> This comment intrigues me. It has been said that this characteristic,
> whatever you call it is the most dominant feature of of Scots music
> with about 1/6 of all tunes published having this feature. I have
> concluded, without proof I must add, that composers of music for the
> pipes [which were around for approximately 1000 years before the arrival
> of the violin] felt restricted by the fact that the pipes had a very
> limited compass [nine notes] and as a result composed tunes which were
> in two keys or "double tonic" or "double key" so as to give the tune
> more variety, the effect of even a few notes in an adjacent key being
> quite noticeable and pleasing to the ear. Allowing for the deviations
> from "standard pitch" aren't the available scales on the pipes A
> mixolydian, G major, and B Dorian and aren't "double tonic tunes''
> based on these characteristic scales with the modification that with the
> arrival of the violin the characteristic was retained but the keys were
> not now restricted to A,G, and B. It seems to me that the term "double
> tonic" or "double key" describes the characteristics of these tunes very
> well. I would be very interested in your or anyone's comments
If you don't mind me saying, Alexander, I think there are a few confused
things in this statement, but maybe I am wrong? First, I said that the term
'double-tonic' was a 'convenient' way of describing something. Put simply,
you cannot have two Tonics (jokes aside, pace David Kilpatrick!), but it has
the _feel_ of two, which is why the term was thought up. Whether it
accounts for one sixth of all Scots tunes is irrelevant to the arguement.
Secondly: >>pipes [which were around for approximately 1000 years before the
arrival of the violin] << The Scottish makar, Thomasof Ercyldoune (the
Rhymer), mentions the 'fiddle' in 13th-century Scotland (and the lute and
harp). Now what was the fiddle or fidel? Certainly it was not the Italian
baroque instrument of the 17th century, but it was a _type_ of fiddle,
played with a bow. The fidel and, later, the viol were in Scotland for
centuries before the Italian job came along. The older bowed instruments
must have laid some kind of foundations for the sudden expansion of interest
in the 17th and 18th centuries. I think we need to look more into those
instruments to find out what the Scottish angle on them was. As Derek Hoy
has nothing better to do (!), maybe you could do the research, Derek? I
approached the lute and guitar in Scotland innocently, and have been overrun
with information. Who knows what is out there?
Thirdly: >>felt restricted by the fact that the pipes had a very limited
compass [nine notes] << the early pipes had only 8 notes, even more
'limited', to use your term. I think the history of pipe playing across the
world can only lead to the conclusion that 8 or 9 notes is NOT a limitation.
OK, so it can't normally play semitones, but neither could the clarsach -
another national instrument.
Fourthly: >>as a result composed tunes which were in two keys or "double
tonic" or "double key"<< what you are refering to are _modes_ , not
keys. I'm sorry to be so bloody pedantic about it, but modes are the
foundation of 90 per cent of Scottish music, so we had better try to
understand them. Even the major scale can be refered to as the Ionian mode.
>>Allowing for the deviations from "standard pitch" aren't the available
scales on the pipes A mixolydian, G major, and B Dorian<< The Highland pipe
notes are: GABCsharpDEFsharpGA, which gives a D major scale (or D Ionian), A
Mixolydian, G Lydian and B Aeolian. It also gives E Dorian, Fsharp Phrygian
and Csharp Lochrian! These are rarely used, however.
Fifthly: >>It seems to me that the term "double tonic" or "double key"
describes the characteristics of these tunes very well. I would be very
interested in your or anyone's comments<< Double tonic is indeed a useful
phrase, if meaningless under cold analysis. But Double Key is just too
weird.
Not everyone on this list is a musician, and I apologise to those who find
this all boring or irrellevant. For some of us, though, it is important to
try and find out what exactly is Scottish about Scottish music. Architecture
in music is simply the shape of emotions and ideas, that is why an
understanding of the peculiar architecture of Scottish music is important.
Rob
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.robmackillop.com
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