Springlek

Springlek is a fast polska from Västerdalarna with a short first beat

As I’m learning about polska, there’s loads of different kinds!

The distinct feature of this kind of tune is the short first beat “kort etta”, very short with a heavy emphasis on the 2nd beat. Sometimes you see an extra heavy dance step on the second beat. Quite often see tied notes across the barlines

People who play in this tradition: Mattias Helje, Lars Halvarsson, Kalle Almlöf.

There’s other kinds of kort etta polskor too - Värmland polska, Boda polska (also Dalarna) and Røros pols (Norway).

Don’t learn tunes like this from written dots! You really need to learn them by ear, and just use dots as a memory aid that the tune exists.

Here’s a cool tune from near Malung. Here’s someone teaching it. Note that the F notes are slightly sharper than may be expected

X: 1
T: Polska efter Lissmyr Erik Persson
O: västra Dalarna
R: polska, springlek
S: https://spillefolk.dk/nodesamling/visnode.php?key=po-lissmyrerik3
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: Dm
   A | A>a  a<a g>a | f>f e<d e>f | e<^c Ac  d>e |1,3 (3fdf e<^c A2 :|2,4 (3fe^c d3 :|
|: A | d>^c A>c d>e | f>f e<d e>f | e>^c A>c d>e |1,3 (3fdf e<^c A2 :|2,4 (3fe^c d3 :|

Springlek

Sources