Juhan Uppin traces his folk music career to one choice

Estonian folk musician Juhan Uppin says an unexpected choice of instrument in a music school preparatory class helped set his path, he told ERR’s Vikerraadio programme Heli nälg.

As a child, Uppin was asked which instrument he wanted to learn. While other pupils named the violin, flute and guitar, he chose the kannel, a folk instrument. He said it was little known at the time, but a kannel teacher, Tuule Kann, had started teaching at Vanalinna Hariduskolleegium the year before. Uppin became her student, and they are now colleagues.

Uppin said folk music had been part of his childhood. His father and grandmother often talked about the past and how people played traditional instruments at parties. His father played the village kannel when he was young, and Uppin’s grandfather was a keen singer.

He said it was fortunate that he encountered the folk tradition. Although the chromatic kannel had been taught in music schools for decades, the traditional style became his focus. His childhood favourites included the bands Kukerpillid and Justament, followed later by Untsakad, Väikeste Lõõtspillide Ühing and Jäääär.

Uppin also plays the Teppo accordion, which he said is known as the Estonian accordion. Instrument maker August Teppo built them, and Uppin estimated that around 30 original instruments remain. Teppo may have made 150 to 200 during his lifetime, he said, but many have been lost, broken or taken abroad. Uppin said he has been glad to see accordion building revive over the past 15 to 20 years after it had stopped completely.

Born in Tallinn in 1984, Uppin spent his early years in Mustamäe before his family moved to central Tallinn when his sister was born. He later studied geography at the University of Tartu and folk music through distance learning at the Viljandi Culture Academy. He said trying to study both led to burnout. He also completed a degree in economics at Tallinn University of Technology, though he did not feel a strong connection to that field.

Uppin said he tends to listen to melodies and harmonies rather than lyrics. The words can be about anything, he said, as long as the music appeals to him. He is Estonia’s first folk musician to earn a doctorate and the first to receive the honorary title Vabariigi pillimees.