Gånglåt
Encyclopedia
A gånglåt is a category of Swedish
traditional folk music; a fiddle-tune in an easy, 4/4 or 2/4 march meter. The name in Swedish
means "walking tune", and the traditional tempo is that of a stately walk. Not to be referred to/or confused with a march when this is spoken of in Swedish in the traditional genre. A gånglåt resembles a slow Irish reel in structure, with two (or, more rarely, three) 16-bar strains, each repeated twice, in the form AABB.
The Swedish folk fiddle repertoire contains hundreds of traditional tunes in this form. They are often performed by several fiddlers (see: spelmanslag
) in multiple-part harmony.
Other common music styles in Swedish traditional folk music:
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
traditional folk music; a fiddle-tune in an easy, 4/4 or 2/4 march meter. The name in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
means "walking tune", and the traditional tempo is that of a stately walk. Not to be referred to/or confused with a march when this is spoken of in Swedish in the traditional genre. A gånglåt resembles a slow Irish reel in structure, with two (or, more rarely, three) 16-bar strains, each repeated twice, in the form AABB.
The Swedish folk fiddle repertoire contains hundreds of traditional tunes in this form. They are often performed by several fiddlers (see: spelmanslag
Spelmanslag
The spelmanslag is an amateur organization of Swedish folk musicians, usually dominated by fiddles, who play tunes together. Often these groups play tunes from the specific area of Sweden with which they are affiliated...
) in multiple-part harmony.
Other common music styles in Swedish traditional folk music:
- polska
- slängpolskaSlängpolskaThe Slängpolska is a Swedish folk dance and sometimes also the description of certain folk music tunes. The dances bearing the name slängpolska can be divided into two major types.The first type is for two or four people, and is one of the sixteenth-note versions of the polska...
- schottis
- hamboHamboThe hambo is a traditional dance that originated in Sweden in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is a couple dance in ¾ time, danced to music played with a strong accent on the first beat and a tempo that varies from moderate to fast...
- waltzWaltzThe waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
- wedding march
- polkett