. If you want to learn more about finger positions, playing styles, etc. Arja has published a book available also in English (In Visible Vibration).
@@yes9749 Principally this is right, except that in Finnish 10-string kanteles the seventh (not the sixth) scale degree is missing on the high notes. In Latvian kokle you can find such natural minor tuning, where the sixth scale degree is left out on the low strings. So, usually the Finnish 10-string kantele is tuned diatonically step by step from the dominant upwards, but the second highest note would be the sixth scale degree and the highest would be an octave to the tonic. For example, in D-major the tuning would be: A3, B3, C#4, D4, E4, F#4, G4, A4, B4, D5. Also, it is good to remember that according to the archive transcriptions the scales and the fingerings varied quite a lot from player to player and also from situation to situation. This means that the kanteleplayer would change the tuning according to the mood, and they also quite often used the technique of changing the hand position during playing. By doing that they were able to change the mode in the middle of the song.
@@arjakastinen Ah, yes, of course. I corrected my comment. While on the topic of tunings, do you happen to know how are the Russian "academic" 15-string guslis tuned and why? I think it's not a diatonic tuning, which I find very intriguing, but I haven't found any definitive answers.
As always with everything I've heard you do: enormously beautiful!
Thank you! :)
The music (which is beautiful) aside, it's interesting to read that an instrument isn't just a tool to be played, but has a history and perhaps a character, so to speak - looking for the proper strings and ways to play them so they won't break, sounds like the effort to successfully communicate to a person, not to string an instrument.
Do you think all this (strings, pitch and playing style) have been a simple thing when the instrument was made? Or did Mr. Shemeikka have to put in the effort, as well?
@@hanterdrone3868 Iivana Shemeikka made several kanteles and developed the structure and the measures towards the sound he was looking for. The instrument was regarded as "holy" in his syncretic world of beliefs (ancient ethnic beliefs combined with teachings of the orthodox church). So, defenitely, he did put in the effort. I think he sold this instrument to the museum because he had a better one to play, the one he made for himself.
such a beautiful scale ... greetings from Germany
Thanks - have a beautiful December!
@@arjakastinen Thank you very much, I wish you a nice peaceful day and a good start into the new year .. I am currently trying, with more or less success, to transfer Kantele scales and even HandPan scales to the guitar. Let's see if it works ... :-)
So beautiful... I can't stop listening to this recording
Wonderful.
Really lovely music beautiful playing - I’m a luthier in the U.K. looking for information on making a kantele ,
Beautiful music and beautiful story. Thank you!
How magical! I'm partially Finnish and I feel how something inside me resonates with this music. It's just my imagination though, the sound of this magnificent instrument makes people feel like home and at peace.
Thanks, Arja, for sharing this exquisite music! It feels somewhat hypnotic - it makes spirits to move around. By the way, do you have any kantele music recordings with a "Creative Commons" license? I need them for my videos, but cannot find anywhere.
Beautiful playing. As someone who has recently started playing I find your description of suggested finger positions very helpful. Thank you very much.
What tuning do you use? I mean e.g. your tonic is on the fourth string what are the lower ones? (I have my 12-string tuned to a natural minor scale with tonic on the third. Bottom string is low dominant, next string is flat seventh.)
This scale is Mixolydian (like major but flat seventh), and it goes step by step up and down from the tonic. The other modes that old kanteleplayers used still in the beginning of the 20th century were Lydian and dorian. And of course major and (natural) minor. One player used also the nowadays called "jazz minor" which is like the major scale but the third scale degree is flat, which means that the first chord is minor, but the fourth and the fifth chords are in major. And sometimes the lowest string was tuned to low octave of tonic, then the second lowest would be dominant, and from their the scale goes upwards step by step.
Thanks very much Arja. With my natural minor (aeolian) rooted on the third string I can play mixolydian rooted on the second! I like the mixolydian - it always seems a very "Indian" scale. Maybe I should learn sitar as well!
Small kanteles are generally tuned diatonically with all notes in order. So if you you're tuning to, say, A minor with the tonic on the third string, then the second lowest string would be simply G and the lowest one F. An exception to this rule would be 10-string kanteles, where the seventh scale degree is missing, or if you have a kantele with bass/drone strings - those strings would be tuned lower.
11-string kanteles are usually tuned to D major or D minor with the tonic on the fourth string, so the tuning would be e.g. (starting from the lowest): A B C# D E F# G A B C# D. I'm not 100% sure about a 12-string, but I would guess it's adding one highest note, so E. I'd imagine the intended tuning would be given by the maker of your kantele.
If you want to learn more about finger positions, playing styles, etc. Arja has published a book available also in English (In Visible Vibration).
@@yes9749 Principally this is right, except that in Finnish 10-string kanteles the seventh (not the sixth) scale degree is missing on the high notes. In Latvian kokle you can find such natural minor tuning, where the sixth scale degree is left out on the low strings. So, usually the Finnish 10-string kantele is tuned diatonically step by step from the dominant upwards, but the second highest note would be the sixth scale degree and the highest would be an octave to the tonic. For example, in D-major the tuning would be: A3, B3, C#4, D4, E4, F#4, G4, A4, B4, D5. Also, it is good to remember that according to the archive transcriptions the scales and the fingerings varied quite a lot from player to player and also from situation to situation. This means that the kanteleplayer would change the tuning according to the mood, and they also quite often used the technique of changing the hand position during playing. By doing that they were able to change the mode in the middle of the song.
@@arjakastinen Ah, yes, of course. I corrected my comment. While on the topic of tunings, do you happen to know how are the Russian "academic" 15-string guslis tuned and why? I think it's not a diatonic tuning, which I find very intriguing, but I haven't found any definitive answers.