Three institutes for adult education, “Eric Sahlström Institutet” in Sweden, “Academy BURG FÜRSTENECK” in Germany and “Scuola di Musica Popolare” in Italy, established the CADENCE co-operation. The objectives were to search for subjects, didactic methods and management of cultural education. In addition, research was done on similarities and peculiarities of musical education in the 3 countries. An exceptional common teaching subject of the partner-institutions is the nyckelharpa. This instrument was therefore used as the example for this study. The nyckelharpa is a string instrument played with a bow and with keys that change the pitch. In the Middle Ages pictures of the nyckelharpa appear along a north-south axis running through the three participating countries. Since the Baroque era it has only been played in Sweden as a folklore instrument. Thanks to innovative musicians in Sweden, notably Eric Sahlström, and a few inspired musicians in Continental Europe, the nyckelharpa is now being rediscovered all over the world and used in increasingly many musical styles. 2010, an international study-group, 18 permanent participants plus guests, visited the 3 institutes to exchange their ideas and experiences of the organisation, methods and activities of musical adult education. The study-visits consisted of detailed presentations of the host institutes and their local specialities, teaching and learning music to discover typical approaches in musical adult education and of public conferences and concerts to unveil the project and the nyckelharpa. The cooperation of the three institutes set off an additional partnership between their respective home municipalities. A printed report and a CD present articles on the CADENCE programme, the institutes and the participants, the partnership and the music taught and played during the visits and in the CADENCE concerts. This report and additional articles and sheet music are be published on our website www.cadence.nyckelharpa.eu