Peter MacFarlane Workshop Summary
Peter’s ability to articulate details precisely was reinforced by his effervescent personality. He kept everyone engaged and focused throughout the workshop.
Peter brought us two strathspeys: Niel Gow's Miss Stewart of Grandtully, and The Iron Man (James Scott Skinner). While in the course of the workshop we did learn the tunes, his goal was to teach us about the flavor of strathspeys, and the fundamentals of playing them,
The strathspey is quintessentially Scottish. The very name means “valley of the River Spey”, which flows northeast from the Grampian Mountains. It was in this region, maybe in the 17th Century that a distinctive style of playing reels developed. They were slowed down and played in a jaunty, swung fashion, becoming known as Strathspey reels (reels played in the Spey Valley regional style). Over time they have become recognised as a distinct type of tune, rather than a reel variation, and have undergone their own evolution.
Peter emphasized that rhythm is the most important aspect of playing strathspeys well. You must be ON THE BEAT AND NEVER SLOPPY and when you play as a group there must be agreement how that is accomplished. The rhythm must be CRISP, POWERFUL, AND FLUID. The tune will dictate whether or not it is faster or more slowly played, but the crispness of the beat must always be there.
How you think about the beat depends on who you are playing for. If you are accompanying step dancers, then your inner rhythm should feel 4 beats to the measure. For most all other occasions the feel is in cut time or 2 beats per measure.
We learned that you can’t really “measure” the amount of time the dotted 8th notes and 16th notes are held or how short they are played as so much of the tradition is learned by ear. There is interpretation in how long or short a note is held. But the basics are firm. It’s all about keeping a very strong rhythm, no sloppiness.
We went over the Scottish Snap where the notation is a 16th note followed by a dotted 8th note. The suggestion was to say “ ya – dah” the ya being very short using almost no bow at all but played right on the beat and the dah being strong, but relaxed.
For the opposite notation of a dotted 8th note first followed by a 16th note you might say “dah – de”. So the first note is not only longer it is strong and on the beat followed by a very short, much weaker note.
When you have four 16th notes in a row, the first three are compressed and the 4th note has a bit more length.
Two 16th notes together also get compressed. They are quicker than a counted 16th note which allows the dotted 8th note to be longer and more relaxed.
For fiddlers this is all determined by the bow. Slowing down the movement of the bow allows you to play more notes in one direction by using very small amounts of the bow on the 16th notes. Look at The Iron Man, third line, first measure. Linger on the dotted 8th and very short, small amount of bow on the 16th notes. All four beats of the measure on one bow. Correct bowing will also keep fiddlers from running out of bow.
Fiddlers learned another trick Peter called “The Banana”. It is the use of a slur from a pick up beat over the bar line through the next two notes. Using an up bow it will get you to the next down bow in the right place.
Sylvia asked about the “DRIVEN BOW”. Pete said it was one of Neil Gow’s signature moves and was played with a jerk of the wrist allowing the notes to be played separately, (not slurred) in one up bow direction.
We were also instructed to be very conscious never to be lazy and to recognize the difference between the compressed double 16th notes and the 8th note also found in The Iron Man, third line last measure and triplets. Triplets often are played with slightly more time on the first note of the triplet. The sounds “Dah-da-de” could work.
Peter’s comments were directed towards the bowing of the fiddlers as that is his instrument. However throughout the workshop he addressed guitars, mandolin, accordion and winds, offering suggests for how his points could be implemented. For instance, for guitar, picking the strings or brushing them makers a difference in dynamics and timing of a note. For woodwinds the differences in tongue and breath control make notes very short where needed.
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