Tjärnblom, Swedish for "woodland lake flower", is a Scandinavian-style string band featuring a beautiful blend of Nyckelharpa, Octave Mandolin, Harmonium and Cello.  They travel a modern "Snoose Boulevard Highway" in a musical journey, and play a repertoire of both old and new Swedish, Finnish, and Minnesota tunes for dancing and for listening. They’ve performed across the state of Minnesota, and have appeared on Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion show. The name Tjärnblom is in honor of the Swedish grandfather of one of the band members. 

View Tjärnblom performing at the Prairie Home Companion Show

Taped live on the lawn at Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota, on July 4, 2015

Our Instruments

​The Nyckelharpa
The Nyckelharpa is historically a Swedish folk instrument, now played around the world.  In earliest form, it dates to the 14th century;  followed by related instruments in the 17th and 18th centuries.  We play the 20th century version, which has 16 strings.  Three of these strings have 'keys' tuned chromatically for playing melody in a three-octave range.  One of the strings is without keys; tuned to a low C it functions as a drone, chord or melody note.   Twelve sympathetic strings which are tuned to the 12-note chromatic (Western) scale, resonate as the main strings are played.  All forms of the instrument are played with a short bow. 

The Mandolin
The Mandolin, Octave Mandolin and Guitar are all fretted instruments played by picking and strumming.  The mandolins have 8 strings tuned in pairs; the guitar has 6 strings.  They are played in many cultures, and musical genres, as both melodic and accompanying instruments.

The Harmonium
The Harmonium, also called a pump organ, is a reed organ that generates sound by the pumping of foot pedals to fill the bellows, which in turn oscillate the reeds.  Such instruments were particularly used in the late 19th to early 20th centuries in homes, small churches, etc.  They became popular again in the Nordic Folk Wave of the 1970s, particularly in Finland.  Our harmonium is portable, folding up into a transportable box. 

The Cello
The cello is a bass instrument member in the violin family.  It has 4 strings pitched C G D A and can be played by bowing or plucking.  The earliest cellos are found in the 16th century.  The cello is found in ensembles in many musical settings including Nordic folk music.