Keith W Dunn wrote:
>
> Just what would be the deciding factor that would make it Scots Fiddle
> music if you didn't know the origin or author?
a) the tune
b) the style of playing
In the first case you have total crossover and sharing anyway, but there
are trademarks of Irish tunes and trademarks of Scottish tunes, and it
would take too long to describe them. They include small details like
the Scotch snap (short note on the beat followed by emphasis on longer
note), octave and fifth 'jumps', and the so-called double tonic or
dropped tonic (but that is hardly absent from Irish).
In the second case you can't even begin to say 'Scots' as there are
totally distinct styles of playing from Shetland, the Borders, Western
Isles, North-East, etc. Since a non-fiddle player like me can only just
begin to tell what these are after a few years of hearing them...
The only real answer is you would have be in Scotland and hear and play
a great deal of music with other people, then be in Ireland, then be in
Scandinavia - etc. Alternatively you would have to listen to
identifiable music from every possible 'celtic' genre you wanted to
study. And after a few years of listening, you might suss it.
DK
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