Editing Hardanger fiddle (section)

==Tunings==
{{See also|Scordatura#Scordatura in folk music|l1=''Scordatura'' in folk music}}
Unlike the violin, the {{lang|no|hardingfele}} is a [[transposing instrument]], meaning [[sheet music]] for the {{lang|no|hardingfele}} is written in a key other than the one where the instrument sounds when it plays that music. Specifically, the {{lang|no|hardingfele}} is a D instrument,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hfaa.org/Home/articles-on-the-hardanger-fiddle/what-you-should-know-about-the-hardanger-fiddle |title=What You Should Know About the hardanger Fiddle - Hardanger Fiddle Association of America |website=www.hfaa.org |access-date=2016-06-26 |archive-date=2016-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711062817/http://www.hfaa.org/Home/articles-on-the-hardanger-fiddle/what-you-should-know-about-the-hardanger-fiddle |url-status=dead}}</ref> meaning that the {{lang|no|hardingfele}}'s written [[C (musical note)|C]] corresponds to [[D (musical note)|D]] on a non-transposing instrument, such as the [[piano]]. The notes given below for tunings are therefore relative to the {{lang|no|hardingfele}}'s written A, not to a [[concert pitch|concert A]].
[[File:Midtdetalj.jpg|right|thumb|The strings on a {{lang|no|hardingfele}}]]
The understrings are tuned to vibrate according to the main tuning. For example, when the main strings are tuned A-D-A-E, the understrings are tuned B-D-E-F{{Music|#}}-A.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.hfaa.org/about-the-hardanger-fiddle/articles-on-the-hardanger-fiddle/a-guide-to-tunings-on-the-hardingfele |title= A Guide to Tunings on the Hardingfele - Hardanger Fiddle Association of America |website=www.hfaa.org}}</ref> The tuning largely depends on the region in which the instrument is being played, or the requirements of a particular tune.

In Norway, more than 20 different tunings are recorded.<ref>Gurvin 1958.</ref> Most hardanger tunes are played in a common tuning (A-D-A-E). The hardanger fiddle can also be played in "low bass", the word "bass" referring to the lowest string, (G-D-A-E), the normal violin tuning. In certain regions, the "Gorrlaus" (F-D-A-E) tuning is sometimes used. Many well-known players (such as [[Annbjørg Lien]]) frequently employ E-scale tunings; i.e., instead of A-D-A-E, with tunes being mainly played in a D-scale, the instrument will be tuned to B-E-B-F#, so the tunes are mostly in an E-scale. Going higher still, the player [[Knut Buen]] recorded several albums in an F-scale tuning, C-F-C-G. This is possible only on a smaller-bodied instrument (such as a hardanger fiddle), being rarely attempted on a standard full-sized violin. As a substitute, many fiddlers who play standard violins will simply tune their G string to A, using the A-D-A-E tuning, enabling them to play the same style of music.

Another tuning is called "[[troll]] tuning" (A-E-A-C{{Music|#}}). Troll tuning is used for the {{ill|fanitullen|no}} tunes, also called the [[devil in Christianity|devil]]'s tunes, as well as the tunes from the [[Kivlemøyane]] suite (thus associated with the [[hulder]]people as well as the devil). In the [[Valdres]] [[districts of Norway|district of Norway]], using this particular tuning is called "greylighting", a reminder that the fiddler tuned his fiddle like this when the morning was near, and he had played himself through a number of other tunings.

Legend has it that the fiddler learned {{lang|no|fanitullen}} tunes from the devil. This tuning limits the melodic range of the tunes and is therefore sparsely used.