
Canadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
of Canada on the
fiddle. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois French
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere.
[David Reiner and Peter Anick, Mel Bays' Old Time Fiddling Across America, 1989]
Regional styles
Cape Breton
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
style which falls within the
Celtic music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considera ...
idiom.
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada.
The island accounts for 18. ...
's fiddle music was brought to North America by
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
immigrant
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...
s during the
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resul ...
. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
-speaking regions in the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...
and the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...
. 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
A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documente ...
(
Iona
Iona (; gd, Ì Chaluim Chille (IPA: �iːˈxaɫ̪ɯimˈçiʎə, sometimes simply ''Ì''; sco, Iona) is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though the ...
style and
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histo ...
style), and
highland dancing
Highland dance or Highland dancing ( gd, dannsa Gàidhealach) is a style of competitive dancing developed in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th and 20th centuries, in the context of competitions at public events such as the Highland games. It ...
.
Cape Breton playing is highly accented, characterized by driven up-bowing. The tunes of other music origins (Irish,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
,
French-Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
, ''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
strathspeys
A strathspey () is a type of dance tune in time, featuring dotted rhythms (both long-short and short-long " Scotch snaps"), which in traditional playing are generally somewhat exaggerated rhythmically. Examples of strathspeys are the songs "The ...
.
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 Great Highland bagpipe ( gd, a' phìob mhòr "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland, and the Scottish analogue to the Great Irish Warpipes. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British mil ...
. The ornamentation (cuts aka.
trebles,
drones
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
and
doubling Doubling may refer to:
Mathematics
* Arithmetical doubling of a count or a measure, expressed as:
** Multiplication by 2
** Increase by 100%, i.e. one-hundred percent
** Doubling the cube (i. e., hypothetical geometric construction of a cube wi ...
) brings out the strong feeling of Cape Breton fiddle.
Down East
Down East, originating in the
Maritimes
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
, is one of eastern Canada's distinctive fiddle styles. The style is closely associated with prominent fiddler
Don Messer
Donald Charles Frederick Messer (May 9, 1909 – March 26, 1973) was a Canadian musician, band leader, radio broadcaster, and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s. His CBC Television series '' Don Messer’s Jubilee'' (1959–69) feature ...
and the provinces of
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
and
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...
.
Fiddle music in the region originated with the arrival of the first British settlers in the 18th century. As a distinct style, Down East fiddling developed and became nationally prominent thanks to the advent of the radio. George Chappelle and the Merry Islanders hosted an early radio program on
CFCY-FM
CFCY-FM is a Canadian radio station broadcasting at 95.1 FM in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island with a country format branded on-air as ''95.1 CFCY''. The station is owned & operated by the Maritime Broadcasting System.
History
The station w ...
on Prince Edward Island, and following Chappelle's departure in 1939, New Brunswick native
Don Messer
Donald Charles Frederick Messer (May 9, 1909 – March 26, 1973) was a Canadian musician, band leader, radio broadcaster, and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s. His CBC Television series '' Don Messer’s Jubilee'' (1959–69) feature ...
launched a show that soon became popular nationwide. Messer focused less on traditional fiddling than on producing a hit show, and his success greatly influenced local music and Canadian fiddle in general. The style developed by Messer and others came to be known as "
Down East", after a colloquial name for the Maritimes. It is characterized by
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...
es,
jig
The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts o ...
s,
polkas and
reels
A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a ''spool'') with flanges around the ends ...
, and its focus on simple playing and dance-ready rhythms.
[
]
Quebec Fiddle
Quebec fiddle is a part of the Old time fiddle
Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" derived from European folk dance tunes such as Jig, Reel, Breakdown, Schottische, Waltz, Two Step and Polka. The fiddle may be accompanied by banjo or other instr ...
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
Clogging is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythms, usually to the downbeat with th ...
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
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 Island traditions. It is one of the few exta ...
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 Métis (; ; ) people themselves blend
A blend is a mixture of two or more different things or substances; e.g., a product of a mixer or blender.
Blend
Blend may also refer to:
* Blend word, a word formed from parts of other words
* ''Blend'' (album), a 1996 album by BoDeans
* ...
First Nations, French, Anglo, Celtic and others. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s".[Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1991)
Old Indian and Metis Fiddling in Manitoba: Origins, Structure, and Questions of Syncretism, Anne Lederman, This article was originally published in The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 7.2 (1988): 205-30.]
David Chartrand
David N. Chartrand, (January 23, 1960) is a Métis politician and activist who has served as the democratically elected President of the Manitoba Métis Federation since 1997. He is the longest serving President of the Manitoba Métis Federation' ...
, President of the Manitoba Métis Foundation, is also interviewed in a 2006 documentary by John Barnard and emphasizes that the Métis fiddle tradition is an aural tradition which cannot be taught in schools. Métis 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. "A Note on Métis Music", Whidden emphasizes the French ''chanson'' and "Indian" derivation of the style and that they overlap and are indistinct. Métis fiddlers often accompany themselves by the use of their feet. This is also very common in the Quebec style of playing.
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 tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
as with all folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
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'', by David Brody, is a collection of fiddle tunes in lead sheet form (naturally without lyrics). It includes tunes in the following styles:
* England
* Scotland
* Ireland
* Shetland
* French Canadian
* Nova Scotia/ ...
. Aside from instruction, the traditions are maintained by Old Time Fiddler's Associations throughout North America.
Secondary sources
David Reiner and Peter Anick collaborated on collecting 66 tunes for Mel Bays' ''Old Time Fiddling Across America''
which outlines several influences on what they call Northeastern Fiddling Styles: Cape Breton, French-Canadian (Québécois) and Maritime.[REiner] 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 fiddling
Scottish fiddling may be distinguished from other folk fiddling styles by its particular precision of execution and energy in the delivery, for example, the rendering of the dotted-quaver/semi-quaver rhythmic patterns, commonly used in the Strath ...
*American fiddle
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 the North and is credited as being the first known ...
*Irish fiddle
The Celtic fiddle is one of the most important instruments in the traditional repertoire of Celtic music. The fiddle itself is identical to the violin, however it is played differently in widely varying regional styles. In the era of sound recordi ...
*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 Island traditions. It is one of the few exta ...
* List of Canadian fiddlers
*The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family (originally known as The Rankins) are a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian ...
References
External links
Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Association
* ttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hrhtml/hrhome.html The Henry Reed Collection at the Library of CongressCollection of traditional fiddle tunes performed by Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia. Recorded by folklorist Alan Jabbour in 1966-67.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Fiddle
Country music genres
North American folk music