Scottish Flashcards
Name the 8 instruments that are traditionally used in scottish music?
Bagpipes
Accordion
Fiddle
Clarsach
Bodhran
Flute
Tin whistle
Low whistle
Bagpipes
Have a unique drone and sound that it can produce, wind instrument, consists of: chanter- plays the melody, 3 drones- play constantly fixed harmonies, airbag, usually played solo
Types are ceol beag and ceol mor
Accordion
Usually associated with Scottish dance bands
Right hand plays melody on button or piano finger board
Left hand operates bellow and plays a base chord pattern called a vamp
Fiddle
Scottish violin
Often played slow
Accompanied by a piano vamp
Clarsach
Small Celtic harp, similar to orchestral harp but smaller, tuned to one scale, used as solo instrument or in a folk group
Bodhran
Drum used in Celtic music, held in left hand, played with beater in right hand
Traditional flute
Made of ebony (African Blackwood) with 3 to 9 keys, held horizontally, sound produced by blowing across hole in head joint
Tin whistle
Held vertically, sound made by blowing into mouthpiece or fipple, built with no keys only open holes, high piercing sounds
Low whistle
Built and played same way but octave lower, sweeter gentle sound
Scottish dance band
Big group of instruments which play traditional music for ceilidhs
No singer
Folk group
Plays traditional music, includes singer, loads of instruments
Pibroch
Piece of music for solo bag pipes consisting of a theme and variation
Simple time
Each bat divided into half’s, time signature over 4
Compound time
Each beat divided into 3, time signature over 8
Scotch snap
A rhythm, semiquaver followed by a dotted quaver
March
Steady tempo, simple time, time signature is 24 or 44
Strathspey
Steady temp, simple time 24 or 44, features scotch snaps
Waltz
Stead tempo, simple time, 34
Reel
Quick tempo, simple time, 24 or 44, reely
Jig
Jigging, quick tempo, compound time, 68 or 128
Scottish songs
Relate to tragic events- loss of something, in Scot’s or Gaelic
Scots ballad
Scot’s dialect
Steady tempo
Story of historical event or disaster, very long
Strophic form
Bothy ballad
Sung in Scot’s dialect, upbeat tempo, traditionally sung by men and unaccompanied, sung by male farmer, humorous, about their bad living conditions
Waulking songs
Gaelic
Unaccompanied
Call and response
Women sing as they damp tweed
Mouth music
Sung in Gaelic, traditionally unaccompanied but can be accompanied nowadays, quick upbeat tempo, improvised, funny, Imitates bagpipes
Gaelic psalms
Sung in Gaelic, unaccompanied, no beat/ pulse, hymns in churches
Pentatonic scale
Only 5 notes used in an octave
Different speeds in Italian
Slow- adagio
Medium- adante/ moderato
Fast- allegro
Piano vamp
Repeated musical phrase
Usually used as an accompaniment
Ceol beag
Light music
Includes styles like march, strathspey, reel, waltz, jig
Ceol mor
Also known as a pibroch
Very slow
Generally played by a solo piper
Melody has grace notes
Main melody repeated several times with elaborate variations
Melody
Main tune
Grace notes
Short, crushed notes played immediately before the main note of the melody
Strophic form
All verses sung/played to same music
Celtic rock
Gaelic and rock music fused
Electric guitar, based guitar, drum kit played with acoustic Scottish folk instruments
