Canadian fiddle
Encyclopedia
Canadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional folk music
of Canada on the fiddle
. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois Frenchfolk music
tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere Due to immigration and cross-border commerce, Canadian fiddle is part of the American fiddle
repertoire.
John Allan Cameron
son of fiddler Katie Ann Cameron,and nephew of the music collector Dan Rory MacDonald was prominent in bringing the Celtic heritage to the forefront.
Anpther influential musician is Sarah McLachlan
from Halifax, Nova Scotia. A frequently mentioned Cape Breton fiddle player is Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald. Rounder Records
,started producing Cape Breton fiddlers in the 1970s.
style which falls within the Celtic music
idiom. Cape Breton Island
's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish
immigrants during the Highland Clearances
. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic
-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands
and the Outer Hebrides
. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music
has been better preserved in Cape Breton.
Dance styles associated with the music are Cape Breton step dancing, Cape Breton square dancing (Iona
style and Inverness
style), and highland dancing.
.
Cape Breton fiddle music is strongly 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 strong feeling of Cape Breton fiddle.
canon and is influential in New England and Northwest fiddle
styles.
According to Reiner and Anick, the affinity between Anglo-Celtic and French fiddle music dates to the 1600s. Solo style predominated in the rugged frontier land where a small fiddle could be easily managed. Thus, cross tunings, drone notes and complex rhythms evolved to fill the gaps left in unaccompanied playing and this resulted in a highly developed style. Clogging
was often the only available accompaniment, and, much as the aboriginal Métis fiddle
style, percussive and rhythmic playing is notably developed in this style. As with the French speaking Cajun fiddle
style, German button accordion created a fad which temporarily influenced the form, as did the eventual introduction of piano in the urban center Montreal.
First Nations, French, Anglo, Celtic and others. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s".
David Chartrand
, President of the Manitoba Métis Foundation, is also interviewed in a 2006 documentary by John Barnard documentary and emphasizes that the Métis fiddle tradition is an aural tradition which cannot be taught in schools. Meti fiddling has been analyzed by ethnomusicologist Lynn Whidden as featured in the film; she indicates that meters can vary from measure to measure and is very percussive. Players use their feet and choke up on the bow to enable a very sharp bite. Some players, such as Sierra Noble, also plays fiddle in a modernized or blended Métis style which incorporates Celtic or country-pop influences. She has been known to play Celtic rock fusion, as in the Sierra Noble Trio with Ariel Posen on guitar and Bruce Jacobs on bass. T
In "A Note on Métis Music", Whidden emphasizes the French chanson and "Indian" derivation of the style and that they overlap and are indistinct.
as with all folk music
forms but it is not uncommon for musicians to learn by listening to CD's or by reading from material such as The Fiddler's Fakebook
. Aside from instruction, the traditions are maintained by Old Time Fiddler's Associations throughout North America.
Top Canadian fiddle musicians=
Dominique Dupuis
student of fiddle player Kelly Russell. Sliabh Luachra
style
See also Quebec Fiddle
, List of Canadian fiddlers
which outlines several influences on what they call Northeastern Fiddling Styles: Cape Breton, French-Canadian (Québécois) and Maritime. Frank Ferrel, author of Boston Fiddle, uses the term Down East fiddle or Boston fiddle to refer to an eclectic blend of Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton (Canadian) styles.
American fiddle
Irish fiddle
Cajun fiddle
List of Canadian fiddlers
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
of Canada on the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois Frenchfolk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere Due to immigration and cross-border commerce, Canadian fiddle is part of the American fiddle
American fiddle
This page is about fiddle music in the USA. For other North American styles, see Fiddle#Fiddling_styles.American fiddle playing began with the early settlers who found that the small viol family instruments were portable and rugged. According to Ron Yule, "John Utie, a 1620 immigrant, settled in...
repertoire.
Maritime provinces
Sea chanteys, ballads of sea-going folk, are a distinct influence apart from Highland Scottish Fiddle. Piano and fiddle is a prominent ensemble with guitar and bagpipe remaining popular.John Allan Cameron
John Allan Cameron
John Allan Cameron, was a Canadian folk singer, "The Godfather of Celtic Music" in Canada. Noted for performing traditional music on his twelve string guitar, he released his first album in 1968. He released 10 albums during his lifetime and was featured on national television...
son of fiddler Katie Ann Cameron,and nephew of the music collector Dan Rory MacDonald was prominent in bringing the Celtic heritage to the forefront.
Anpther influential musician is Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
from Halifax, Nova Scotia. A frequently mentioned Cape Breton fiddle player is Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald. Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
,started producing Cape Breton fiddlers in the 1970s.
Cape Breton fiddle
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
style which falls within the Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
idiom. Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
immigrants during the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...
. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
-speaking regions in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and the Outer Hebrides
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
. Although fiddling has changed considerably since this time in Scotland, it is widely held that the tradition of Scottish fiddle music
Scottish fiddling
Scottish fiddling, even to many an untrained ear, can be distinguished from other Celtic and folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures, arguably more...
has been better preserved in Cape Breton.
Dance styles associated with the music are Cape Breton step dancing, Cape Breton square dancing (Iona
Iona, Nova Scotia
Iona is a small community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Victoria County on Cape Breton Island. It is named after Iona in Scotland. Perched above the Barra Strait between the Great Bras d'Or and Piper's Cove portions of Bras d'Or Lake, Iona is the western terminus of the...
style and Inverness
Inverness County, Nova Scotia
Inverness County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Its territory is almost contiguous with the Municipality of Inverness County, which only excludes the town of Port Hawkesbury and First Nation reserves.-History:...
style), and highland dancing.
Playing style
Cape Breton playing is highly accented, characterized by driven up-bowing. The tunes of other music origins (Irish, Canadian, French-Canadian, etc.) sound quite different when performed by Cape Breton players. The strong 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 strathspeysStrathspey (dance)
A strathspey is a type of dance tune in 4/4 time. It is similar to a hornpipe but slower and more stately, and contains many dot-cut 'snaps'. A so-called Scotch snap is a short note before a dotted note, which in traditional playing is generally exaggerated rhythmically for musical expression...
.
Cape Breton fiddle music is strongly influenced by the intonations of the Scots-Gaelic language, especially Puirt a Beul (mouth music)
Puirt à beul
Puirt a beul is a traditional form of song native to Scotland, Ireland, and Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.-Name:The Scottish Gaelic for such a tune is port à beul: "a tune from a mouth—specifically a cheerful tune—which in the plural becomes puirt à beul...
and strathspeys. The ornaments are adapted from those used on the Great Highland bagpipe
Great Highland Bagpipe
The Great Highland Bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has achieved widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world. It is closely related to the Great Irish Warpipes....
. The ornamentation (cuts aka. trebles, drones
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and doubling) brings out the strong feeling of Cape Breton fiddle.
Quebec Fiddle
Quebec fiddle is a part of the Old time fiddleOld time fiddle
Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" may be played on fiddle, banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called "fiddle tunes". The genre has European origins and traces from the colonization of North America by immigrants from England, France, Germany,...
canon and is influential in New England and Northwest fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
styles.
According to Reiner and Anick, the affinity between Anglo-Celtic and French fiddle music dates to the 1600s. Solo style predominated in the rugged frontier land where a small fiddle could be easily managed. Thus, cross tunings, drone notes and complex rhythms evolved to fill the gaps left in unaccompanied playing and this resulted in a highly developed style. Clogging
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
was often the only available accompaniment, and, much as the aboriginal Métis fiddle
Métis fiddle
Métis fiddle is the style with which the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern parts of the US have developed to play the violin in folk ensemble and solo. It is marked by percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment such as spoon percussion. The Meti people themselves blend First...
style, percussive and rhythmic playing is notably developed in this style. As with the French speaking Cajun fiddle
Cajun fiddle
Cajun fiddle music is a part of the American fiddle music canon. It is derived from the music of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas, as well as sharing repertoire from the Quebec and Cape Breton traditions...
style, German button accordion created a fad which temporarily influenced the form, as did the eventual introduction of piano in the urban center Montreal.
Métis fiddle
Métis fiddle is the style with which the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern parts of the US have developed to play the violin in folk ensemble and solo. It is marked by percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment such as spoon percussion. The Meti (icon; meˈtsɪs; mɪˈtʃɪf) people themselves blendKahnawake surnames
The Mohawk Nation reserve of Kahnawake, near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, includes residents with surnames of Mohawk, French, Scots and English ancestry, reflecting the adoption of European children into the community, as well as intermarriage with local colonial settlers over the life of the early...
First Nations, French, Anglo, Celtic and others. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s".
David Chartrand
David Chartrand
David Chartrand is a politician and aboriginal activist in Manitoba, Canada. He is the current leader of the Manitoba Métis Federation. He was born and raised in Duck Bay, Manitoba.-External links:*...
, President of the Manitoba Métis Foundation, is also interviewed in a 2006 documentary by John Barnard documentary and emphasizes that the Métis fiddle tradition is an aural tradition which cannot be taught in schools. Meti fiddling has been analyzed by ethnomusicologist Lynn Whidden as featured in the film; she indicates that meters can vary from measure to measure and is very percussive. Players use their feet and choke up on the bow to enable a very sharp bite. Some players, such as Sierra Noble, also plays fiddle in a modernized or blended Métis style which incorporates Celtic or country-pop influences. She has been known to play Celtic rock fusion, as in the Sierra Noble Trio with Ariel Posen on guitar and Bruce Jacobs on bass. T
In "A Note on Métis Music", Whidden emphasizes the French chanson and "Indian" derivation of the style and that they overlap and are indistinct.
Propagation
Much of Canadian fiddling is transmitted to new generations through oral tradition (aural tradition) at regional and national fiddler's meetups in Canada and the US. The traditional authentic means of learning to play is based upon an oral traditionOral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
as with all folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
forms but it is not uncommon for musicians to learn by listening to CD's or by reading from material such as The Fiddler's Fakebook
The Fiddler's Fakebook
The Fiddler's Fakebook, by David Brody, is a collection of fiddle tunes in lead sheet form It includes tunes in the following styles:* England* Scotland* Ireland* Shetland* French Canadian* Nova Scotia/Cape Breton...
. Aside from instruction, the traditions are maintained by Old Time Fiddler's Associations throughout North America.
Top Canadian fiddle musicians=
- Fiddlers 3 perform Irish style such as Tamlin
New Brunswick
Don MesserDominique Dupuis
Dominique Dupuis
Dominique Dupuis , is a Canadian celtic music violinist.Born at 1987 in Canada at Memramcook, New Brunswick she has played violin from the age of nine, when she performed on stage at the Pays de la Sagouine, in Bouctouche. At 12, she performed during the opening ceremonies of the Festival...
Newfoundland
Patrick MoranPatrick Moran
Patrick Moran is the name of:*Pat Moran, American baseball player*Pat Moran , Australian statistician, also commonly known as Pat Moran*Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian Catholic archbishop and cardinal...
student of fiddle player Kelly Russell. Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra is a region in Munster, Ireland, located around the River Blackwater, on the County Cork/County Kerry/County Limerick borderland.-Music and literature:...
style
Cape Breton
Cape Breton FiddleCape Breton fiddling
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish...
- Andrea Beaton
- Donald Angus BeatonDonald Angus BeatonDonald Angus Beaton was a blacksmith and a fiddler. He was the son of Angus R. Beaton and Annie Belle Campbell.He composed for the violin and his work may be heard on the Rounder LP 7011 The Beatons Of Mabou - Marches, Jigs, Strathspeys & Reels of the Highland Scot ...
- Kinnon BeatonKinnon BeatonKinnon Beaton is a musician from Mabou, Nova Scotia. He is the son of Donald Angus Beaton and Elizabeth MacEachen.He plays the fiddle in the Scottish genre famous throughout Cape Breton Island....
- John Campbell
- Winnie Chafe
- Stan Chapman
- Angus ChisholmAngus ChisholmAngus Chisholm was a Cape Breton fiddler. He was the son of Archie Chisholm and Isabel MacLennan.He was one of the first fiddlers from the island to record a commercially available album...
- J. P. CormierJ. P. CormierJ.P. Cormier is a Canadian bluegrass/Folk/Celtic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was born in London, Ontario in 1969 and began playing guitar around age five. As a child he displayed an unusual ability to play a variety of instruments by ear and won a guitar contest at age nine.Mr...
- Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald
- Kimberley Fraser
- Glenn GrahamGlenn Graham (fiddler)Glenn Graham is a Canadian musician from Judique, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.-Music career:Graham has received music industry recognition for his solo recordings. His second solo release, "Step Outside", garnered nominations for "Male Artist of the Year" and "Roots/Traditional Solo Recording of the...
- Jerry HollandJerry Holland (fiddler)Jerry Holland was a fiddler who lived on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada.He was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States to Canadian parents - his father was from New Brunswick and his mother was from Quebec. During his childhood, Jerry was exposed to the music of the large Cape...
- Bill Lamey
- Dan R. MacDonaldDan R. MacDonaldDan Rory MacDonald was born February 2, 1911 in southwest Port Hood, at the home of Angus MacDonald . Raised in Judique, Inverness County on Cape Breton Island, he was a composer of fiddle tunes....
- Howie MacDonald
- Rodney MacDonaldRodney MacDonaldRodney Joseph MacDonald is a Canadian politician, educator and musician who served as the 26th Premier of Nova Scotia from 2006 to 2009 and as MLA for the riding of Inverness in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1999 to 2009....
- Troy MacGillivray
- Sandy MacIntyreSandy MacIntyreHugh Alexander “Sandy” MacIntyre is one of the most respected artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.-Personal life:...
- Ashley MacIsaacAshley MacIsaacAshley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island.His album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond was released in 1995...
- Wendy MacIsaac
- Dave MacIsaacDave MacIsaacDave MacIsaac is a Canadian musician from Nova Scotia who plays the fiddle and guitar, specialising in the Celtic music style.-Awards and recognition:...
- Buddy MacMasterBuddy MacMasterHugh Alan "Buddy" MacMaster, is one of the most renowned artists in the tradition of Cape Breton fiddle music.-Early life:...
- Natalie MacMasterNatalie MacMasterNatalie MacMaster, CM is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music....
- Mairi Rankin
See also Quebec Fiddle
Quebec fiddle
Quebec fiddle is a part of the Old time fiddle canon and is influential in New England and Northwest fiddle styles.-History and Development:According to Reiner and Anick, the affinity between Anglo-Celtic and French fiddle music dates to the 1600s. Solo style predominated in the rugged frontier...
, List of Canadian fiddlers
Secondary sources
David Reiner and Peter Anick collaborated on collecting 66 tunes for Mel Bays' Old Time Fiddling Across Americawhich outlines several influences on what they call Northeastern Fiddling Styles: Cape Breton, French-Canadian (Québécois) and Maritime. Frank Ferrel, author of Boston Fiddle, uses the term Down East fiddle or Boston fiddle to refer to an eclectic blend of Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton (Canadian) styles.
See also
Scottish fiddlingScottish fiddling
Scottish fiddling, even to many an untrained ear, can be distinguished from other Celtic and folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery. The style has a very large repertoire consisting of a great variation of rhythms and key signatures, arguably more...
American fiddle
American fiddle
This page is about fiddle music in the USA. For other North American styles, see Fiddle#Fiddling_styles.American fiddle playing began with the early settlers who found that the small viol family instruments were portable and rugged. According to Ron Yule, "John Utie, a 1620 immigrant, settled in...
Irish fiddle
Cajun fiddle
Cajun fiddle
Cajun fiddle music is a part of the American fiddle music canon. It is derived from the music of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas, as well as sharing repertoire from the Quebec and Cape Breton traditions...
List of Canadian fiddlers
External links
- Tons of fiddle tunes
- Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame
- Sheet music, lyrics & midis for 200+ traditional old-time songs
- The Henry Reed Collection at the Library of Congress Collection of traditional fiddle tunes performed by Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia. Recorded by folklorist Alan JabbourAlan Jabbour-Biography:Jabbour was born in Jacksonville, Florida. His grandfather had immigrated to the United States from Syria, and his father later joined him. He was educated in the Jacksonville public schools and at the Bolles School, where he graduated from high school in 1959. He graduated magna cum...
in 1966-67.