> In the music with which I am familiar, Cape Breton fiddle, this type of > bowing was quite common in reels. In fact it was frequently used where > the written music had notes of equal value. In that style the first note > was played with a down bow, the bow then lifted of the string and the > next three notes played with an up bow bounced for all three notes to > achieve the "staccato" effect. The result, I believe, if used sparingly, > is more rhythmic drive to the music. > I have used the word "was" deliberately. This style is now almost > extinct in Cape Breton.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I've heard Alex Francis MacKay do that trick now and again. I noticed him doing that the time that I visited him. I copied that trick for a few tunes I picked up off of him. Just to make it sound more like the way he was playing them. However I don't use that kind of bowing often enough to remember doing it. :-) Or maybe I do, but I don't think about it because I started doing it in an attempt to copy what I was hearing, as opposed to consciously thinking about the bowing technique which was required in order to get that sound. It does have a cool sound. Something else I do which is kind of like that type of bowing (at least my wrist feels like I'm doing a similiar action) is a low-note substitution followed three of the exact same notes in quick succession, all played on the upbow, but with a slight separation between them. I don't know if there's a formal name for that type of bow trick. I like to do that quite a bit though, especially in strathspeys and certain reels. Do that the second time through a phrase, Mmmmm... Gives it so much flavor! I'm trying to think of example tunes for this and the one that comes to mind first is that A strathspey called John R. Fraser. I'm certain I do that on alot of those modal E tunes that tend to get played with Bog An Lochan as well. They lend themselves well to that. Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
