Cape Breton fiddling

Violin style from Nova Scotia, Canada

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Cape Breton fiddling

The World's Largest Fiddle (and bow) on the Sydney waterfront in Cape Breton.

Etymology| Cape Breton
Cultural origins| Scottish
Local scenes
Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. The more predominant style in Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances.[1] These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Although fiddling has changed 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 overlooked as a result of the 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 step dancing, Cape Breton square dancing (Iona style and Inverness style), and 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

[edit]

Cape Breton- Scottish playing is accented, characterized by driven up-bowing.[3] The tunes of other music origins (Irish, Canadian, French-Canadian, etc.) sound different when performed by Cape Breton- Scottish players. The 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 influenced by the intonations of the Scots-Gaelic language, especially Puirt a Beul (mouth music) and strathspeys. The ornaments are adapted from those used on the Great Highland bagpipe. The ornamentation (cuts aka. trebles, drones and doubling) brings out the 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. Guitar is also used for accompaniment instead of piano or in addition to it.

## Repertoire

[edit]

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 popular sources:

* Fraser, Simon (1874), Simon Fraser Collection
* MacDonald, Keith Norman (1887), The Skye Collection
* MacQuarrie, Gordan F. (1940), The Cape Breton Collection
* O'Neill, Francis (1903), O'Neill's Music Of Ireland
* Robertson, James Stewart (1884), The Athole Collection
* Skinner, James Scott, The Scottish Violinist
* Skinner, James Scott, The Harp and Claymore

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

[edit]

* Canada portal
* Nova Scotia portal
* Music portal

* Canadian fiddle
* The Barra MacNeils
* Violin musical styles—fiddle
* Music of Nova Scotia
* Music of Canada's Maritimes
* Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts
* Dan R. MacDonald
* Ashley MacIsaac
* Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald

## References

[edit]

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. ^ Herdman, Jessica (2008). The Cape Breton fiddling narrative : innovation, preservation, dancing (Thesis). University of British Columbia. 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

[edit]

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

## External links

[edit]

* Kimberley Fraser's Fiddle Blog Cape Breton Fiddler Kimberley Fraser discusses issues relevant to Cape Breton fiddle music.

* v
* t
* e

Cape Breton folk music

Folk song|

* Lilting
* Puirt à beul
* Waulking song

Folk dances|

* Scottish highland dance
* Scottish sword dances
* Traditional square dance

Instruments|

* Accordion
* Fiddle
* Great Highland bagpipe
* Piano

Tune types|

2/4 dance
Polka

2/2 and 4/4 dances
Barn dance
Highland Fling
Hornpipe
Reel
Strathspey

3/4 dances
Waltz

6/8 dances
Jig
Two-step

9/8 dances
Slip jig

Non-dance tunes
Marches and airs which exist in various meters.

Scales|

* Aeolian mode
* Dorian mode
* Ionian mode
* Mixolydian mode
* Pentatonic scale

Relations|

* Music of Canada
* Irish traditional music
* English folk music
* Scottish folk music
* Folk music of Wales

* v
* t
* e

Celtic music

Fusions and subgenres|

* Celtic chant
* Celtic fusion
* Celtic metal
* Celtic punk
* Celtic rock

Regions and nations|

* Asturian music
* Breton music
* Cantabrian music
* Cape Breton music
* Celtic music in Canada
* Cornish music
* Galician music
* Irish music
* Irish traditional music
* Manx music
* Scottish music
* Scottish folk music
* Celtic music in the US
* Welsh music
* Welsh folk music

Instruments|

* Banjo
* bagpipes
* Bodhrán
* Bombard
* Concertina
* Crwth
* Harp
* Irish bouzouki
* Irish harp
* Fiddle
* Pibgorn
* Tabwrdd
* Welsh Harp
* Uilleann pipes
* Welsh bagpipes

Musical forms|

* Ballads
* Barzaz Breiz
* Cerdd Dant
* Cymanfa Ganu
* Cynghanedd
* Jigs
* Piobaireachd
* Reels
* Sea shanty
* Strathspey
* Twmpath

* v
* t
* e

Irish music

General|

* Cèilidh
* Irish traditional music
* Irish dance
* Music of Ireland
* Sean-nós dance
* Set dance

Folk song|

* Sean-nós singing
* Traditional Irish singing
* Lilting
* Irish rebel song

Instruments|

* Accordion
* Bodhrán
* Bones
* Bouzouki
* Concertina
* Fiddle
* Flute
* Hammered dulcimer
* Harp
* Lambeg
* Melodeon
* Tenor banjo
* Tin whistle
* Uilleann pipes

Tune types|

4 dances
Polka

2 and 4
4 dances
Barn dance
Fling
Highland
Hornpipe
Reel
Strathspey
Schottische

4 dances
Mazurka
Waltz

8 dances
Single and double jigs

8 dances
Hop and slip jigs

8 dances
Slide

Non-dance tunes
Marches and airs which exist in various meters.

Scales|

* Aeolian mode
* Dorian mode
* Ionian mode
* Mixolydian mode
* Pentatonic scale

Relations|

* Cape Breton fiddling
* English folk music
* Scottish folk music

Competitions|

* Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
* Oireachtas na Gaeilge

Music Awards|

* Gradam Ceoil TG4
* RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards

* v
* t
* e

Scottish folk music

Folk song|

* Bothy ballad
* Cornkister
* Gaelic psalm singing
* Lilting
* Puirt à beul
* Waulking song

Folk dances|

* Cèilidh
* Dirk
* Highland
* Country
* Sword

Instruments|

* Accordion
* Acoustic guitar
* Bass drum
* Border pipes
* Cello
* Clàrsach (Harp)
* Fiddle
* Flute
* Great Highland bagpipe
* Low whistle
* Melodeon
* Piano
* Scottish smallpipes
* Side drum
* Tenor drum
* Tin whistle

Common forms
(by metre)

| Duple-time|

* Polka
* Highland Schottische

|

Duple / Quadruple-time|

* Barn dance
* Highland Fling
* Hornpipe
* Reel
* Strathspey

Triple-time|

* Waltz

Duple compound|

* Jig
* Two-step

Triple compound|

* Slip jig

Others|

* Marches

Modes|

* Aeolian
* Dorian
* Ionian
* Mixolydian
* Pentatonic

Characteristics|

* Scotch snap

Related music|

* English folk music
* Irish traditional music (particularly the Donegal fiddle tradition)
* Cape Breton fiddling

* v
* t
* e

Welsh folk music

General|

* Eisteddfod
* Noson Lawen
* Twmpath

Folk song|

* Cerdd Dant
* Cymanfa Ganu
* Cynghanedd
* Men's chorus

Instruments|

* Crwth
* Fiddle
* Flute
* Pibgorn
* Triple harp
* Tabwrdd
* Welsh bagpipes

Dance & Tune Types|

General
Clogging

2/4 Dance
Polka

2/2 and 4/4 Dances
Barn dance
Hornpipe
Reel

3/4 Dances
Waltz

6/8 Dances
Jig

Non-dance Tunes
Marches and Airs which exist in various meters.

Scales|

* Aeolian mode
* Dorian mode
* Harmonic minor scale
* Ionian mode
* Mixolydian mode
* Pentatonic scale

Relations|

* Cape Breton fiddling
* Folk music of England
* Folk music of Ireland
* Folk music of Scotland

* v
* t
* e

Folk and indigenous music

Music on the World Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage

Types and
subgenres|

| By subject or function|

* Ballads
* Child
* Murder
* Carols
* Christmas carol
* Koliadka
* Children's
* Dance music
* Drinking song
* Love song
* Protest song
* Anti-war song
* Sea shanties
* Sporting song
* War songs
* Work song

|

Fusions|

* American primitive guitar
* Anti-folk
* Bluegrass
* Country folk
* Dangdut
* Koplo
* Filk music
* Folk baroque
* Folk jazz
* Folk-pop
* Folk rock
* Folk metal
* Celtic metal
* Medieval metal
* Folk punk
* Celtic punk
* Celtic rock
* Celtic metal
* Celtic punk
* Folktronica
* Indie folk
* Industrial folk
* Medieval folk rock
* Medieval metal
* Muiñeira
* Neofolk
* Nerd-folk
* Psychedelic folk
* Freak folk
* New Weird America
* Progressive folk
* Raï
* Skiffle
* Tamang Selo
* Vallenato
* Xẩm

Regional
traditions|

| North America|

* Central America
* Mexican
* Corrido
* Son calentano
* Son jarocho
* Son huasteco
* Tierra Caliente
* Yaqui
* Panamanian

| Indigenous North
American|

* Canadian
* Arapaho
* Blackfeet
* Dene
* Innu
* Inuit
* Iroquois
* Kiowa
* Kwakwaka'wakw
* Métis
* Navajo
* Pueblo
* Seminole
* Sioux
* Yaqui
* Yuman

|

American|

* Appalachian
* Old-time
* Folk revival (1950s–60s)
* Hawaiian
* New Mexico
* Red Dirt
* Tejano
* Western

| African-American|

* Blues
* Jazz
* Dixieland
* Jug
* Ragtime
* Spirituals

|

Country|

* Americana
* Roots rock
* Bluegrass
* Country folk
* Country pop
* Country rock
* Honky-tonk
* Rockabilly
* Southern soul
* Western swing

Canadian|

* Canadian fiddle
* Indigenous
* Dene
* Innu
* Inuit
* Métis
* by ethnocultural group
* Celtic
* French
* by region
* Prairies
* Québécois
* Quebec fiddle
* Néo-trad
* Maritime
* Cape Breton fiddling

Caribbean|

* Cuban
* Haitian
* Kontradans
* Jamaican
* Mento
* Trinidadian and Tobagonian
* Cariso
* Chutney
* Chutney parang
* Chutney soca
* Kaiso
* Parang
* Soca

South American|

* Brazilian
* Chilean
* Venezuelan
* Gaita zuliana

Oceanian|

* Australian
* White Australian
* Indigenous Australian
* Cook Islander
* Easter Islander
* Maori
* Marshallese
* Papua New Guinean
* Samoan
* Solomon Islander
* Tahitian
* Tongan
* Tuvaluan

Asian|

* Bangladeshi
* Bhawaiya
* Bhutanese
* Central Asian
* Chinese
* Cantonese
* Hakka
* Jingnan
* Lâm-kóan
* Pak-kóan
* Teochew
* Zhongguo feng
* Filipino
* Bodabil
* Kundiman
* Manila sound
* Indian
* Kamrupi Lokgeet
* Rasiya
* Sanedo
* Indonesian
* Japanese
* Min'yō
* Korean
* Trot
* Mongolian
* Nepalese
* Pakistani
* Vietnamese
* Quan họ

European|

* Alpine
* Austrian
* Balkan
* Albanian
* Tallava
* Bosnian and Herzegovinan
* Sevdalinka
* Starogradska muzika
* Bulgarian
* Chalga
* Starogradska muzika
* Croatian
* Starogradska muzika
* Greek
* Laïko
* Rebetiko
* Tsifteteli
* Italian
* Kosovan
* Tallava
* Montenegrin
* Macedonian
* Čalgija
* Starogradska muzika
* Romani
* Romanian
* Lăutărească music
* Manele
* Serbian
* Balkan brass
* Starogradska muzika
* Turbo-folk
* Slovenian
* Turkish
* Anatolian blues
* Anatolian rock
* Arabesque
* Fantezi
* Tsifteteli
* Belarusian
* Breton
* Celtic
* Celtic fusion
* Celtic metal
* Celtic punk
* Celtic rock
* Czech
* Moravian
* Polka
* Danish
* Dutch
* English
* Hornpipe
* Jigs
* Morris dance
* Estonian
* Finnish
* French
* German
* Hungarian
* Icelandic
* Irish
* Gaelic folk music
* Hornpipe
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Maltese
* Norwegian
* Polish
* Pontic Greek
* Portuguese
* Russian
* Scottish
* Gaelic
* Slovenian
* Spanish
* Swedish
* Swiss
* Ukrainian
* Cossack
* Dumka
* Vesnianky
* Welsh

Middle Eastern and
North African|

* Armenian
* Assyrian
* Azerbaijani
* Egyptian
* Fantezi
* Iranian
* Israeli
* Klezmer
* Mizrahi music
* Pontic Greek
* Turkish
* Anatolian blues
* Anatolian rock
* Arabesque
* Tsifteteli

Related
articles|

* 20th-century Western folk music
* Acoustic music
* Filk music
* Festivals
* Folk clubs
* Folk dance
* Instruments
* List
* Collections
* Roud number
* Child
* Laws numbers
* Outlaw country
* Progressive rock
* Pub session
* Record labels
* Roots revival
* World music
* Worldbeat
* History of music

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