Driving the Tunes

As a piano player accompanying Scottish music, I have a responsibility to provide mood and momentum for the orchestra. When I was first starting out, playing for contra dances in the late 1970’s, I fell under the influence of Shetland pianist Violet Tulloch, and guitarist “Peerie” Willie Johnson.

At our January workshop, Ryan Thomson mentioned Johnson, and it prodded me into some recollections. He was born in Yell, Shetland, in 1920. The term “Peerie” is Shetland or “little”, a reference to his small physical stature, which was probably a result of having a sickly childhood. This would have been shortly after the end of the First World War (June 28th, 2019), surely an emotional time for Shetland. Visiting Shetland in 1990 an image that remains strong in my mind is seeing a cemetery crowded with those who died in the war: Out of 3,600 who had gone to serve, 630 lost their lives. Shetland’s role in WWI was significant.
(read a detailed account here). 

Tom Anderson and “Peerie” Willie Johnson

Johnson started playing guitar and was influenced by jazz players Eddie Lang and Django Reinhardt. It’s rather remarkable that he found common ground with Tom Anderson, who was a purist about the fiddling tradition, but evidently something resonated and Tom got him a job with the Isleburgh Dance Band. Johnson soon began to inspire other players, guitarists and piano players, and his jazz stylings soon became a trademark of Shetland music.

I never officially met Johnson, but he was on the scene (not playing much) when I was there for the 10th annual Shetland Folk Festival. I was aware of his role, and while I met the pianist Violet Tulloch, fiddler Willie Hunter, and even Tom Anderson himself, I guess I was a bit shy about approaching “Peerie”. 

One of the features of jazz guitar is that the chords tend to change with every beat, with some of the changes being devices like major 7ths, 11ths, 13ths, diminished and augmented chords, etc. I can say that Johnson influenced my piano playing, but not as you might think. I did not try to emulate his jazz chords, but I rather felt the importance of including variety in my chord changes (usually playing for contra dances), through not just different chords, but passing notes, and either scale or arpeggiated filler between chords. I was not conscious of it at the time, but now I see that this was a way of adding energy and momentum to the tunes. It also meant that the tune was not played in the same way twice. 

And so I’m not suggesting that SMC incorporate jazz chords into our playing, but I think it will be useful for the rhythm instruments to explore opportunities to drive the tunes through creative use of these musical devices. This could be the subject of a rhythm section only workshop, or maybe just incorporating small modifications during our workshops and jams. The trick will be implementing it so that there is uniformity between all the players. We are a smart and creative group, and I look forward to how this might develop.

Johnson looking on at the 10th annual Shetland Folk Festival.