Scottish fiddling
Encyclopedia
Scottish fiddling, even to many an untrained ear, can be distinguished from other Celtic
and folk
fiddling
styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures, arguably more than in related styles. There is also a strong link to the playing of traditional Scottish
bagpipes
which is better known throughout the world and is a chapter of its own.
which is more characteristically Scottish in style. This is particularly due to the counties geographic location, and rural isolation to the rest of Ireland as well as its Scottish influence. http://worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20070130191430395
. The original home of the strathspey
, these tunes were played with much staccato
and use of the Scotch snap, as well as the arrow stroke (also known as the driven bow).
Much can be learned from listening to recordsing of the great fiddlers. These include
and Argyllshire. These regions hold plenty of bagpiping influences. As a result of their piping influence, they place a very high value on the pipe march. The Cape Breton
style of fiddle music is related to these styles of music, the Cape Bretoners having come from the Highlands to Nova Scotia in the 1800s. West coast fiddlers include Angus Grant (Senior), Iain MacFarlane (Glenfinnan), Archie MacAlistair (Campbeltown), Alasdair White (Lewis), Allan Henderson (Mallaig) and Eilidh Shaw (Taynuilt). Highland fiddlers include the late Donald Riddell (d. 1992) - and his former pupils Duncan Chisholm (Kirkhill), Bruce MacGregor (Inverness) and Sarah-Jane Summers (Inverness) - the late Alexander Grant of Battangorm (1856-1942), and Lauren MacColl (Fortrose).
The Highland style is particularly known for the strathspey, which is said to originate in the area of Strathspey.
s and tunes of varied rhythmical emphasis using much double-stopping (ie playing two notes/strings together) often compositions are composed or rearranged to incorporate two or more fiddlers.
musicians promote their music as a style of Scottish music, though some purists argue that Cape Breton is located in Canada, not Scotland, and therefore the style shouldn't be given the same treatments as the others. This music is often accompanied by a piano
and has a very apparent dance rhythm, often being complimented with step dancing. Irish immigration to the Americas has also had a substantial influence upon Cape Breton music.
" region of Scotland, where two fifths of the population reside. There is a significant influence in this area from immigration from Ireland and the rural areas of Scotland coĩnciding with the rise of industry.
Top fiddlers from Scotland today include Aly Bain
, Bruce MacGregor, Duncan Chisholm, John Martin, John McCusker, Chris Stout
, Iain MacFarlane, Charlie McKerron, Eilidh Shaw, Douglas Lawrence, Catriona MacDonald
, Alasdair White, Aidan O'Rourke, Calum MacKinnon and many more, including a burgeoning number of fine young players.
With mass migration the tradition has been carried with the emigrants (both voluntary and forced migrations) all over the world and "Scottish Trad" is now played around the world. Key performers in the USA include Bonnie Rideout
, John Turner, Melinda Crawford, Colyn Fischer
, Alasdair Fraser
, Hanneke Cassel
, Ed Pearlman, and Elke Baker.
Another style worth mentioning is the music of County Donegal
, Ireland
(just a short boat journey away), which is not strictly Scots but Irish. The accent on the Donegal fiddle tradition
is somewhat more akin to the Scots tradition than to the Irish. The historical connection between the west coast of Scotland and Donegal is an ancient one (many shared names) as can be heard in the volume of strathspeys, schottische
s, marches
, and Donegal's own strong highland piping tradition. (See Donegal fiddle tradition
). And, like some Scottish fiddlers (which tends to use a short bow and play in a more straight-ahead fashion), some Donegal fiddlers worked at imitating the sound of the highland pipes. Scotland has influenced Donegal fiddling in various ways. Workers from Donegal would go to Scotland in the summer and bring back Scottish tunes with them; Donegal fiddlers have found some good tunes in Scottish tunebooks and learned from records of Scottish fiddlers like J. Scott Skinner and Mackenzie Murdoch. And fishermen from Donegal have returned from Shetland fisheries with Shetland tunes.
The Scotch snap is a very particular characteristic of much Scottish music. It is generally represented in musical notation by a sixteenth followed by a dotted eighth.
Cape Breton fiddlers:
American fiddlers:
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
fiddling
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures, arguably more than in related styles. There is also a strong link to the playing of traditional Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
which is better known throughout the world and is a chapter of its own.
Shetland
A bouncy and lively style with much Norwegian influence. It employs ringing open strings above and below the melody line. There is also some amount of Irish musical influence due to the influece of working men and seafarers (fishing and merchant), which lead to influences from Shetland and the rest of Scotland cross pollinating back to Ireland. Particularly to the Donegal fiddle traditionDonegal fiddle tradition
The Donegal fiddle tradition is a type of Irish traditional music, based on a two-hundred year-old tradition of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland...
which is more characteristically Scottish in style. This is particularly due to the counties geographic location, and rural isolation to the rest of Ireland as well as its Scottish influence. http://worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20070130191430395
See also
- Tom AndersonTom Anderson (fiddler)Dr. Tom Anderson MBE, was a renowned Shetland fiddler and teacher. He was affectionately known to his peers as "Muckle Tammie" .Dr...
- Aly BainAly BainAly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
- Willie HunterWillie HunterWillie Hunter was a Scottish folk fiddler born in Shetland who played an important part in the rejuvenation of the Shetland fiddling traditions. He began playing at age four, and was taught by Gideon Stove of Lerwick and Geoffrey di Mercado, who provided classical violin training. Hunter played...
- Chris StoutChris StoutChris Stout is a fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle, a small Shetland island, and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s....
- Fiddlers' BidFiddlers' BidFiddlers' Bid are a Shetland based instrumental group known for playing contemporary arrangements of traditional Shetland fiddle tunes. The seven piece line-up consists of four fiddles, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and piano/Clàrsach....
- Maggie AdamsonMaggie AdamsonMaggie Adamson is a musician from Shetland who plays fiddle, violin, accordion and piano . She has played with several groups including Swingin’ Fiddles but is perhaps best known for her collaboration with Shetland guitarist Brian Nicholson.-Awards and achievements:...
- Arthur Scott RobertsonArthur Scott RobertsonArthur Scott Robertson was a fiddle player from Shetland. He was most recognized as "Scotland's Champion Fiddler".-Life:...
North-East
An elegant and classically influenced style with roots in the bothyBothy
A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are to be found in remote, mountainous areas of Scotland, northern England, Ireland, and Wales....
. The original home of the strathspey
Strathspey (dance)
A strathspey is a type of dance tune in 4/4 time. It is similar to a hornpipe but slower and more stately, and contains many dot-cut 'snaps'. A so-called Scotch snap is a short note before a dotted note, which in traditional playing is generally exaggerated rhythmically for musical expression...
, these tunes were played with much staccato
Staccato
Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
and use of the Scotch snap, as well as the arrow stroke (also known as the driven bow).
Much can be learned from listening to recordsing of the great fiddlers. These include
- Hector MacAndrew
- Angus Fitchett
- Ron Gonnella
- Alastair Hardie
- James Scott SkinnerJames Scott SkinnerJames Scott Skinner was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler, and composer.Skinner was born in Banchory, near Aberdeen. His father was a dancing master on Deeside. James was only eighteen months old when his father died. When James was seven, his elder brother, Sandy, gave him lessons in...
See also
- Niel GowNiel GowNiel Gow was the most famous Scottish fiddler and dancie of the eighteenth century.-Biography:...
- Nathaniel GowNathaniel GowNathaniel Gow was the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions including the popular "Caller Herrin'".-Early life:...
- William MarshallWilliam Marshall (Scottish composer)William Marshall is regarded as one of the greatest composers of Scottish fiddle music.Marshall was born in Fochabers, Scotland. He entered the service of the Duke of Gordon, eventually becoming the Factor to the Gordon Estate. James Hunter's The Fiddle Music of Scotland credits Marshall with...
- Robert Mackintosh
- James Scott SkinnerJames Scott SkinnerJames Scott Skinner was a Scottish dancing master, violinist, fiddler, and composer.Skinner was born in Banchory, near Aberdeen. His father was a dancing master on Deeside. James was only eighteen months old when his father died. When James was seven, his elder brother, Sandy, gave him lessons in...
West Coast / Gaelic / Highland Style
These styles also include the inner and outer HebridesHebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
and Argyllshire. These regions hold plenty of bagpiping influences. As a result of their piping influence, they place a very high value on the pipe march. The Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
style of fiddle music is related to these styles of music, the Cape Bretoners having come from the Highlands to Nova Scotia in the 1800s. West coast fiddlers include Angus Grant (Senior), Iain MacFarlane (Glenfinnan), Archie MacAlistair (Campbeltown), Alasdair White (Lewis), Allan Henderson (Mallaig) and Eilidh Shaw (Taynuilt). Highland fiddlers include the late Donald Riddell (d. 1992) - and his former pupils Duncan Chisholm (Kirkhill), Bruce MacGregor (Inverness) and Sarah-Jane Summers (Inverness) - the late Alexander Grant of Battangorm (1856-1942), and Lauren MacColl (Fortrose).
The Highland style is particularly known for the strathspey, which is said to originate in the area of Strathspey.
See also
- Angus Grant, left-handed fiddler
- West Coast Fiddle Style
- Duncan Chisholm
- Bruce MacGregor
- Sarah-Jane Summers
- Lauren MacColl
Borders
A lot of hornpipeHornpipe
The term hornpipe refers to any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and elsewhere from the late 17th century until the present day. It is said that hornpipe as a dance began around the 16th century on English sailing vessels...
s and tunes of varied rhythmical emphasis using much double-stopping (ie playing two notes/strings together) often compositions are composed or rearranged to incorporate two or more fiddlers.
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Cape BretonCape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
musicians promote their music as a style of Scottish music, though some purists argue that Cape Breton is located in Canada, not Scotland, and therefore the style shouldn't be given the same treatments as the others. This music is often accompanied by a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and has a very apparent dance rhythm, often being complimented with step dancing. Irish immigration to the Americas has also had a substantial influence upon Cape Breton music.
Scottish fiddling in general
Due to migration from rural Scotland to the industrial areas and the rest of the world, many players have returned again over time with certain traditions intact and some evolved through the melding of various styles. This is very apparent in the "Central BeltCentral Belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is a common term used to describe the area of highest population density within Scotland. Despite the name, it is not geographically central but is nevertheless situated at the 'waist' of Scotland on a conventional map and the term 'central' is used in many local...
" region of Scotland, where two fifths of the population reside. There is a significant influence in this area from immigration from Ireland and the rural areas of Scotland coĩnciding with the rise of industry.
Top fiddlers from Scotland today include Aly Bain
Aly Bain
Aly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
, Bruce MacGregor, Duncan Chisholm, John Martin, John McCusker, Chris Stout
Chris Stout
Chris Stout is a fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle, a small Shetland island, and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s....
, Iain MacFarlane, Charlie McKerron, Eilidh Shaw, Douglas Lawrence, Catriona MacDonald
Catriona MacDonald
Catriona McDonald is a musician and teacher from Shetland and is considered to be one of the world's leading traditional fiddle players.- Background :...
, Alasdair White, Aidan O'Rourke, Calum MacKinnon and many more, including a burgeoning number of fine young players.
With mass migration the tradition has been carried with the emigrants (both voluntary and forced migrations) all over the world and "Scottish Trad" is now played around the world. Key performers in the USA include Bonnie Rideout
Bonnie Rideout
Bonnie Rideout is a fiddler in the Scottish style, consistently featured on The Thistle & Shamrock, a Celtic music radio show broadcast by the United States' NPR. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia.-External links:*...
, John Turner, Melinda Crawford, Colyn Fischer
Colyn Fischer
Colyn C. Fischer is an American violinist that has played the violin since the age of three and has been Scottish fiddling since the age of five. As a teenager, he studied with a number of the great fiddlers of Scotland, such as Ian Powrie and Alasdair Hardy, and of the United States, including...
, Alasdair Fraser
Alasdair Fraser
Alasdair Fraser is a Scottish fiddler.Fraser operates Culburnie Records, and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded three summer fiddling programs: the fiddle camp in California , a week-long course on the Isle of Skye and the more recent in California...
, Hanneke Cassel
Hanneke Cassel
Hanneke Cassel is a folk violinist. She was born in Oregon and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at Berklee College of Music in 2000. Hanneke is the 1997 U.S...
, Ed Pearlman, and Elke Baker.
Another style worth mentioning is the music of County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
(just a short boat journey away), which is not strictly Scots but Irish. The accent on the Donegal fiddle tradition
Donegal fiddle tradition
The Donegal fiddle tradition is a type of Irish traditional music, based on a two-hundred year-old tradition of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland...
is somewhat more akin to the Scots tradition than to the Irish. The historical connection between the west coast of Scotland and Donegal is an ancient one (many shared names) as can be heard in the volume of strathspeys, schottische
Schottische
The schottische is a partnered country dance, that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina , Finland , France, Italy, Norway , Portugal and Brazil , Spain ...
s, marches
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
, and Donegal's own strong highland piping tradition. (See Donegal fiddle tradition
Donegal fiddle tradition
The Donegal fiddle tradition is a type of Irish traditional music, based on a two-hundred year-old tradition of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland...
). And, like some Scottish fiddlers (which tends to use a short bow and play in a more straight-ahead fashion), some Donegal fiddlers worked at imitating the sound of the highland pipes. Scotland has influenced Donegal fiddling in various ways. Workers from Donegal would go to Scotland in the summer and bring back Scottish tunes with them; Donegal fiddlers have found some good tunes in Scottish tunebooks and learned from records of Scottish fiddlers like J. Scott Skinner and Mackenzie Murdoch. And fishermen from Donegal have returned from Shetland fisheries with Shetland tunes.
The Scotch snap is a very particular characteristic of much Scottish music. It is generally represented in musical notation by a sixteenth followed by a dotted eighth.
See also
- Captain Simon Fraser
- Nathaniel GowNathaniel GowNathaniel Gow was the fourth son of Niel Gow, and a celebrated performer, composer and arranger of tunes, songs and other pieces on his own right. He wrote about 200 compositions including the popular "Caller Herrin'".-Early life:...
- Niel GowNiel GowNiel Gow was the most famous Scottish fiddler and dancie of the eighteenth century.-Biography:...
- J. Murdoch HendersonJ. Murdoch HendersonJ. Murdoch Henderson was a Scottish fiddler, composer, and music critic.John Murdoch Henderson was born in New Deer, Scotland, and became a mathematics teacher in Aberdeen. A childhood accident hampered Henderson's playing, but he took an interest in the interpretation of fiddle music and...
- Robert Mackintosh
- William MarshallWilliam Marshall (Scottish composer)William Marshall is regarded as one of the greatest composers of Scottish fiddle music.Marshall was born in Fochabers, Scotland. He entered the service of the Duke of Gordon, eventually becoming the Factor to the Gordon Estate. James Hunter's The Fiddle Music of Scotland credits Marshall with...
- James Oswald
- Irish Fiddle
- Donegal fiddle traditionDonegal fiddle traditionThe Donegal fiddle tradition is a type of Irish traditional music, based on a two-hundred year-old tradition of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland...
- Canadian fiddleCanadian fiddleCanadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional folk music of Canada on the fiddle. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois Frenchfolk music tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere Due to...
- American fiddleAmerican fiddleThis page is about fiddle music in the USA. For other North American styles, see Fiddle#Fiddling_styles.American fiddle playing began with the early settlers who found that the small viol family instruments were portable and rugged. According to Ron Yule, "John Utie, a 1620 immigrant, settled in...
Modern Day Fiddlers
Scots fiddlers:- Alasdair FraserAlasdair FraserAlasdair Fraser is a Scottish fiddler.Fraser operates Culburnie Records, and is a leading artist on the label. He has founded three summer fiddling programs: the fiddle camp in California , a week-long course on the Isle of Skye and the more recent in California...
- Aly BainAly BainAly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
- Allan Henderson
- Catriona MacDonaldCatriona MacDonaldCatriona McDonald is a musician and teacher from Shetland and is considered to be one of the world's leading traditional fiddle players.- Background :...
- Duncan ChisholmDuncan ChisholmDuncan Chisholm is a Scottish fiddler and founder member of folk rock group Wolfstone. As well as Wolfstone, he often tours with Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis' band and Wolfstone's previous lead singer Ivan Drever. He is a former member of ensemble Blazin' Fiddles...
- Iain MacFarlane
- John Turner
- Chris StoutChris StoutChris Stout is a fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle, a small Shetland island, and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s....
- Colyn FischerColyn FischerColyn C. Fischer is an American violinist that has played the violin since the age of three and has been Scottish fiddling since the age of five. As a teenager, he studied with a number of the great fiddlers of Scotland, such as Ian Powrie and Alasdair Hardy, and of the United States, including...
- Adam SutherlandAdam SutherlandAdam Sutherland is a musician/producer from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He formerly played guitar in the 604 Records band Armchair Cynics and runs a small project studio called "Infiniti Studios".-Production credits:-External links:**...
- Alasdair WhiteAlasdair WhiteAlasdair White is a Scottish folk musician who played with the Battlefield Band as a fiddler since 2001, when he was 18 years old.White is a Scottish Gaelic speaker, and originates from Tong on the Island of Lewis one of Scotland's Outer Hebrides islands, a geographical area where the Gaelic...
Cape Breton fiddlers:
- Buddy MacMasterBuddy MacMasterHugh Alan "Buddy" MacMaster, is one of the most renowned artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.-Early life:...
- Natalie MacMasterNatalie MacMasterNatalie MacMaster, CM is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music....
American fiddlers:
- Brittney Haas
- Hanneke CasselHanneke CasselHanneke Cassel is a folk violinist. She was born in Oregon and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at Berklee College of Music in 2000. Hanneke is the 1997 U.S...
- Jeremy Kittel
- Bonnie RideoutBonnie RideoutBonnie Rideout is a fiddler in the Scottish style, consistently featured on The Thistle & Shamrock, a Celtic music radio show broadcast by the United States' NPR. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia.-External links:*...
- Laura RiskLaura RiskLaura Risk is an acclaimed California-born violinist. She specializes in performing and teaching the diverse fiddle repertoire of Scotland and Quebec.Laura performs both solo and in collaboration with such artists as Sandy Silva, Ken Kolodner, and Paddy League...