1. Scottish Music

2. Traditional Scottish Songs
Waulking songs
sung in Gaelic
Unaccompanied
sung by women
contain Vocables (meaningless Gaelic sounds or nonsense words such as “Hi ri horo iri ho”)
Solo singer Question and Answer with Chorus

3. Traditional Scottish Songs
Bothy Ballad
Sung by men (about their farm work)
Sung in Scots
Unaccompanied
Strophic (Solo verse alternates with repeated chorus as others join in)

4. Traditional Scottish Songs
Ballads
Songs telling a story
Usually a sad story
Often sung entirely solo
Strophic (but without chorus)

5. Traditional Scottish Songs
Gaelic Psalms
Modal (Ancient scales, different from major and minor)
Sounds middle eastern, arabic
Sung by congregation in unison
But at different speeds so confused, sounds polyphonic
Ornaments added

6. Traditional Scottish Songs
Mouth Music
Gaelic vocal music
Used for dancing to (when they didn’t have instruments)

7. Traditional Scottish Songs
Gaelic Choral singing
A cappella (unaccompanied singing)
Unison – all sing same tune at once
Harmony – all sing different parts to create chords

8. Highland Bagpipes

9. Highland Bagpipes Ceol Mor
Pibroch – The classical music of the bagpipes
Consists of a long slow theme and a series of variations using complex ornaments and grace notes

10. Highland Bagpipes Ceol Beag Music of pipe bands
Marches Strathspeys and reels

11. The Fiddle Scottish name for the violin High Style Neil Gow
Slow airs
Strathspeys
Neil Gow
J Scott Skinner

12. The Fiddle Scottish name for the violin High Style Neil Gow
Slow airs
Strathspeys
Neil Gow
J Scott Skinner

13. Scottish Dance Band Instruments
Fiddle
Accordion
Piano
Double bass
Snare drum

14. Fiddle Plays the melody Scottish name for the violin
Played with bow (bowed –Arco)
Traditionally used for reels and slow airs

15. Accordion Plays both Melody and Chords
Most commonly used is piano accordion because of keyboard at the side
Bellows are squeezed to push air through reeds
The performer presses buttons to play chords
Imported from central Europe

16. Piano Plays a Vamp (”oom-cha”) chords
Nowadays often replaced by the more portable and versatile keyboard.

17. Double Bass Plays the bass line
Largest instrument of the string family
Plucked (Pizzicato)
Often replaced by the electric bass guitar

18. Snare Drum Also known as the side drum
Used to play rhythm sometimes in unison with the melody
Especially heard in Marches
Sometimes nowadays an entire drumkit is used.

19. Scottish Dance Band Instruments
Fiddle
Accordion
Piano
Double bass
Snare drum

20. Waltz
3 beats in the bar
Slow to moderate tempo

21. Reel 2 or 4 beats in the bar Fast tempo “Macaroni” rhythm
Binary Form AB

22. 2 strong beats to the bar Jig Compound time signature (6/8)
“Strawberry, strawberry” rhythm

23. Strathspey 2 or 4 beats in the bar Moderate tempo Dotted rhythm
Scot’s Snap

24. MARCH 2 or 4 beats in the bar Moderate tempo Lots of snare drum
Simple rhythm

25. Clarseach Scottish harp
Originally used to accompany ancient heroic songs

26. Scottish trademarks Instruments used Modal sound Drone Grace notes
Bagpipes, fiddles accordions
Dance bands etc
Modal sound
Ancient scales
Drone
Usually imitated by notes a fifth apart
Grace notes
Scots' snaps
Pentatonic scale

27. Scottish concepts Theme Variation Pentatonic Ornament Vamp Drone Modal
Tune/idea
Variation
Theme developed/changed
Pentatonic
Old 5 note scale
Ornament
Twiddly bit/grace note
Vamp
Chords oom cha
Drone
Continuous unchanging note (bagpipes or imitation of bagpipes)
Modal
Old fashioned scales
2/3 beats in the bar
Simple time
Not compound time
Compound time
Beats divided into sets of three quavers
Anacrusis
Lead in
Key Change
(modulation)
Binary form AB
Ternary form
ABA
A capella
Unaccompanied singing
Pibroch
Classical music of the bagpipes theme and variations

28. Scottish concepts The sounds of: Tell apart: Pipes Fiddle Clarseach
Accordion
Voice/vocal
Gaelic psalm
Scots ballad
Bothy ballad
Waulking song
Mouth music
Tell apart:
Waltz
Jig
Reel
Strathspey
March