Didier François (Belgium)
Article in the CADENCE project
Playing in a Relaxed Way to Avoid Tendonitis
by Didier François
Abstract:
My Article is about how to avoid tendon injuries by playing in a relaxed way. It is not an attack to other techniques, neither a "better" way to play. Its my personal experience that I like to share with everybody who wants to hear about it.
Today, tendonitis is a well known phenomenon. I have struggled for many years with this problem. The technique of the world famous violinist Arthur Grumiaux saved me. I discovered that a relaxed way of playing is the only way to get rid of the pain. I have created my own position (holding the instrument) for the bow technique and have also fine tuned the left hand position).
In this essay I would like to reach out a hand to all players who may also face the same problem. I will attempt to do this by combining technical explanations with examples of movements we use in everyday life.
Sheet music
Sa démarche chaloupée et provocante
by Didier François
Sa démarche chaloupée et provocante is a composition of Didier François based on seventh, major seventh and half diminished chords. The harmonies follow tonal principles whereas the improvisations have modal colours.
Download sheet music "Sa demarche"
Johann Sebastian Bach – Andante – Video
Antonio Carlos Jobim – Luiza
Erik Satie – Gnossienne
arr. Didier François
For many years I thought that the nyckelharpa was something more than just a melodic instrument. I started to make easy accompaniments with drone and some rhythmic gimmicks. Today I try to push the limits of the nyckelharpa a little more by playing different voices at the same time, for example: Melody, harmony and rhythm simultaneously. I think one of the real qualities of the key fiddle against other stringed instruments is that the keyboard, like the piano, gives the opportunity of playing in polyphony. It can be a real difficulty to play more than one note at the same time on the violin (like a solo sonata by Bach) and in these instances the keys of the nyckelharpa give a real advantage!
With these three examples I hope to show some different interpretations of polyphonic playing on the nyckelharpa.
Download sheet music "Bach - Andante"
Download sheet music "Jobim - Luiza"
Download sheet music "Satie - Gnossienne"
Music in CADENCE concert
Djävulspolska från Bingsjö – trad. Sweden – arr. Didier François – Video
CADENCE
by Emilia Amper and Didier François
Download sheet music "CADENCE"
Encore Compositions
Da pacem Domino – Video
Utför – Video
The next events
- 21.02.2025 to 23.02.2025
European Nyckelharpa Training (I)
Ditte Andersson
Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli (Italy) - 21.03.2025 to 23.03.2025
European Nyckelharpa Training (I)
Marco Ambrosini
Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli (Italy) - 04.04.2025 16:00 to 06.04.2025 15:00
European Nyckelharpa Training (D)
Annette Osann
Academy Burg Fürsteneck, Germany - 25.04.2025 to 27.04.2025
European Nyckelharpa Training (I)
Annette Osann
Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli (Italy) - 23.05.2025 16:00 to 25.05.2025 15:00
European Nyckelharpa Training (D)
Ditte Andersson
Academy Burg Fürsteneck, Germany - 30.05.2025 to 01.06.2025
European Nyckelharpa Training (I)
Didier François
Scuola di Musica Popolare di Forlimpopoli (Italy) - 04.08.2025 to 07.08.2025
Master Class – Early Music for Nyckelharpa
Marco Ambrosini
Sant'Agata Feltria (Italy) - 04.08.2025 to 07.08.2025
Nyckelharpa Camp – Early Music
Annette Osann
Sant'Agata Feltria (Italy) - 12.09.2025 16:00 to 14.09.2025 15:00
European Nyckelharpa Training (D)
Didier François
Academy Burg Fürsteneck, Germany - 09.10.2025 18:30 to 12.10.2025 13:00
2025 Intern. Days of the Nyckelharpa
Save the date
Academy Burg Fürsteneck, Germany - 14.11.2025 15:00 to 16.11.2025 15:00
European Nyckelharpa Training (D)
Marco Ambrosini
Hochschule für Musik Trossingen