The unofficial national instrument of Sweden, the nyckelharpa is a member of a family of keyed fiddles. This modern chromatic nyckelharpa dates to 1929, when luthier and engineer Eric Sahlström improved a design instrumentalist August Bohlin innovated in 1926. This “model” features three playing strings, one drone string, and twelve chromatically tuned sympathetic strings. Two-time nyckelharpa World Champion Peter Hedlund describes Ken’s nyckelharpas as the best American-made ‘harpas he has played.
