The Music of Scotland

Contents page The Instruments Scottish Scale The dances The Bands Songs

The bagpipes Pipes have been used throughout the world in many cultures, although they are mostly thought of as “Scottish”. They consist of a bag (made of goat once), three drones, a chanter and a mouthpiece. The drones create the loud tuneless sound, while the chanter creates the melodies we hear. The chanter is often used to teach beginners how to play the pipes.

The Fiddle The Scots fiddle is used to play the melody in many dance bands. Although they look like an ordinary violin they are played with a different technique, with different styles being played from all over Scotland. The melodies they play are based on anything, from a story, to a tribute to a battle.

The Accordion The Accordion uses bellows to suck air in and blow it out through reeds to create sound. On one side it has keys like a Piano, while on the other side it has buttons which the player presses to make chords. The Accordion often plays the melody in a dance band, as well as playing an accompaniment.

The Clarsach The Clarsach is the Scottish version the harp. It has 42 strings instead of a harps 74 strings. It is also much smaller. It is used as an accompaniment instrument as well as a solo instrument. It is leant against the shoulder while played and the strings are plucked.

Bodhran The Bodhran is a goat skin drum used to play along with others in a dance or ceilidh band. It is not hit head on, but struck with the grain of the skin using a small beater, called a Bone. The drum is circular and thin and has cross bars across the back of it to support it. It is often decorated with celtic designs.

Pentatonic Scale… The word PENTATONIC refers to a 5 note scale used in many scottish tunes. A standard scale would use G A B D E And this is found in many songs such as “the Skye boat Song” “Auld Lang Syne” And many other Scottish songs can be played using mostly these notes with a few extra ones here and there such as… “Flower of Scotland”“Ye Banks and Braes” “Scotland the brave”“Loch Lomond” Songs using this scale don’t tend to have a specific Major or Minor feel to them.

The Dances Scottish Dances tend to fall into two category's – Simple and Compound time. The difference is in the counting. If a piece of music is in simple time with four beats in the bar you count… 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & (Co Ca Co La Co Ca Co La) Or if there are 3 beats in the bar you count… 1 & 2 & 3 & (Co Ca Co La Co Ca) However, if the music is in Compound time it has a bouncy three feel to it. In 6/8 time you would count… 1 & a 2 & a (Straw-Ber-ry Straw-Ber-ry)

Reel A lively dance with two or four beats in the bar.(Simple Time) A reel uses lots of running notes giving the melody a fast, up-tempo feel. You can recognise a reel by counting R E E l or in time with the music.

Waltz A Waltz is another Scottish dance that uses 3 beats in the bar.(Simple Time) It is normally a slow dance using a simple melody with names like “the St Bernard's Waltz” You can recognise a waltz by counting or Doom Ching Ching.

The Strathspey This is more bouncy dance with 2 or 4 beats in the bar. (Simple Time) It can be counted , or It is easily recognisable from a Reel as it uses a Scotch snap.

Jig The Jig is a fast Scottish dance in COMPOUND time. Usually in 6/8 time, it has a bouncy feel and is counted 1 & a 2 & a An easy way to recognise a Jig is to count the letters J – I – G as the music plays.

The bands There are several types of Scottish bands, but we will only look at Three. The Dance band/Ceilidh band. The Pipe band Folk Group

The Pipe Band The Pipe band is commonly found at gatherings throughout Scotland such as Hogmanay and town celebrations, etc. The group consists of Pipes, Snare drum, Bass drum and Tenor drums. It is led by the Pipe Major.

The Dance Band The dance band can be found at most Ceilidh’s leading the dances. It commonly consist of a Fiddle, bass, drums, piano, Accordion and occasionally a Bodhran, although it can use many variations of instruments. The bands often sing as well as play Melodies.

Folk Group A Folk Group tends to comprise of several players who use traditional instruments and sing songs/ perform pieces. They will normally play in bars, venues and sometimes at Ceilidhs. They sing songs from many times, all with a Scottish theme, such as Loch Lomond, Skye boat song and even Sky Scraper We-in.