Music of Scotland By Lisa Kondratieva, 2mg2

First, some music instruments: The bagpipe The lute

The Lute This instrument was enjoyed for its softness and its « whisper ». It was played with a plectrum, like a guitar. There were some special and really complicated lute tablatures. Also it was the instrument of the high society, like the king and the queen. Its origins are obscure, but its name comes frome an arabic word which means « wood ».

The Bagpipes It is the most famous music instrument of Scotland. There are some bagpipe competitions for solo pipers and pipe bands, like Schotts and Dykehead Pipe Band and Strathclyde Police Pipe Band from Scotland. One of the importantest competitions is the World Pipe Bands Championships. This music instrument has been created around the 12th century.

Music in the 18th Century Before the 18th century, ballads had been written for centuries, but never printed. Then they begun to print them so the 18th century brought a lot of collections of Scots songs and tunes. There was also a lot of dance-music composed, for instruments like the bagpipe, the fiddle, any sort of whistle, a jew's harp, singing, or diddling (vocalization in which articulates 'dum-di-diddle-um' syllables).

The Gaelic Song This is one of the oldest music form in Scotland. These are songs, usually written in Gaelic and sung by men, but also women. Its principle consist of a theme and series of developments.

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