Dear NHSRS,
This is a report of my attendance at the Festival of American
Fiddle Tunes in July, 2001. I would like to sincerely thank the
SRS for assisting with my expenses to attend the school.
This week long music camp is located in Port Townsend, Washington,
on the site of a former army base. Fiddle is the major focus,
but there are classes in many other folk instruments as well.
There are fiddle classes in many styles of dance fiddling including
Scottish, Cape Breton, Irish, Appalachian, Klezmer, Mexican, and
others.
I focussed on piano accompaniment for fiddle tunes. Cape Breton
piano was taught by Doug McPhee who comes from a prominent Cape
Breton musical family. His grandfather and father both played
the fiddle and his mother was one of the most popular dance piano
players of the area. His grandfather placed 2nd in a large contest
in Boston in 1926 which was judged by the famous Scottish composer
J. Scott Skinner.
He told many stories of growing up in a musical household where
well known fiddlers were often invited over to play. On a music
making night he would scramble to help his mother with household
chores prior to the arrival of musical guests. He began his own
piano playing at age 12 when he was already familiar with hundreds
of tunes that he had grown up listening to. The older piano players,
including his mother, used the "boom chuck" method of
chording, and simple 1, 4, 5 chords, which is quite different
from the popular modern pyrotechnic styles. His own style has
evolved into a modern form which uses almost the entire range
of the piano.
I was interested to discover from Doug that Cape Breton fiddlers
have been heavily influenced by Irish fiddling, particularly from
the playing of virtuosos Sean Mcguire and Michael Coleman. A large
body of Irish and Scottish tunes alike are considered part of
the general repertoire of the region. Another distinguishing feature
of this fiddling tradition is that many new tunes are being composed
continuously by many different players.
Doug came to the camp along with fiddler David Greenburg, who,
according to Doug, has become a recognized master of the older
Cape Breton fiddle style. I spent many hours listening to them
play together. Scottish fiddle was taught by Calum McKinnon. I
enjoyed hearing him discuss differences and similarities between
Scottish and Cape Breton fiddling.
I picked up a number of playing tips and techniques on both fiddle
and piano which I will practice diligently in the coming year
to incorporate into my own dance playing style and to impart to
my students.
Ryan Thomson