How to Play Finnish 5 String Kantele

Learn to play Finnish 5 string kantele by plucking and playing chords!
0:17 Tuning D major
0:47 Plucking
2:52 Playing chords
5:25 Chords with names
6:18 Tuning D minor
Good luck!
Maija & Maija

[@nightchieftain]

Fell in love with the instrument! Seems perfect for improvisations! Definitely ordering myself one. And thanks a lot for the explanation on the technique.

[@ReinwaldKranner]

Thank you very much! You are great! You spill the joy of musicianship all over the world! Greetings from Vienna, AUSTRIA ☀️🎶❤️

[@19Annalisa87]

I also bought myself a 5 string kantele from Kantele Workshop. I live in Italy and I'm in love with Finland and it's culture. I like to play Nuku nuku nurmilintu

[@gabrielgabriel5177]

Glad to hear greeting from Finland to Italy 🙏😄

[@jawolf3296]

Hi ! I'm looking for a good website making Kantele, can you tell me if it's quality and sounds good ? thanks

[@19Annalisa87]

@@jawolf3296 melodia soitin

[@christianjbauer]

Thanks for the workshop! Glad to see you again - since last year in Korrö. You both are great musicians and singers!

[@MaijaPokela]

Thanks! Korrö is the best!

[@patrickwoolery6000]

Thank you both for this video.

[@poppyinajar]

Thanks for sharing this! I want to learn to play kanklės - the Lithuanian version of kantele :)

[@magnusvanttinen7855]

Great Kantele school. So beautyful

[@bradt8019]

I play dinosaur mode 🤔. For me, practice won't make perfect but the kantele is awesome anyway. Great video.😊👍

[@nkk8621]

Saw sakkijarven polka played on one of these, and now I’m interested

[@thevodkatourists3014]

Excellent video. Kiitos 🇫🇮

[@sirpamariannesinimaa7624]

Very nice introduction! It helped me very much!

[@MaijaPokela]

Great!

[@Instruisto31]

KIITOS!! Thank you very much, I hope to learn with you. Saludos from Spain.

[@user-ll4up1fs7t]

Такие красивые финочки)

[@jussi81]

Very good!

[@nea.l3501]

Nice! :D

[@francescodangelo-guitarist7170]

Kiitos paljon :) do you have any song collection book you'd raccomend to learn some repertoire for 5 strings kantele?

[@rwlrwl5951]

Thanks you.

[@idad8390]

Kiitos paljon! Tack så mycket! So good introduction video ❤

[@punkrockneverdie]

🌹ขอบพระคุณครับ🌹 💛สุขภาพแข็งแรง💛 💚โชคดีแล้วก็มีความสุข ทั้งครอบครัวนะครับ💚

[@renatasamorost2000]

Hey! Thank you so much for the tutorial! I was very glad to learn something new from such sunny girls! I have a question about strumming technique: do we use only our index finger while strumming all the strings upwards and downwards, or we can use the thumb for strumming upwards? What is more...traditional?

[@muraalia]

Kiitos tästä :) Pomin juuri kanteleen kirppikseltä ja piti haeskella netistä alkeita, kun ala-asteen soittotunneista alkaa olla kohta kolme vuosikymmentä :D

[@kupariusa4202]

Moi. I am an American who mostly makes puukko but I will be building my first kantele soon. I hope you two continue kantele tutorials and I would enjoy seeing you teach some basic songs. Perhaps do a lesson on 'Nuka nuka'?

[@kupariusa4202]

*Nuku nuku, sorry.

[@SlendisFi_Universe]

@@kupariusa4202 you mean "Nuku nuku nurmilintu"? Great choise for the first kantele song

[@olearntz]

Nuku nuku.. beautiful, indeed. But it's a lullaby (= very simple melody) that has two chords. I don't want to appear rude, but I suppose you don't need a lesson on it. Just be courageous and discover for yourself. :)

[@summertimejazzband941]

kiitos

[@catherinedunn994]

Hi, I have a question and it's hard to find someplace to ask it. I heard a kantele piece today that changed from major to minor and back mid-piece. Is this possible (like with a lever)? Is it only on larger concert kanteles that it can be done? FWIW, the piece is called 'Pienet veitikat' by Timo Väänänen.

[@user-gq3rz7bz4i]

Maybe it was a 10-string? I've got one, and it's got major and minor

[@rubenproost2552]

Learning Finnish: kantele on hyva soitin. (no, my keyboard doesn't do accents)

[@joelilchmann]

Hello, I've got a six string kantele, can you tell me the tuning for this version of kantele?

[@matthiassiegrist5836]

Very nice! Do you now, where I can buy/order a kantele? I'm from Switzerland and you don't get one around here. Thanks for your advice!

[@sebastianwei4764]

You could try lovikka.com/en or kanteleworkshop.com . There are others, of course, but those are the only ones that I know have an English webshop . I've not played any of them (I think...), so don't take this as endorsement. If you speak German, finnischekantele.blogspot.com might be helpful choosing one.

[@matthiassiegrist5836]

Thanks a lot! I ordered one at kanteleworkshop.com. It went very quick and I'm very happy with it!

[@roubeacon2401]

@@sebastianwei4764 awesome to see people nowadays that help other people online. Thanks! :)

[@ericglatz4429]

Lark in the Morning, they have a website

[@ArthurV7734]

@@matthiassiegrist5836 how is it going? Do you know how to play now??

[@JSTNtheWZRD]

🇫🇮Is the 5 string normally played by men. Is it more feminine, because it looks perfect for me to sing with. I want to get one, but also dont want to get laughed at by other Finns (as i was born in chicago) any advice?🪽💚

[@uwuingallnight7381]

Lmao I only know the Mansikka mustiika and lakka stickers some of the elementary schools had

[@FrolleinFroschbein]

I have a ten string kantele right now. How do I place my fingers there?

[@Matanc]

Thank you so much for the video!!! I'm so gonna buy one :) Btw u started to play the anthem of Israel in 6:54 haha

[@MaijaPokela]

Really :D Thanks!

[@Dinariina]

Tämä tuo muistoja lapsuudesta 80 luvulta, kun piti koulussa (3-4luokka) opetella soittamaan kanteletta. :D

[@ccddle]

did they use a kantele in the game of thrones song featuring arya stark and jaqen h'gar/"a man" (i think the name of the song is valar morghulis)? maybe i'm wrong... it just sounds similar.

[@MaijaPokela]

I'm not sure, hope so! Got is so epic!

[@ThenameisAntti]

I don't know about that song, but this is what I found on Wikipedia: "The title theme ends with a combination of dulcimer and kantele, producing a "shimmery quality" in its sound that Djawadi thought would give a sense of mystery and anticipation for the episode"

[@SlendisFi_Universe]

Olen ite aikeissa rakentaa kitanteleen eli kanteleen jossa on kuusi kitaran kieltä ja haluisin kysyä että miten viritän kyseisen epäpyhän sikiön? Onko olemassa sovellusta jolla saisin sen viritettyä vai pitääkö hommata piano jonka avulla vedän vireeseen? Pituuttaki soitto osalle tulee kitaran kaulan verran.

[@MaijaPokela]

Sanoisin, että riippuu vähän käyttötarkoituksesta! Jos soitan ainoastaan itsekseni, tykkään virittää kanteleen siihen vireeseen missä se soi parhaiten, yleensä perusääni (5-kielisessä alin kieli) on jossain d:n ja siitä kvartin ylöspäin g:n välimaastossa. Jos soitat muiden soitinten kanssa, niin lähimpään "yleisvireeseen", esim. se d:stä ylöspäin diatonisesti olisi luonteva ja monikäyttöinen kanteleen viritys. Viritän itse joko muiden soitinten mukaan tai sovelluksella (tililläni on myös viritysvideo!).

[@chinskazupka666]

What kind of chord could I use on kantele to make a sound simar to C chord ? (Sorry if it's a silly question, I'm really new to this :) ) Are there any book/instructions for kantele ?

[@McPlays123]

It depends on how you tune the kantele. Any instrument in which the notes C, E and G are accessible can play a C major chord, and C, Eb and G makes a C minor chord. In terms of instructions, there's already so much on youtube to learn from, but if you want something more structured kantelemusic.com has a 21 lesson course for beginners. Unfortunately unless you live in finland it'll probably be hard if not unachievable to find a book for kantele students. Hope that helped :)

[@chinskazupka666]

@@McPlays123 thank you, that was VERY helpful actually! Thank you so much !

[@northwind9505]

Are all the strings the same size/diameter?

[@dprivate13]

Hey lovely sound, my strings broke from 5 string Kantele and I dont know how to replace them with what kind of strings simply because the kantele that I am using was gifted to my brother from his friends from Finland while their visit in Nepal. Can you help me resolve this ? thanks again great video

[@MaijaPokela]

If you check the kantele that who has made it, then google the builder and contact them via email? Builders sell kantele strings and I suppose they could ship to Nepal too. If not, then maybe a piano string could work?! :D Before you change the string, you can measure that it should have around 7cm extra length to wrap around the pins.

[@dprivate13]

@@MaijaPokela okay will do thank you very much

[@Krabadaque]

You could also use E-strings (.010) for guitar! One guitar string may be enough for two kantele strings, if you are lucky!

[@Emppu-st9pq]

Voitteko tehdä myös suomenkielisiä opetusvideoita vai onko teillä erillinen kanava sille?

[@MaijaPokela]

Ei ole erillistä kanavaa, toistaiseksi nämä ovat olleet vähän sekakielisiä ja englantipainotteisia. Pistämme korvan taakse, kiitos palautteesta!

[@mattiasakemalm1412]

Kiitos paljon. Suomi on kyllä musiikin kotimaa.

[@theaustralianfinnivlog]

Is this the best one for beginners?

[@olearntz]

Once I asked a Finnish musician which kantele size I should start with. His answer: "Just start anywhere". I guess, Finnisch children also learn kantele in school. So, I would say, "yes, this is the right one."

[@kings7man]

do they have left handed kanteles?

[@brians132]

You take a right handed one and turn it upside down. Just like Jimi Hendrix did with his guitar 😎

[@gloriasainio7946]

Opetatteko skypen kautta ulkomaalaisille ? :)

[@MaijaPokela]

Opetuksia kannattaa kysellä esim. sähköpostitse - molempien meidän nettisivuilta löytyy yhteystiedot :)

[@hotsickle]

Can you play "Like a Virgin" ?

[@MaijaPokela]

Of course!

[@tomservo75]

Who else came here from MST3K "The Day the Earth Froze?"

[@johnhelms8226]

I have no musical ability. I would play with dinosaur hands!

[@poliglotalanzarote5058]

Hyvää huomenta! ei sanota: jugar (kantelea), vaan "tocar el kantele " kantelea. Se on parempi tällä tavalla. Se on hyvä video 👍🏻.

[@MrYogidoo]

What happened with the pinky?

[@Sisterlisk]

I'm guessing it was a kantele string related accident, if she's been putting strings onto kanteles for many years.

[@brians132]

@ 5:51 - H minor ??? 🤯

[@ThenameisAntti]

The note B is H in many European countries. To Finland that tradition came from Germany where a lot of cultural influence came from with Lutheranism.

[@olearntz]

The German note "H" (engl. B) is often said to have been invented, because a monk, who was either drunk or sleepy (or both), made a typo, while transcribing notes manually from one document to another. But historically correct is: in medieval church music, the forth (4 notes) was considered the perfect interval: C-F, D-G, E-A... but F-B is a tritonus (aka "the devil's interval"), so they had to 'invent' another tone between A and B --> voilá: B flat. Derived from the way notes were written back then, the 'old' B then was named H after the #, which ressembles the letter h, whereas the 'new' one was called B. Even nowadays, # means, you play the note one half-tone higher, whereas the b tells you to play that note one half-tone lower. And what's more: their Latin names 'b durum' ("hard B" = B) and 'b molle' ("soft B" = Bb) made us differentiate scales between major (german "Dur) and minor (german: "Moll").