Cape Breton fiddling

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Cape Breton fiddling
The World's Largest Fiddle (and bow) on the Sydney waterfront in Cape Breton.
EtymologyCape Breton
Cultural originsScottish
Local scenes
Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton fiddling is a regional

Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held[who?] that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music
has been better preserved in Cape Breton. While there is a similar tradition from the Irish-style fiddling, that style is largely overlooked as a result of the strong Scottish presence in the area.

In the span of the 1920s to the 70s, Cape Breton's fiddling style faced decline. [2]

Dance styles associated with the music are Cape Breton

highland dancing
.

In 2005, as a tribute to the area's

traditional music, the construction of a tourism center and the world's largest fiddle and bow was completed on the waterfront in Sydney, Nova Scotia
.

Playing style

Cape Breton- Scottish playing is highly accented, characterized by driven up-bowing.

French-Canadian, etc.) sound quite different when performed by Cape Breton- Scottosh players. The strong downbeat pulse is driven by the fiddler's heel into the floor. The pattern tends to be heel-and-toe on reels, the heel on strathspeys
.

Cape Breton fiddle music is strongly influenced by the intonations of the

doubling
) brings out the strong feeling of Cape Breton fiddle.

A century ago the violin and pump organ were the common instruments; the latter has been supplanted by piano to provide a rhythmic accompaniment.

Repertoire

The types of tunes commonly associated with Cape Breton - Scottish fiddling are

jigs, reels, marches, strathspeys, clogs (hornpipes), and slow airs. Many of the tunes associated with this style fiddle music are also commonly performed on other instruments, especially bagpipes, piano and guitar. It is not unheard of for the music to be performed on harmonica, tin whistle, mandolin or banjo
.

Modern Cape Breton players draw on a large body of music, from the Scottish and Irish traditions, and from modern compositions. Several older books of tune collections have been particularly popular sources:

A number of recent publications also document a substantial amount of the modern Cape Breton - Scottish repertoire:

  • Beaton, Kinnon (2000), The Beaton Collection (compositions of Kinnon, Donald Angus, and Andrea Beaton)
  • Cameron, John Donald (2000), The Heather Hill Collection (compositions of Dan R. MacDonald)
  • Cameron, John Donald (1994), The Trip To Windsor Collection (compositions of Dan R. MacDonald, volume 2)
  • Cranford, Paul (2007), The Cape Breton Fiddlers Collection
  • Cranford, Paul (1997), Winston Fitzgerald: A Collection of Fiddle Tunes
  • Dunlay, Kate, and David Greenberg (1996), The Dungreen Collection - Traditional Celtic Violin Music of Cape Breton
  • Holland, Jerry (1988, several revised editions), Jerry Holland's Collection of Fiddle Tunes
  • Holland, Jerry (2000), Jerry Holland: The Second Collection
  • MacEachern, Dan Hugh (1975), MacEachern's Collection
  • Ruckert, George (2009), John Campbell: A Cape Breton Legacy
  • Stubbert, Brenda (1994), Brenda Stubbert's Collection of Fiddle Tunes
  • Stubbert, Brenda (2007), Brenda Stubbert: The Second Collection

See also

References

  1. ^ "Forrest W. Larson, "In the Blood: Cape Breton Conversations on Culture," Oral History Review Vol. 40 No. 1, January 2013". Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  2. doi:10.14288/1.0066585
    .
  3. ^ Herdman, Jessica (2008-08-28). "The Cape Breton fiddling narrative : innovation, preservation, dancing". The University of British Columbia Library. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

Further reading

  • MacGillivray, Allister (1981), The Cape Breton Fiddler, College of Cape Breton Press.
    ISBN 0-920336-12-4
    .

External links
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