Instruments Music of Scotland

1 instruments

1.1 accordion
1.2 bagpipes
1.3 fiddle
1.4 guitar
1.5 harp
1.6 tin whistle
1.7 bodhran

instruments
accordion

though derided scottish kitsch, accordion has long been part of scottish music. country dance bands, such led renowned jimmy shand, have helped dispel image. in 20th century, melodeon (a variety of diatonic button accordion) popular among rural folk, , part of bothy band tradition. more recently, performers phil cunningham (of silly wizard) , sandy brechin have helped popularise accordion in scottish music.

bagpipes

the tannahill weavers

though bagpipes closely associated scotland many outsiders, instrument (or, more precisely, family of instruments) found throughout large swathes of europe, north africa , south asia. common bagpipe heard in modern scottish music great highland bagpipe, spread highland regiments of british army. historically, numerous other bagpipes existed, , many of them have been recreated in last half-century. during 19th century bagpipes played on ships sailing off war keep men s hopes , bring luck in coming war.

bagpipe band performing in parade in u.s.

the classical music of great highland bagpipe called pìobaireachd, consists of first movement called urlar (in english, ground movement,) establishes theme. theme developed in series of movements, growing increasingly complex each time. after urlar there number of variations , doublings of variations. comes taorluath movement , variation , crunluath movement, continuing underlying theme. followed variation of crunluath, crunluath mach (other variations: crunluath breabach , crunluath fosgailte) ; piece closes return urlar.

bagpipe competitions common in scotland, both solo pipers , pipe bands. competitive solo piping popular among many aspiring pipers, of whom travel far australia attend scottish competitions. other pipers have chosen explore more creative usages of instrument. different types of bagpipes have seen resurgence since 70s, historical border pipes , scottish smallpipes have been resuscitated , attract thriving alternative piping community. 2 of scotland s highly regarded pipers gordon duncan , fred morrison.

the pipe band common format highland piping, top competitive bands including victoria police pipe band australia (formerly), northern ireland s field marshal montgomery, republic of ireland s laurence o toole pipe band, canada s 78th fraser highlanders pipe band , simon fraser university pipe band, , scottish bands shotts , dykehead pipe band , strathclyde police pipe band. these bands, many others, compete in numerous pipe band competitions, world pipe band championships, , perform in public concerts.

fiddle

scottish traditional fiddling encompasses number of regional styles, including bagpipe-inflected west highlands, upbeat , lively style of norse-influenced shetland islands , strathspey , slow airs of north-east. instrument arrived late in 17th century, , first mentioned in 1680 in document newbattle abbey in midlothian, lessones ye violin.

in 18th century, scottish fiddling said have reached new heights. fiddlers william marshall , niel gow legends across scotland, , first collections of fiddle tunes published in mid-century. famous , useful of these collections series published nathaniel gow, 1 of niel s sons, , fine fiddler , composer in own right. classical composers such charles mclean, james oswald , william mcgibbon used scottish fiddling traditions in baroque compositions.

scottish fiddling directly represented in north america in cape breton, nova scotia, island on east coast of canada, received 25,000 emigrants scottish highlands during highland clearances of 1780–1850. cape breton musicians such natalie macmaster, ashley macisaac, , jerry holland have brought music worldwide audience, building on traditions of master fiddlers such buddy macmaster , winston scotty fitzgerald.

among native scots, aly bain , alasdair fraser 2 of accomplished, following in footsteps of influential 20th-century players such james scott skinner, hector macandrew, angus grant , tom anderson. growing number of young professional scottish fiddlers makes complete list impossible.

the annual scots fiddle festival runs each november showcases great fiddling tradition , talent in scotland.

guitar

the history of guitar in traditional music recent, of cittern , bouzouki, in forms used in scottish , irish music date late 1960s. guitar featured prominently in folk revival of 1960s likes of archie fisher, corries, hamish imlach, robin hall , jimmie macgregor. virtuoso playing of bert jansch influential, , range of instruments widened incredible string band. notable artists include tony mcmanus, dave macisaac, peerie willie johnson , dick gaughan. other notable guitarists in scottish music scene include kris drever of fine friday , lau, , ross martin of cliar, daimh , harem scarem. scotland has produced several notable electric guitarists, including stuart adamson of big country (once referred britain s jimi hendrix ), angus young of ac/dc, jimmy mcculloch of wings, manny charlton of nazareth, zal cleminson of sensational alex harvey band, , brian robertson of thin lizzy.

harp


this scottish clàrsach, known clàrsach lumanach or lamont harp made in western highlands (c.1400) in museum of scotland, 1 of 3 surviving medieval gaelic harps.

material evidence suggests lyres and/or harp, or clarsach, has long , ancient history in scotland, iron age lyres dating 2300bc. harp regarded national instrument until replaced highland bagpipes in 15th century. stone carvings in east of scotland support theory harp present in pictish scotland before 9th century , may have been original ancestor of modern european harp , formed basis scottish pibroch, folk bagpipe tradition.

barring illustrations of harps in 9th century utrecht psalter, thirteen depictions exist in europe of triangular chordophone harp pre-11th century, , thirteen of them come scotland. pictish harps strung horsehair. instruments apparently spread south anglo-saxons, commonly used gut strings, , west gaels of highlands , ireland. earliest irish word harp in fact cruit, word suggests pictish provenance instrument. surname macwhirter, mac chruiteir, means son of harpist, , common throughout scotland, particularly in carrick , galloway.

the clàrsach (gd.) or cláirseach (ga.) name given wire-strung harp of either scotland or ireland. word begins appear end of 14th century. until end of middle ages popular musical instrument in scotland, , harpers among prestigious cultural figures in courts of irish/scottish chieftains , scottish kings , earls. in both countries, harpers enjoyed special rights , played crucial part in ceremonial occasions such coronations , poetic bardic recitals. kings of scotland employed harpers until end of middle ages, , feature prominently in royal iconography. several clarsach players noted @ battle of standard (1138), , when alexander iii (died 1286) visited london in 1278, court minstrels him, records show payments made 1 elyas, king of scotland s harper. 1 of nicknames scottish harp taigh nan teud , house of strings.

three medieval gaelic harps survived modern period, 2 scotland (the queen mary harp , lamont harp) , 1 in ireland (the brian boru harp), although artistic evidence suggests 3 made in western highlands.

the playing of gaelic harp wire strings died out in scotland in 18th century , in ireland in 19th century. part of late 19th century gaelic revival, instruments used differed old wire-strung harps. new instruments had gut strings, , construction , playing style based on larger orchestral pedal harp. nonetheless name clàrsach , still used in scotland today describe these new instruments. modern gut-strung clàrsach has thousands of players, both in scotland , ireland, north america , elsewhere. 1931 formation of clarsach society kickstarted modern harp renaissance. recent harp players include savourna stevenson, maggie macinnes, , band sileas. notable events include edinburgh international harp festival, staged world record largest number of harpists play @ same time.

tin whistle


tin whistles in variety of makes , keys.

one of oldest tin whistles still in existence tusculum whistle, found pottery dating 14th , 15th centuries; in collection of museum of scotland. today whistle common instrument in recorded scottish music. although few well-known performers choose tin whistle principal instrument, quite common pipers, flute players, , other musicians play whistle well.

bodhran

the bodhran used (re)import ireland, , highly popular in scottish folk music. however, has been suggested instrument existed in scotland before reintroduction.