A Treasure You Can Bring to Life

Imagine sitting with a pair of sticks and a drum – and that what you play is a living heritage. The trommeslåttar (traditional drum tunes) of the Sundvor tradition were long forgotten, regarded as an amusing curiosity. Today more and more percussionists are playing these old tunes, and for the first time "tamburar" (drummers in the tradition) are competing at the Landskappleik, the national competition for Norwegian folk music. You could be one of them.

Rune Martinsen shows us something important: the notation is only a reminder. The real music lives in the ears, in the pulse, in the oral transmission from player to player. That means you do not simply repeat notes – you interpret, you listen, and you shape. Even a tambur of the past like Fredrik Uggdal, "svært skjelvande i Hendom" ("very shaky in his hands"), left behind traces worth examining.

Here there are unanswered questions: Did the tunes go in 5/8 time, or should they be played at a steady pulse? How did the drums for dancing sound around the country? No one knows for certain. That means there is still room for new ears, new hands – and for you.

So pick up the sticks. Listen, try, fail, try again. The trommeslåttar are a treasure chest waiting for new percussionists to open it.