Traditional*Music*Education*Today*A*Research*Project*in*North8East*Scotland*

**By*

Natalie*Brown*

BA*Music*in*Violin*Performance,*University*of*Iowa,*2002*Cert.*in*Music*Education,*Coe*College,*2004*

MA*Music*Education,*University*of*Northern*Iowa,*2009********

A*dissertation*submitted*in*accordance*with*the*requirements*for*the*Degree*of*MLitt*in*Ethnology*and*Folklore*at*the*University*of*Aberdeen*

November*2013*

* ii*

Abstract*

This*dissertation*deals*with*the*complex*issues*of*the*current*status*of*traditional*music*

education*in*Scotland,*mainly*the*North8East*region.*Research*on*traditional*music*education*is*

considered*along*with*the*interviews*with*fourteen*people,*all*musicians,*mostly*music*

instructors*as*well*as*local*stakeholders*in*traditional*music*education.*The*musical*

backgrounds*of*the*contributors*and*the*musical*history*of*the*region*is*the*point*of*departure.*

Issues*about*the*resistance*to*traditional*music*in*schools,*views*on*traditional*music*exams*

and*competitions*are*addressed.*Contrasting*approaches*to*teaching*traditional*music,*such*as*

informal*and*formal*learning*settings,*and*teaching*by*ear*or*notation*are*covered.*The*

conclusion*looks*further*into*relation*between*traditional*music*and*national*identity*in*

Scotland,*particularly*in*light*of*current*developments*and*discusses*possibilities*for*future*

research.*

* iii*

*Declaration

I*declare*that*this*dissertation*is*solely*my*own*work,*that*all*thoughts*are*my*own*save*for*

where*indicated;*all*quotations*have*been*distinguished*by*quotation*marks*and*sources*of*

information*specifically*acknowledged.*None*of*the*information*produced*from*the*

combination*of*all*contributions*has*been*previously*published,*nor*been*used*in*any*previous*

application*for*a*degree.*Further,*I*confirm*that*this*document*has*been*composed*in*keeping*

with*the*University*regulations*regarding*plagiarism*and*collusion*as*detailed*in*the*M.*Litt.*

Programme*Handbook,*and*the*various*provisions*of*the*Data*Protection*Act*1998.

*

*Natalie*Brown****Word*Count:*19,749*

* iv*

Contents/

Acknowledgements* v*

List*of*abbreviations* vi*

Contributor*biographies* vii*

*

Introduction* 1*

Chapter*1* Background*and*Review*of*Research* 6*

Chapter*2* The*Carrying*Stream*and*Contributor*Backgrounds* 14*

Chapter*3* The*Teaching*of*Traditional*Music* 19*

Chapter*4* Exams*and*Competitions*in*Traditional*Music* 37*

Conclusion* * 52*

*

Appendix*1* Excerpts*of*Fieldwork*Interview*Transcriptions* 62*

Bibliography* * 103*

*

* v*

Acknowledgements/

I*would*like*to*thank*my*contributors:*James*Alexander,*Paul*Anderson,*Katherine*Campbell,*

Joshua*Dickson,*Hannah*Graham,*Sharon*Hassan,*Christine*Kydd,*Katherine*Liley,*Josephine*

Miller,*Anna8Wendy*Stevenson,*Susan*Simpson,*Nicola*Tierney*and*Claire*White.*Thank*you*to*

my*professors*at*the*Elphinstone*Institute*for*their*assistance*and*guidance,*Dr.*Ian*Russell,*Dr.*

Tom*McKean,*and*Dr.*Frances*Wilkins.*Also*thank*you*to*Alison*Sharman,*Carley*Williams*and*

Nicholas*Le*Bigre*for*their*input*and*assistance*in*the*archive*and*to*my*brilliant*and*

entertaining*classmates*at*the*institute.*

A*big*thank*you*to*all*the*people*that*made*me*feel*so*welcome*in*Aberdeen;*I*felt*extremely*at*

home*in*the*musical*community.*

To*my*colleagues*and*administrators*in*Iowa*for*permitting*this*leave*of*absence*and*for*

understanding*my*desire*to*do*this*research.*

To*my*family*for*being*always*supportive*of*my*endeavors*and*especially*my*mom*for*providing*

me*with*the*gift*of*music.**

* vi*

Abbreviations/

ABRSM*–*Associated*Board*of*the*Royal*Schools*of*Music*

ALP*–*Adult*Learning*Project,*now*Scots*Music*Group*

BBC*–*British*Broadcasting*Corporation*

CPD*–*Continuing*Professional*Development*

MSP*–*Member*of*the*Scottish*Parliament**

RCS*–*Royal*Conservatoire*Scotland*(formerly*RSAMD)*

RSAMD*–*The*Royal*Scottish*Academy*(now*RCS)*

SC&T*–*Scottish*Culture*and*Traditions*

SQA*–*Scottish*Qualifications*Authority*

TMSA*–*Traditional*Music*and*Song*Association*

* vii*

Contributor/Biographies/

JAMES*ALEXANDER*grew*up*near*Buckie,*which*is*close*to*Fochabers.*Alexander*began*fiddle*at*an*early*age*and*has*remained*in*the*Fochabers*area*where*he*works*as*a*peripatetic*strings*instructor.*He*started*the*Fochabers*Fiddlers*in*1981,*a*group*of*young*fiddlers*that*is*still*active*performing*Scottish*music;*they*have*done*several*tours*to*North*America*and*Europe.*Alexander*was*instrumental*in*the*development*of*the*traditional*music*graded*exams*and*is*an*adjudicator*for*many*major*fiddle*competitions.**

PAUL*ANDERSON*is*an*in8demand*fiddler*and*recording*artist*from*Tarland*in*Aberdeenshire*and*a*promoter*of*the*North8East*fiddle*tradition.*His*tutor*lineage,*through*teacher*Douglas*Lawrence,*can*be*traced*back*to*Niel*Gow.*Anderson*is*involved*in*many*projects*and*workshops,*including*recently*compiling*previously*unpublished*North8East*fiddle*music*in*The$Elphinstone$Collection.$His*current*projects*include*leading*the*Braemar*Fiddle*Camp*and*the*Atomic*Doric*Project*(looking*at*the*connections*between*the*land,*dialect,*and*music).*

KATHERINE*CAMPBELL*is*from*the*Fochabers*area*where*she*learned*fiddle,*cello,*piano*and*Scots*song.*Her*PhD*dissertation*from*the*University*of*Edinburgh*in*1999*looked*into*how*adults*were*learning*fiddle*through*the*ALP*in*Edinburgh.*Campbell*is*Senior*Lecturer*in*Scottish*Ethnology*at*the*department*of*Celtic*and*Scottish*Studies*at*the*University*of*Edinburgh.*Her*research*specialties*are*Scottish*fiddle*music*and*Scots*song.**Campbell*is*also*the*General*Editor*of*the*Scottish$Tradition$Series$through*Greentrax*Recordings.**

HANNAH*GRAHAM,*born*in*Fife*and*raised*in*both*Shetland*and*Orkney,*is*a*fiddler*and*researcher*completing*her*MLitt*in*Ethnology*and*Folklore*at*the*University*of*Aberdeen*in*2013.*She*teaches*private*lessons*as*well*as*SC&T*group*lessons.*

SHARON*HASSAN*is*from*Portlethen*and*now*calls*Insch*her*home.*She*attended*the*RSMAD*and*then*was*a*peripatetic*strings*instructor*for*the*Aberdeenshire*Council*as*well*as*SC&T,*the*Gaitherin,*Feisan*nan*Gaidheal*and*other*organisations.*She*now*manages*her*own*music*education*organisation,*Gadie’s*Music,*and*leads*a*group*of*young*musicians*called*the*North8East*Folk*Collective.*

CHRISTINE*KYDD,*originally*from*Glasgow,*is*a*traditional*singer*and*guitarist.*Kydd*has*taught*extensively,*including*at*Plockton*High*School,*given*workshops*in*Scottish*song*in*the*US,*UK*and*Europe,*and*has*done*mentoring*through*Creative*Scotland.*She*is*currently*assisting*with*development*of*a*Scots*song*website*as*a*resource*for*students*and*CPD*for*teachers.**

KATHERINE*LILEY*is*originally*from*Skye*and*took*lessons*from*Christine*Martin.*She*completed*the*BA*Applied*Music*at*Strathclyde*University*and*has*led*workshops,*such*as*the*Glasgow*Fiddle*

* viii*

Workshop,*the*Dunblane*Fiddle*Workshop*and*at*Celtic*Connections.*Liley*is*a*peripatetic*strings*instructor*in*the*Angus*schools*and*leads*the*Celtic*Music*Group*at*Forfar*Academy*as*part*of*the*Angus*Youth*Music*Initiative.**

JOSEPHINE*(JO)*MILLER,*born*in*Curluke,*grew*up*in*Dumfries*and*Galloway.*She*is*a*fiddler,*singer*and*scholar*who*founded*the*Glasgow*Fiddle*Workshop*as*well*as*the*BA*in*Scottish*Music*at*the*RSMAD*in*1996,*where*she*taught*for*fifteen*years.*She*has*been*commissioned*to*develop*music*curriculum*and*resources*on*traditional*music*for*teachers.*She*currently*runs*the*Riverside*Music*Project*in*Stirling*and*is*pursuing*a*PhD*based*on*her*interests*in*community*music*education.**

ANNA8WENDY*STEVENSON*is*originally*from*Edinburgh.*She*has*led*fiddle*workshops*in*the*UK*and*USA*and*is*currently*the*Programme*Director*for*the*BA*(Hons)*Applied*Music*at*the*University*of*the*Highlands*and*Islands.**She*is*also*on*the*programme*team*for*the*new*Masters*degree,*Music*and*the*Environment.*Stevenson*is*based*in*Uist*in*the*Outer*Hebrides*and*is*the*director*for*the*music*and*Gaelic*programmes*run*from*Lews*Castle*College*in*Benbecula.**She*is*the*module*leader*for*BA*Applied*Music*Performance*Practice*and*Ensemble.*

SUSAN*SIMPSON*from*Aberdeen*started*violin*when*she*was*eight.*She*joined*the*Ythan*fiddlers*as*a*student*and*eventually*led*the*group.*Simpson*attended*the*RSMAD*and*is*a*peripatetic*strings*instructor*for*the*Cults*and*Broxburn*schools.**

NICOLA*TIERNEY*is*from*Turiff*in*Aberdeenshire.*She*was*trained*classically*on*violin*as*well*as*having*fiddle*lessons*from*Paul*Anderson.*She*was*successful*in*fiddle*competitions*and*recorded*a*CD*of*Scottish*fiddle*music.*She*completed*her*BMus*with*education*degree*from*the*University*of*Aberdeen*in*2009.*Tierney*is*a*peripatetic*strings*instructor*in*the*Inverurie*area*and*leads*the*junior*Garioch*fiddlers.**

CLAIRE*WHITE*from*Shetland*studied*fiddle*with*Tom*Anderson*and*was*a*member*his*Young*Heritage*Group.*She*currently*resides*in*Aberdeen*and*works*as*a*BBC*Development*Producer.*White*has*taught*at*SC&T,*teaches*fiddle*lessons*and*has*led*fiddle*workshops*in*the*UK*and*USA.*She*performs*with*Danse*Macabre*(a*ceilidh*band)*and*in*Blyde*Lasses*(a*music*duo).*

! 1!

Introduction*!

North-East*Scotland*Music*Tradition*!

The!North*East!region!of!Scotland!is!well!known!for!its!traditional!music,!particularly!its!ballad!

and!fiddle!music.!Many!collections,!archives!and!online!resources!are!available!for!researchers,!

educators!and!performers.!Thousands!of!songs!and!tunes!collected!in!the!North*East!by!Gavin!

Greig!and!James!Duncan1!have!been!published!as!well!as!fiddle!collections!(and!a!tutor!lineage)!

of!William!Marshall,!James!Scott!Skinner,!Hector!MacAndrew,!Bert!Murray,!Douglas!Lawrence!

and!Paul!Anderson.2!Although!the!North*East!has!held!the!interest!of!researchers!and!music!

fans!within!the!region!and!beyond,!and!is!well!documented,!the!learning!and!teaching!of!the!

music!is!not.!Research!into!whether!and!how!traditional!arts!are!being!included!in!schools!may!

be!crucial!as!Scotland!attempts!to!define!itself!through!the!Scotland!Referendum!in!2014.!

Related!developments!are!increasing!organizational!support!for!the!arts,!such!as!Creative!

Scotland,3!and!the!increasing!support!of!the!Scottish!Government!for!the!inclusion!of!traditional!

arts!in!education4!and!the!establishment!of!the!Curriculum!for!Excellence.5!!

! To!explore!this!issue,!I!investigated!the!state!of!music!in!the!schools!of!Scotland,!

primarily,!but!not!exclusively,!in!the!North*East.!Through!music!educator!case!studies!I!looked!

at!the!place!of!traditional!music!in!the!school!curriculum!at!public,!private!and!specialized!

schools,!as!well!as!opportunities!for!students!as!they!move!on!to!secondary!school.!Interviews!

have!included!several!music!teachers,!mainly!of!violin,!some!who!teach!classical!and!some!who!

include!classical!and!traditional!repertoire.!I!considered!the!relation!between!music!educators’!

personal!history!(influences,!training!and!such,!from!childhood!on)!and!their!current!practice,!

suppositions!and!point!of!view.!!

! 2!

*

Methodology*

This!research!draws!on!the!interviews!with!fourteen!people,!all!musicians,!mostly!music!

instructors!as!well!as!local!stakeholders!in!traditional!music!education.!I!learned!about!my!

contributors!in!a!variety!of!ways!and!they!were!selected!based!on!suggestions!from!my!

professors,!individual!contacts!with!musicians!and!educators,!and!recommendations!from!other!

contributors.!The!main!instrument!for!ten!of!the!contributors!is!violin!or!fiddle;!ten!are!from!or!

residing!currently!in!the!North*East!of!Scotland.!Eleven!interviews!were!conducted!face*to*face,!

the!remaining!three!via!telephone!and!email!because!of!geographical!distance.!The!interviews!

varied!from!thirty!to!eighty!minutes!and!all!were!transcribed!for!analysis.!Each!contributor!

signed!a!permission!form!allowing!their!interview!to!be!used!in!this!research.!A!set!of!questions!

was!used!for!each!interview,!though!inevitably!additional!questions!arose!and!other!tangents!

were!pursued.!The!general!questions!for!the!instructors!and!stakeholders!are!as!follows:!Where!

are!you!from!originally?!Discuss!your!upbringing!and!beginnings!on!the!violin/fiddle.!When!and!

why!did!you!start!teaching?!What!is!your!current!teaching!situation?!Do!you!incorporate!

traditional!music!in!your!lessons?!If!so,!how?!By!ear?!Notation?!How!do!you!think!the!students!

respond!to!traditional!music?!What!is!your!overall!experience!with!traditional!music!education!

and!where!do!you!see!it!going!from!here?!What!is!your!opinion!on!traditional!music!exams?!Is!

there!anything!else!you’d!like!to!add!or!suggest?!

! Although!there!appears!to!be!a!growing!acceptance!of!traditional!music!in!the!current!

music!curriculum,!I!found!conflicting!views!about!the!degree!of!resistance!to!traditional!music.!

Other!recurring!topics!include!the!methods!of!teaching!tradition!music—especially!whether!by!

! 3!

ear!or!by!notation—and!student!reaction!to!it.!Views!on!the!place!of!examinations!and!

competitions!in!traditional!music!education!vary!as!well.!The!use!of!informal!and!social!settings!

of!music!in!formal!education!will!also!be!explored.!

!

Reflexivity*

‘A!reflexive!look!at!the!types!of!relationships!fieldwork!engenders!reveals!that!fieldworkers,!and!

those!who!are!the!subject!of!fieldwork,!bring!identities!to!the!encounter!and!are!cast!in!a!

variety!of!roles’.6!As!a!music!educator!and!musician!myself,!I!have!discovered!many!roles!on!

both!the!insider!and!outsider!aspects!of!fieldwork.!I!have!done!my!best!to!respect!the!opinions!

of!my!contributors!and!represent!their!words!accurately!through!transcriptions!and!additional!

questions!for!the!contributors!when!needed.!Fieldwork!goes!beyond!fact!gathering!and!is!a!

collaboration,!with!opportunities!for!mutual!benefit.!Indeed,!as!Ian!Russell!states,!‘we!are!

privileged!by!being!granted!an!insight!into!the!life!and!culture!of!our!associates—their!gift!to!us.!

We!can!reciprocate!this!generosity!in!an!active!manner,!both!positively!and!ethically’.7!I!will!

highlight!my!initial!assumptions!and!concerns,!what!my!subjects!may!have!gained!from!the!

dialogue!and!what!I!have!gained!through!this!research!as!a!musician!and!educator.!I!hope!that!

the!discussions!with!my!contributors!add!to!a!long!history!of!dialogue!and!contemplation!about!

traditional!music!education.!!I!have!been!lucky!enough!to!join!this!‘carrying!stream’!by!

performing!with!other!musicians!here!in!North*East!Scotland!and!will!continue!to!explore!my!

discoveries!in!my!own!music,!teaching,!and!writing.!I!have!a!lifelong!engagement!with!music!

and!commitment!to!teaching!music.!Scottish!music,!in!which!tradition!is!alive!and!well,!has!

captured!my!imagination.!I!hope,!with!the!musicians,!educators!and!students!that!I’ve!engaged!

! 4!

with!in!Scotland,!that!my!interest!might!enhance!their!own!sense!of!the!value!of!what!they!are!

doing.!

!

Outline*

The!first!chapter!will!set!the!scene!by!looking!at!the!North*East!tradition,!history!of!traditional!

music!education,!highlight!other!research,!related!literature,!and!government!reports.!!

! Chapter!2!follows!the!concepts!of!carrying!stream!and!passing!it!on!via!the!contributors’!

musical!upbringings.!The!focus!is!on!their!family!and!teachers!and!what!led!to!their!becoming!

teachers!themselves.!

! Chapter!3!is!based!on!interviews!of!music!instructors!and!will!highlight!one!area!of!my!

fieldwork:!how!teachers!approach!traditional!music.!Concepts!such!as!formal!and!informal!

settings,!and!notation!and!playing!by!ear!will!be!addressed.!The!research!will!consider!how!

aspects!of!informal!learning!might!be!incorporated!into!formal!settings.!!

! Chapter!4!looks!at!the!opinions!about!and!uses!of!exams!and!competitions!in!traditional!

music!and!chapter!four!discusses!resources!and!curriculum!for!students!and!teachers!in!

traditional!music.!

! The!conclusion!will!bring!together!these!concepts!and!discuss!areas!for!further!research.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!Gavin!Greig!and!James!Bruce!Duncan,!The$Greig)Duncan$Folk$Song$Collection,!ed.!Patrick!N.!Shuldham*

Shaw,!Emily!B.!Lyle,!and!Peter!Hall!(Aberdeen:!Published!by!Aberdeen!University!Press!for!the!University!

of!Aberdeen!in!association!with!the!School!of!Scottish!Studies,!University!of!Edinburgh,!1981).�2!Paul!Anderson,!The$Elphinstone$Collection$of$Fiddle$Tunes$from$North$East$Scotland!(Isle!of!Skye:!Taigh!

na!Teud,!2009).!

! 5!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!Creative!Scotland,!Investing$in$Scotland’s$Creative$Future,$Corporate$Plan!2011–14.!4!Scottish!Government,!Traditional$Arts$Working$Group$Report,!2010.!5!Scottish!Government,!A$Curriculum$for$Excellence$by$the$Curriculum$Review$Group,!2004.!6!Jeff!Todd!Titon,!‘Knowing!Fieldwork’,!Shadows$in$the$Field,$ed.!Barz!and!Cooley!(Oxford:!Oxford!

University!Press,!1996),!p.!95.!7!Ian!Russell,!‘Working!with!Tradition:!Towards!a!Partnership!Model!of!Fieldwork’,!Folklore,!117!(2006),!

p.!27.!

! 6!

Chapter(1(

Background(and(Review(of(Research(

(

Traditional(Music(and(the(Folk(Revival(

According!to!Ailie!Munro,!‘traditional!music!in!Scotland!has!been!assiduously!collected!and!printed!for!

over!300!years:!by!Alan!Ramsay,!James!Oswald,!James!Johnson,!Robert!Burns,!William!Dauney,!Patrick!

MacDonald!and!many!others![.!.!.]!this!exceptional!richness!of!collection!and!publication!is!connected!

with!the!loss!of!nationhood!experienced!by!many!Scots!after!the!unions!with!England;!they!felt!

preserving!their!native!music!in!this!way!might!help!to!preserve!their!national!identity’.1!In!their!

preservation!efforts!the!collectors!were!working!against!social!changes!that!had!caused!popular!interest!

in!Scottish!traditions!to!wane.!But!after!the!Second!World!War,!engagement!with!traditional!music!was!

sparked!again!when!the!folk!revival!that!had!begun!in!the!United!States!arrived!in!Scotland!with!a!visit!

from!Alan!Lomax,!assisted!by!Hamish!Henderson,!in!1950.!The!following!summer,!Lomax!and!Henderson!

conducted!two!collecting!tours,!from!which!Lomax!produced!the!‘I!Heard!Scotland!Sing‘!series!for!the!

BBC,!marking!the!beginning!of!a!new!era!of!traditional!fiddle!music!collecting,!recording!and!publishing!

that!includes!the!collections!already!mentioned!in!the!introduction!along!with!those!by!James!Hunter2!

and!Alastair!J.!Hardie.3!Beginning!in!the!1980s!a!number!of!bookZlength!studies!have!been!devoted!to!

Scottish!fiddling,!written!by!such!scholars!as!Mary!Anne!Alburger,4!Katherine!Campbell,5!David!Johnson,6!

and!J.!Murray!Neil.7!!Munro,!writing!in!1996,!describes!the!enduring!impact!of!the!revival!in!Scotland!

‘the!instrumental!music!explosion!of!the!1970s!has!now!become!more!like!a!volcanic!eruption’8!and!

‘instrumental!playing!has!become!so!popular,!it!has!led!to!what!has!been!called!‘a!plague!of!fiddlers’.9!

! The!momentum!of!the!folk!revival!eventually!infiltrated!the!schools.!Munro!describes!the!

changes!that!had!occurred!by!the!midZ1990s:!

! 7!

Great!progress!has!been!made,!both!in!schools!and!in!Glasgow’s!Royal!Scottish!Academy!of!Music!and!Drama!(RSAMD)!which!trains!music!teachers.!All!secondary!school!pupils!now,!at!some!point!in!their!course,!learning!something!about!Scottish!folk!music,!and!it!is!an!integral!part!of!the!Standard!Grade!music!exam.![…]!Teachers!are!supplied!with!a!valuable!book—The$Music$of$Scotland—with!an!accompanying!tape,!in!which!the!importance!of!live!performance!is!stressed!and!which!encourages!teachers!to!invite!folk!musicians!to!their!schools.!Thus,!doors!are!opening!for!many!schoolchildren!who!might!otherwise!have!little!chance!of!hearing!their!own!musical!heritage’.10!!

Charles!Byrne!notes!that!the!Scottish!composer!and!academic!Mark!Sheridan!provides!another!historical!

transition!moment,!tracing!‘our!growing!interest!in!traditional!music![.!.!.]!to!the!second!half!of!the!

twentieth!century!with!the!establishment!of!the!School!of!Scottish!Studies!at!Edinburgh!University!in!

1951’.!11!Jo!Miller,!one!of!my!contributors,!observes!that!‘perhaps!the!single!most!important!change!in!

traditional!music!education!over!the!last!fifty!years!has!been!the!move!to!classroom!settings.!This!is!true!

of!both!formal!and!informal!education.’12!

! Thus,!evidence!of!the!changing!fortunes!of!traditional!music!in!Scotland!can!be!found!inside!and!

outside!the!classroom.!Just!as!Munro,!writing!in!the!last!decade!of!the!twentieth!century!had!noted!that!

the!growth!of!‘informal!settings!for!different!kinds!of!folk!music’!such!as!‘the!folk!pubs’,13!Byrne!adds!

that!currently!‘there!has!been!a!huge!increase!in!the!numbers!of!young!people!engaging!with!their!own!

musical!traditions!through!the!school!curriculum,!the!work!of!Fèisean!nan!Gàidheal,!and!the!TMSA,!and!

numerous!local!associations,!musical!societies!and!informal!groups’.14(

!

One(Tradition:(North?East(Style(

It!is!tempting!to!speak!of!‘traditional!music’!in!the!singular!and!to!lose!sight!of!the!importance!of!‘a!

strong!local!connection’,!as!the!Traditional!Arts!Working!Group!puts!it,!in!the!teaching!of!traditional!

arts.15!In!fact,!it!might!be!better!to!speak!of!‘traditions’,!for!traditional!Scottish!music!is!made!up!of!

multiple!strands,!ranging!from!the!most!generic!ingredients!or!‘national’!characteristics!to!regional!

variations!to!very!local!flavours.!This!study!focuses!primarily!on!the!NorthZEast.!Although!it!is!hard!to!

describe!a!fiddle!style!with!words!rather!than!demonstrating!through!playing,!it!is!important!to!have!an!

! 8!

idea!of!what!the!NorthZEast!fiddle!tradition!is.!Paul!Anderson,!one!of!the!bestZknown!modern!day!

proponents!of!the!style,!explains!the!‘musical!fingerprints’!that!make!the!NorthZEast!fiddle!style!distinct,!

demonstrating!how!unisons,!long!and!short!notes,!snap!bowing,!upZdriven!bow,!doubleZstopping,!

ornamentation!and!triplets!are!notated,!versus!how!they!are!played.16!Anderson!has!also!compared!the!

music!with!the!local!dialect:!‘our!indigenous!fiddle!music!reflects!not!only!the!rugged!beauty!of!our!

countryside,!but!also!the!voice!and!character!of!the!people.!I!have!long!thought!that!the!traditional!

music!of!an!area!reflects!the!dialect!of!the!people.!On!the!West!Coast,!for!example,!the!fiddle!music!has!

a!laid!back!and!lilting!feel!as!does!the!spoken!word,!while!here!in!the!NorthZEast!the!music!and!speech!

are!more!heavily!accented.’17!ShuldhamZShaw,!in!the!introduction!to!volume!one!of!the!Grieg6Duncan$

Folk$Song$Collection!concurs:!‘as!compared!with!similar!tunes!from!other!parts!of!the!British!Isles!these!

NorthZeast!Scottish!airs!have!a!far!more!rugged,!even!angular!quality.’18!In!surveying!developments!in!

the!teaching!of!traditional!music,!it!will!be!important!to!remember!that!each!locale!will!have!its!own!

sense!of!tradition!and!its!own!way!of!performing!a!tune.!

!

Government(Reports(on(Music(Education(and(Related(Research(

The!development!of!the!Curriculum!for!Excellence!began!in!2002!and!has!been!implemented!in!schools!

since!2010;!it!is!the!curriculum!guide!for!the!early!years,!usually!age!three,!through!the!end!of!S3!(about!

age!15).!Expressive!Arts!is!one!of!the!eight!curriculum!areas!and!includes!art!and!design,!dance,!drama!

and!music.!In!the!Curriculum$for$Excellence:$Experiences$and$Outcomes,!the!Scottish!Government!

indicates!that!the!expressive!arts!provide!opportunities!for!students!‘to!deepen![their]!understanding!of!

culture!in!Scotland!and!the!wider!world’.19!The!Scottish!Government!Instrumental!Music!Group!states!

that!learning!music!in!particular:!‘plays!a!role!in!supporting!children!and!young!people!to!recognise!and!

value!the!variety!and!vitality!of!culture!locally,!nationally!and!globally’.20!Numerous!reports!support!the!

expressive!arts,!noting!their!value!in!relation!to!other!areas!of!curriculum!in!helping!students!build!

! 9!

insight!and!experience!with!arts!and!identity!in!their!own!communities.!Several!of!my!contributors!

mention!that!this!is!great!step!towards!acknowledging!the!importance!of!arts!and!identity.!!

There!appears!to!be!little!doubt!the!government!initiatives!have!had!significant!consequences.!

Jo!Miller!mentions!new!initiatives!supporting!traditional!music,!noting!that!‘since!the!Scottish!

parliament!was!reZestablished!in!1999!a!number!of!debates!in!the!chamber!and!in!committee!have!dealt!

with!traditional!music,!and!a!crossZparty!parliamentary!group!on!the!traditional!arts!includes!supportive!

MSPs.!The!public!funding!of!traditional!music!education!seems!to!continue,!and!with!it!the!debate!about!

how!best!to!develop!this!further’.21!!

Byrne!observes!that!the!‘Scottish!Government!is!committed!to!an!ambitious!program!to!

“broaden!the!range!of!musical!styles!and!learning!contexts!available!as!early!access!musicZmaking!

experiences”!through!the!provision!of!tuition!on!a!musical!instrument!for!every!child!by!Primary!6!

stage’.22!He!also!notes!as!a!significant!development!the!‘creation!and!support!of!five!specialist!music!

schools!through!the!country.!Plockton!High!School!is!the!National!Centre!for!Excellence!in!Traditional!

Music,!providing!tuition!for!studies!in!bagpipes,!fiddle,!accordion,!clàrsach,!piano,!guitar,!whistle,!flute!

and!Gaelic!and!Scots!song’.23!

(

Informal(Teaching(and(Learning(

As!school!teachers!are!increasingly!using!informal!methods!to!bring!traditional!music!into!the!classroom,!

they!join!a!consensus!that!informal!teaching!is!significant!in!informal!gatherings,!voluntary!

organisations,!festivals!and!peerZlearning.!The!Traditional!Arts!Working!Group!says!this!is!directly!linked!

to!sociological!changes:!!

In!terms!of!access!to!the!traditional!arts,!if!they!can!be!held!to!be!thriving!in!any!one!area,!it!is!in!the!field!of!informal!teaching!and!learning.!As!old!patterns!of!living!and!social!relationships!in!Scotland!have!changed!and!fractured,!the!context!for!the!transmission!of!the!traditional!arts,!the!learning!environment,!has!moved!away!from!kinship!groups!and!placeZbased!communities!into!voluntary!organisations!and!communities!of!interest,!or!events!like!festivals.!The!ceilidh!

! 10!

house!still!has!its!place,!but!in!an!often!altered!form!and!within!a!network!of!formal!education,!community!groups!and!private!tuition.24!

Jo!Miller!singles!out!a!group!in!Perthshire!as!a!perfect!example!of!how!to!provide!a!setting!for!informal!

musical!education!for!both!children!and!adults:!‘An!innovative!model!is!also!provided!by!the!Blackford!

Fiddlers!in!Perthshire,!initiated!by!professional!educationalist!Peter!Cope.!The!members!of!this!body!

helped!to!raise!funds!for!and!set!up!a!children’s!fiddle!group.!No!formal!tuition!was!offered;!learners!

were!guided!by!more!experienced!players.!Parental!participation!was!encouraged,!supporting!small!

practice!groups!for!children,!and!a!number!of!adults!have!been!encouraged!to!learn!how!to!play!

instruments!through!their!involvement’.25!

! Among!those!who!recognize!that!teaching!traditional!music!requires!its!own!approach,!Charles!

Byrne!makes!it!plain!that!‘sharing!or!“having!a!tune”!with!other!people!and!then!passing!it!on!to!

someone!else!will,!it!seems,!remain!one!of!the!most!important!features!of!Scottish!traditional!music!for!

some!time!to!come’.26!David!Francis!explains!that!‘the!traditional!music!of!Scotland,!as!in!other!places,!

originates!in!a!culture!that!relied!largely!on!oral!transmission!of!material!and!its!apprehension!by!ear!

and!memory’.!He!argues!that!there!is!‘no!escaping!the!essentially!oral!nature!of!the!tradition.!Traditional!

music!can!never!be!written!the!way!it!is!sung!or!played.!The!written!version,!as!opposed!to!sound!

recording!and!video!tape,!can!only!ever!be!a!rough!approximation.!When!a!player!or!singer,!steeped!in!

tradition,!reads!and!plays!from!music,!he!or!she!reZfilters!the!tune!or!the!skeleton!of!the!song!through!

all!their!experience,!knowledge!and!taste.!It!will!never!be!performed!as!written’.27!This!view,!shared!by!

most!traditional!musicians,!may!explain!doubts!about!whether!conventional!examinations!and!grading!

systems!should!play!an!integral!part!in!traditional!musical!education.!For!Jo!Miller,!they!generate!

discussion!at!best;!as!she!points!out:!‘Competitions!have!been!around!for!a!long!time.!Examinations!and!

qualifications!in!this!area!are,!however,!more!recent,!and!they!generate!much!debate!amongst!

practitioners’.28!Miller!adds!that!‘the!production!of!an!examination!syllabus!and!the!training!of!

! 11!

examiners!does!not!in!itself!address!the!issue!of!who!teaches!and!learns,!where,!when!and!how,!and!

what!performance!opportunities!may!be!available!to!learners!outside!the!examination!context’.29!

Many!writers!recognise!that!most!schools!are!trying!to!provide!a!full!range!of!resources,!

because!not!all!permanent!teachers!have!the!necessary!knowledge,!they!bring!in!outside!specialists!in!

an!attempt!to!inspire!pupils!to!learn!music!relevant!to!their!own!situations:!!

What!is!key!is!the!opportunity!for!students!to!learn!about!the!traditional!arts,!especially!where!these!have!a!strong!local!connection,!in!the!context!of!their!everyday!lives!either!from!a!teacher!with!some!knowledge,!or!a!visiting!specialist,!or,!bridging!the!space!between!formal!and!informal!contexts,!a!member!of!the!community!with!a!store!of!material.!Once!inspired,!students!should!have!the!opportunity!to!try!out!a!song,!a!simple!tune!on!an!accessible!instrument,!tell!a!story,!or!learn!a!dance!that!will!be!put!to!use!in!a!social!setting.30!

In!a!national!and!regional!survey!of!over!2000!schools,!Pamela!Flanagan!also!found!that!most!of!the!

traditional!music!in!schools!is!provided!through!external!providers.31!Jo!Miller!states!in!a!1980s!survey!

that!schools!were!teaching!fiddle!and!pipes!using!classically!trained!teachers,!but!that!even!then!there!

was!a!growing!use!by!schools!of!resources!from!wider!community.32!

!

The(Future(

Despite!the!growing!recognition!on!both!the!national!and!the!local!level!of!the!importance!of!

incorporating!traditional!music!into!the!educational!curriculum,!research!on!the!actual!teaching!and!

learning!of!traditional!music,!including!Scottish!fiddling!remains!sparse.!Jo!Miller,!when!discussing!‘the!

implications!for!how!we!think!about!traditional!music!now!in!Scotland’,!points!out!‘although!there’s!a!lot!

of!anecdotal!stuff!about!learning!music,!very!few!studies!have!actually!focused!on!that’.33!She!states!this!

as!well!in!a!publication!in!2007:!‘Much!of!the!published!information!about!the!learning!and!teaching!of!

traditional!music!in!Scotland!is!anecdotal,!relating!to!the!experiences!of!wellZknown!musicians’.34!She!

adds:!‘Further!research!into!traditional!music!may!include!its!function!as!a!cultural!construct!and!its!role!

in!shaping!Scotland’s!identity!in!a!devolved!future’.35!She!identifies!a!major!challenge!for!the!future:!‘to!

establish!just!what!the!expectations!of!traditional!musicians!and!their!audiences!in!Scotland!are,!and!

! 12!

how!far!the!“formal”!and!“informal”!can!work!together!in!local!and!national!contexts!to!provide!the!best!

experience!for!those!who!want!to!learn’.36!These!areas!for!further!research!will!be!discussed!throughout!

the!dissertation.!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!Ailie!Munro,!The$Democratic$Muse:$Folk$Music$Revival$in$Scotland!(Aberdeen:!Scottish!Cultural!Press,!

1996),!p.!2.!2!James!Hunter,!The$Fiddle$Music$of$Scotland,!ed.!Alastair!Hardie!and!William!Hardie!(Edinburgh:!The!

Hardie!Press,!1988).!3!Alastair!Hardie,!The$Caledonian$Companion!(London:!EMI,!1981).!!4!Mary!Anne!Alburger,!Scottish$Fiddlers$and$their$Music!(London:!Victor!Gollancz!Ltd.,!1983).!5!Katherine!Campbell,!The$Fiddle$in$Scottish$Culture:$Aspects$of$the$Tradition!(Edinburgh:!John!Donald,!

2007).!6!David!Johnson,!Scottish$Fiddle$Music$of$the$18th$Century!(Edinburgh:!John!Donald,!1984).!!7!Neil!J.!Murray,!The$Scots$Fiddle:$Tunes,$Tales$&$Traditions$of$the$North6East$&$Central$Highland,!

(Glasgow:!Neil!Wilson!Publishing,!1999).!8!Munro,!Democratic$Muse,!p.!162.!9!Munro,!Democratic$Muse,!p.!164!(quoting!letter!from!Alice!Duncan,!December!1990,!Dunoon).!10!Munro,!Democratic$Muse,!p.!167.!11!Charles!Byrne,!‘Scottish!Traditional!Music:!Identity!and!the!Carrying!Stream’,!Green,$Lucy.$Learning,$

Teaching,$and$Musical$Identity:$Voices$Across$Cultures,!ed.!Lucy!Green!(Bloomington:!Indiana!University!

Press,!2011),!p.!239.!12!Josephine!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!Beech,!John,!et!al.,!eds.,!Scottish$

Life$and$Society:$Oral$Literature$and$Performance$Culture,$A$Compendium$of$Scottish$Ethnology,!vol.!10$

(Edinburgh:!Birlinn!Ltd,!2007),!p.!288.!13!Munro,!Democratic$Muse,!p.!2!14!Charles!Byrne,!‘Scottish!Traditional!Music:!Identity!and!the!Carrying!Stream’,!Learning,$Teaching,$and$

Musical$Identity:$Voices$Across$Cultures,!ed.!Lucy!Green!(Bloomington,!Indiana!University!Press,!2011),!p.!

239.!15!Scottish!Government,!Traditional$Arts$Working$Group$Report,!January!2010,!p.!18.!

! 13!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!16!Paul!Anderson,!‘Musical!Fingerprints!of!NorthZEast!Scottish!Fiddle!Style’,!Crossing$Over:$Fiddle$and$

Dance$Studies$From$Around$the$North$Atlantic$3,!ed.!Ian!Russell!and!Anna!Kearney!Guigne,!Elphinstone!

Institute!Occasional!Publications,!no.!7!(Aberdeen:!Elphinstone!Institute,!2010),!176–183.!17!Paul!Anderson,!‘Folk!Who!Speak!in!Strathspeys’,!http://www.leopardmag.co.uk/feats/110/folkZwhoZ

speakZinZstrathspeys.!18!Patrick!ShuldhamZShaw!and!Emily!B.!Lyle,!eds.,!The$Greig6Duncan$Folk$Song$Collection,$Volume$

1!(Aberdeen:!Aberdeen!University!Press:!1981),!xiii.!!19!Scottish!Government,!Curriculum$for$Excellence:$Experiences$and$Outcomes,!

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/expressivearts

/index.asp.!20!Scottish!Government!Instrumental!Music!Group,!Instrumental$Music$Tuition$in$Scotland,!June!2013.!21!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.!289.!22!Byrne,!‘Scottish!Traditional!Music’,!p.!240.!23!Ibid.,!p.!241.!24!Traditional$Arts$Working$Group$Report,!January!2010,!p.!16.!25!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.!290.!26!Byrne,!‘Scottish!Traditional!Music’,!p.!250.!27!David!Francis,!Traditional$Music$in$Scotland:$Education,$Information$and$Advocacy!(Edinburgh:!

Scottish!Arts!Council,!1999),!p.!22.!28!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.!299.!29!Ibid.!30!Traditional$Arts$Working$Group$Report,!January!2010,!p.!16.!!31!Pamela!Flanagan,!Scottish$Traditional$Music$and$the$Primary$School$Classroom!(Scottish!Arts!Council:!

Traditional!Music!Forum!of!Scotland,!2007).!!32!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.294.!33!EI!2013.028,!42:03.!34!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.!288.!35!Ibid.,!p.289.!36!Ibid.,!p.!300.!

!

! 14!

Chapter(2(

The(Carrying(Stream(and(Contributor(Backgrounds(

Transmission!of!music!is!an!integral!part!of!the!generational!transmission!of!culture.!—Marie!McCarthy,!Passing'It'On'

My!interviews!with!traditional!music!educators!started!with!an!inquiry!into!their!own!musical!

backgrounds.!I!was!interested!in!understanding!how!early!influences!in!music!shaped!their!lifeB

long!engagement!with!music!and!their!teaching!approach!to!traditional!music.!Through!my!

interviews!I!have!found!that!the!contributors!were!exposed!to!music!in!various!ways,!for!

instance,!by!listening!to!recordings!at!an!early!age,!through!having!a!family!background!steeped!

in!traditional!music!at!home.!Music!might!have!been!passed!to!them!from!a!family!member!or!

teacher,!and!they!now!are!passing!on!music!and!philosophies!that!they!learned!to!a!new!

generation.!!

Some!of!my!contributors!grew!up!within!musical!families.!AnnaBWendy!Stevenson!was!

born!in!Edinburgh.!Her!father,!Gordon!Stevenson,!is!a!violin!maker;!her!grandfather,!Ronald!

Stevenson,!a!composer!and!pianist.!‘I!was!brought!up!with!my!grandad!teaching!me!piano!and!

when!I!realised!that!I!could!not!pursue!my!piano!playing!professional!due!to!a!small!hand!span,!

I!focused!on!the!violin’.1!Josephine!Miller!was!born!in!Carluke!in!central!Scotland!and!grew!up!

with!a!family!with!broad!musical!interests:!!

When!I!was!nine!we!moved!to!Dumfries!and!Galloway!in!the!southBwest!and!that!is!where!I!consider!home!and!that’s!where!I!did!most!of!my!growing!up.!So!it’s!very!rural,!small!village,!and!the!family!was!always!musical.!Particularly!piano!players!and!my!mum!especially!had!very!wide!tastes.!So!we!listened!to!everything!from!trad!jazz!to!English!folk!music!and!lots!of!classical!music!and!so!I!had!a!broad!musical!education!in!terms!of!listening.2!

! 15!

Katherine!Campbell,!from!the!Fochabers!area!in!the!NorthBEast!of!Scotland,!notes!that!her!

father!had!‘played!the!accordion!from!as!far!back!as!I!can!remember’.!Her!mother!‘played!the!

piano!a!bit’,!and!Katherine!began!piano!lessons!when!she!was!five!in!Elgin.!Her!younger!brother!

‘started!the!fiddle!fairly!early!on!with!James!Alexander’,!and!she!recalls!that!her!grandfather,!a!

fiddle!player,!‘made!my!brother’s!first!fiddle!or!something!like!that,!one!of!his!fiddles!anyway’.!

Her!grandfather!played!in!the!Elgin!Strathspey!and!Reel!Society,!as!did!her!Aunt!Lizzie.!

Campbell!sums!up!the!influences!within!her!family:!‘it!was!mainly,!you!know,!my!dad!and!sort!

of!extended!family!on!my!mother’s!side,![…]!my!dad!had!picked!up!the!accordion!as!an!adult!

actually,!partly!after!meeting!somebody!at!a!wedding![laughs],!so!traditional!music!was!

certainly!there’.3!In!addition!to!family,!not!only!teachers!but!also!the!local!community!can!be!

strong!influences.!Katherine!Liley!grew!up!in!Skye,!an!active!musical!community:!‘it’s!just!

everywhere,!it’s!just!part!of!what!you!do,!it’s!just,!it’d!be!really!odd!if!you!didn’t!play!fiddle!

music’.4!Hannah!Graham,!who!joined!the!Hadhirgaan!Fiddlers!in!Orkney!when!she!was!

fourteen,!talks!about!the!importance!of!an!encouraging!teacher,!‘the!teacher!there,!Douglas,!

probably!inspired!twenty!kids!of!my!generation!to!go!to!Uni!and!do!music,!with!that!sort!of!

passion![…].!But!as!an!inspirational!sort!of!teacher!he’s!basically!responsible!for!a!generation!of!

young!fiddle!players’.5!!

Paul!Anderson!is!aware!of!the!influence!from!a!teacher!that!goes!back!generations.!

Anderson’s!teacher,!Douglas!Lawrence,!was!classically!trained!and!played!with!the!Royal!

Scottish!National!Orchestra!for!over!twenty!years.!According!to!Anderson,!Lawrence!also!had!a!

traditional!background,!‘things!like!the!bowing,!and!expression!and!character,!which!he!got!

! 16!

from!Hector!MacAndrew,!he!was!easily!Hector’s!most!accomplished,!most!acclaimed!pupil’.!

Paul!describes!what!he!considers!to!be!his!tutor!lineage:!!

You!can!see!that!coming!from!Hector,!to!Dougie,!to!me![…]!there’s!other!folk!in!the!same!musical!tree!if!you!like,!but!if!you!go!in!the!opposite!direction,!Hector!got!it!from!his!father,!his!grandfather,!and!Hector!was!very!well!respected!for!his!interpretation!of!pipe!music,!cause!his!father!was!a!piper!and!there!was!a!lot!of!pipers,!a!lot!of!good!pipers!who!had!very!little!time!for!fiddlers!playing!pipe!tunes!cause!sort!of!didn’t!play!it!with!the!right!character,!you!hopped!it!up!too!much,!but!Hector!had!a!very!good!understanding!of!how!to!interpret!pipe!music!on!to!the!fiddling,!he!was!friendly!with!a!lot!of!great!pipers,!he!kind!of!idolised!George!S.!MacLennan,!who!was!probably,!arguably!one!of!the!greatest!pipers!of!his!day!and!certainly!the!finest!of!pipe!music!in!his!day.!And!Hector’s!grandfather!was!taught!by!James!McIntosh!in!Dunkeld,!he!was!a!pupil!of!Niel!Gow,!so!whatever!you!folk!might!make!of!that,!there!is!definitely!a!good!strong!thread!there,!the!kind!of!qualities!that!have!been!passed!on6.!!

Paul!speaks!of!the!quality!of!Dougie’s!teaching!and!how!he!himself!has!replicated!some!of!his!

teacher’s!success,!‘he’s!very!well!respected!as!a!judge!and!as!a!teacher,!he!still!teaches,!I!bet!

he’s!had!umpteen!Glenfiddich!Scottish!Champions.!So!it!says!a!lot!for!the!qualities!that!you!

would!look!for!as!a!traditional!fiddler!when!you’re!judging,!actually!the!sort!of!stuff!that!he!is!

passing!on!to!his!pupils,!in!that!respect!I!won!Glenfiddich!myself,!for!someone!that!sort!of!

never!wanted!it!as!well,!and!I’ve!had!a!couple!pupils!who’ve!won!it!within!the!last!five!years,!so!

then!again!you!are!seeing!the!same!thing!at!the!next!level’.7!!

Musical!upbringing!and!an!encouraging!teacher!can!make!all!the!difference!in!whether!a!

student!has!a!lifeBlong!engagement!with!and!appreciation!of!music.!Claire!White!describes!how!

her!teacher!in!Shetland,!Tom!Anderson,!explained!this!philosophy!of!passing!it!on!and!how!it!

has!influenced!her!as!a!teacher:!

When!I!first!started!teaching!I!was!fourteen.![…]!Tammie’s!philosophy!was!that!you!never!hold!onto!the!tradition,!you!always!pass!it!on.![…]!So!the!first!time!I!did!it!was!a!one!to!one!basis,!exactly!the!way!Tammie!taught!me!and!it’s!still!exactly!how!I!continue!in!that!way,!because!I!think!my!thinking!on!that,!now!with!a!much!more!conscious!mind,!is!it’s!brought!me!such!light!and!joy!and!wonderful!times!in!life!that,!if!I!can!just!

! 17!

replicate!that!and!do!the!same!thing!over,!it!can!have!a!similar!effect!on!others,!you!know,!that’s!pretty!good.8!

In!Claire!White’s!case!the!passing!on!of!tradition!is!generational,!from!Tammie!to!her!(vertical)!

and!intergenerational,!from!her!to!her!peers!(horizontal).!

Some!contributors!participated!in!community!groups!when!they!were!young!and!then!

continued!in!the!carrying!stream!by!then!becoming!leaders!and!teachers!of!these!groups.!Susan!

Simpson,!though!trained!in!classical!music,!was!interested!in!Scottish!music,!‘I!took!my!interest!

in!Scottish!music!and!joined!a!group![…]!eventually!started!playing!with!the!Ythan!fiddlers!and!

eventually!ended!up!conducting!them’.!Nicola!Tierney!explains!that!someone!told!her!Grandma!

about!the!Garioch!Fiddlers!in!Inverurie,!‘I!was!eleven!and!they!said!go!along!to!the!Garioch!

Fiddlers!and!I!learned!lots!of!tunes!there![…]!and!now!play!in!the!fiddlers,!yeah,!I!teach!the!

fiddlers,!the!juniors’.9!Others!later!discovered!the!extent!of!musical!influences!they!had!around!

them.!Claire!White!looks!back!on!the!impact!of!Tom!Anderson’s!teaching:!

It’s!kind!of!one!of!those!situations!where!very!much!life!has!leapt!forward!and!backwards!and!you!kind!of!understand!how!pioneering!his!work!was!in!retrospect!and!yeah,!so!I!wasn’t!mindful!at!the!time,!I!was!basically!a!child!that!was!trying!to!do!the!best!you!could!with!music,!I!mean!it!was!good!to!play!and!I!obviously!felt!motivated!and!inspired!to!try!it!as!I!went!along.!So!it!wasn’t!a!conscious!path!I!was!walking!and!it’s,!funnily!enough!it’s!still!the!path!that!I!continue!on!today,!we!just!produced!an!album!of!Shetland!songs!and!tunes.10!

Jo!Miller,!during!her!MLitt!studies!at!the!School!of!Scottish!Studies!in!1984,!developed!an!

appreciation!for!the!musical!community!where!she!had!grown!up:!!

So!it!was!a!very!wonderful!two!years,!a!real!formative!time!for!me!and!I!was!going!back!to!my!own!home!community!and!looking!a!bit!harder!at!things!I’d!taken!for!granted!and!meeting!people!that!I’d!never!met!cause!I!was!a!young!person!and!they!were!older.![…]!and!it!was!wonderful!because!I!was!going!back!there!as!an!adult!and!so!I!built!musical!relationships!in!that!time!with!people,!as!I!say,!I!hadn’t!known!were!musicians!and!deepened!others.11!

! 18!

The!individuals!that!I!interviewed!are!part!of!a!‘carrying!stream’.!Gary!West!describes!

Hamish!Henderson’s!concept!of!the!carrying!stream:!‘the!stream!of!tradition!flows!through!

time,!picking!up!new!flotsam!as!it!goes,!leaving!some!things!on!its!banks!in!the!process.!At!any!

given!point,!then,!its!content!and!form!may!be!a!little!bit!different!to!other!places!further!up!or!

down!stream,!yet!it!remains!recognisable!as!the!same!tradition.!As!a!conceptualization!this!is!

not!without!limitations,!but!the!key!thing!is!that!it!reminds!us!that!tradition!flows,!that!it,!too,!is!

liquid’.12!It!is!important!to!note!that!tradition!is!not!stagnant.!The!‘carrying!stream’!is!a!

continuous!process!that!is!not!fixed!but!is!evolving!through!innovation.!!

‘Passing!it!on’!and!‘the!carrying!stream’!will!be!important!concepts!throughout!this!

study,!particularly!in!relation!to!identity!and!innovation!within!tradition.!The!next!chapter!will!

focus!on!how!the!educators!I!interviewed!are!passing!it!on!to!the!next!generation!and!will!

specifically!highlight!informal!learning!in!formal!education!contexts.!

!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!EI!2013.024.!

2!EI!2013.028,!00:10.!

3!EI!2013.029,!00:15.!

4!EI!2013.029,!00:21.!

5!EI!2013.026,!27:15.!

6!EI!2013.032,!5:00.!

7!EI!2013.032,!6:11.!

8!EI!2013.030,!11:09.!

9!EI!2013.027,!00:23.!

10!EI!2013.030,!6:28.!

11!EI!2013.028,!9:40.!

12!Gary!West,!Voicing'Scotland:'Folk,'Culture,'Nation!(Edinburgh:!Luath!Press,!2012),'p.!12.!

! 19!

Chapter(Three(

The(Teaching(of(Traditional(Music(

In!the!course!of!my!fieldwork!I!have!become!aware!of!a!range!of!complex!issues!and!

controversies!which!have!influenced!traditional!music!education.!Interviews!with!violin!

instructors,!performers!and!local!stakeholders!in!the!North?East!have!covered!teacher!training,!

curriculum!and!available!resources.!Questions!such!as!whether!it!is!better!to!teach!traditional!

music!by!ear!or!by!notation—or!in!formal/academic!or!informal/community!settings—have!

revealed!contrasting!perspectives.!This!chapter!will!highlight!a!major!area!of!my!fieldwork:!how!

teachers!approach!traditional!music.!Research!in!the!area!of!informal!music!education!will!be!

reviewed!and!the!possibility!that!a!combination!of!formal!and!informal!approaches!can!lead!to!

a!more!individualised!learning!environment!will!be!explored.!!

The!chapter!is!divided!into!three!sections!as!follows:!

Section!1!gives!the!background!to!my!own!research!and!highlights!what!various!

researchers!see!as!the!definitions!of!formal!and!informal!teaching;!it!considers!why!they!believe!

informal!learning!should!play!a!major!part,!given!the!particular!nature!of!the!music!as!well!as!

social!aspects!related!to!the!music,!and!what!they!consider!to!be!the!ultimate!aims!of!the!

teaching!of!traditional!music.!

Section!2!gives!the!findings!of!my!own!fieldwork!research!and!examines!how!traditional!

music!is!currently!taught!in!North?East!Scotland.!It!brings!to!light!the!differences!in!teaching!

philosophies!between!different!teachers,!and!attempts!to!assess!to!what!extent!the!

philosophies!highlighted!in!Section!1!are!being!followed.!It!considers!the!similarities!between,!

! 20!

and!the!importance!of,!both!formal!and!informal!teaching!and!suggests!how!traditional!music!

should!be!taught/learned!for!the!maximum!benefit!of!musicians!and!listeners.!!

Section!3!draws!conclusions!on!the!general!use!of!formal!and!informal!teaching,!the!

overall!effectiveness!of!the!current!teaching!of!traditional!music!in!North?East!Scotland!and!its!

future.!

What!is!the!difference!between!formal!and!informal!learning/teaching?!David!Cofer!

gives!a!general!rule!of!thumb:!‘in!a!formal!learning!environment!the!trainer!or!teacher!sets!the!

goals!and!objectives,!while!informal!learning!means!the!learner!sets!the!goals!and!objective’.1!

Phil!Jenkins,!in!‘Formal!and!Informal!Music!Educational!Practices’,!states!that!informal!learning!

implies!a!self?motivated!effort!to!reach!competence!in!some!task!or!skill:!‘the!emphasis!is!on!

the!learner![.!.!.]!the!incentive!for!learning!tends!to!be!more!immediate!and!intrinsic!to!the!

activities!themselves’.2!He!also!suggests!that!‘informal’!implies!a!lack!of!constraints.!Thus,!

informal!learning!is!determined!by!the!learner:!as!we!know,!everyone!has!a!different!learning!

style!and!so!an!informal!setting!for!learning!is!individualised!for!the!learner.!!

Lucy!Green!is!one!of!the!most!prominent!researchers!in!the!area!of!informal!learning.!

Her!project!included!thirteen?!and!fourteen?year?old!students!in!London!from!2001!on!and!

eventually!became!part!of!‘Music!Futures’,!which!is!described!as!a!‘national!music!education!

project![.!.!.]!between!2002!and!2006,!which!culminated!in!the!publication!of!online!classroom!

resources’.3!Green!identifies!five!characteristics!of!informal!learning!engaged!in!by!popular!

musicians!that!she!subsequently!employed!in!her!study:!!

(1)!learner?initiated!choice!of!music;!!

(2)!copying!recordings!by!ear;!!

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(3)!collaborative!work!in!‘friendship!groups’;!!

(4)!holistic!immersion!in!projects!rather!than!sequential,!step?by?step!approaches;!and!!

(5)!simultaneous!involvement!in!creating,!performing,!improvising,!and!listening!from!the!start,!rather!than!a!progression!from!a!sic!technique!to!broader!musical!concerns.4!

I!used!these!characteristics!of!informal!learning!were!to!help!determine!the!extent!to!which!my!

contributors!were!using!informal!methods.!!

Another!factor!I!looked!at!was!the!extent!to!which!teachers!encouraged!learning!in!the!

community!rather!than!in!the!classroom!or!private!tuition.!Peter!Cope,!in!‘Community?based!

Traditional!Fiddling!as!a!Basis!for!Increasing!Participation!in!Instrument!Playing’,!appears!to!

embrace!the!spirit!of!Green’s!concepts!but!also!specifies!the!importance!of!informal!settings:!

‘Recognition!of!the!potential!for!the!involvement!of!most!children!in!genuine!and!authentic!

music!making,!through!the!provision!of!more!traditional!music!tuition,!through!the!setting!up!of!

alternative!certification,!and!through!the!involvement!of!parents!and!the!community,!is!clearly!

worth!further!exploration’.5!John!O’Flynn,!in!‘Vernacular!Music?Making!and!Education’,6!notes!

that!music!education!outside!of!schools!has!significantly!grown!in!the!UK!over!the!past!decade.!

This!concurs!with!Cope’s!statement!that:!‘one!of!the!most!striking!features!of!music,!and!one!

which!sets!it!apart!from!most!other!educational!activities,!is!the!occurrence!of!informal!learning!

outside!the!formal!system’.7!O’Flynn!hints!that!the!fact!that!both!music!teachers!and!pupils!use!

a!combination!of!formal!and!informal!methods!and!settings!makes!the!subject!far!from!simple:!

‘As!it!involves!the!co?existence!of!diverse!genres!and!education!practices,!this!phenomenon!can!

be!regarded!as!a!combination!of!formal!community?based!music!education!initiatives’.8!O’Flynn!

expands!further!on!this!complex!relationship!between!teaching!methods!by!suggesting!these!

informal!methods!would!have!a!useful!role!in!conventional!teaching!settings:!‘This!“new!wave”!

! 22!

of!community?based!initiatives!and!informal!methods!often!used!by!traditional!and!popular!

musicians!have!a!lot!to!lend!school!and!college?based!music!education’.9!O’Flynn’s!argument!is!

that!a!student!should!experience!every!possible!aspect!of!music!and!its!associated!phenomena!

in!order!to!be!able!to!determine!his!own!unique!musical!future—and!that!a!good!teacher!

should!be!able!to!make!this!experience!possible:!

The!school!or!college!music!teacher!can!enable!his!or!her!students!to!make!practical,!perceptual,!cognitive!and!social!associations!between!these!diverse!facets!of!musical?social!experience.!The!greater!our!ability!to!map!the!matrix!of!everyday!and!vernacular!aspects!to!music!production!and!consumption,!the!greater!chance!we!have!of!inspiring!our!students!to!venture!out!on!their!own!diverse!musical!journeys.10!

As!a!music!educator,!I!believe!that!it!is!the!ultimate!goal!for!our!students!not!only!to!have!an!

appreciation!for!music!but!also!to!continue,!as!adults,!to!find!their!own!voice!and!identity!as!

musicians.!As!O’Flynn!suggests,!not!all!the!music!learned!by!traditional!informal!methods!is!

traditional!music!as!there!is!an!inevitable!crossover!between!different!genres!when!one!is!self?

teaching!or!learning!in!an!informal!group.!In!addition,!the!informal!learning!of!traditional!music!

is!nowadays!not!always!achieved!by!traditional!methods!(the!use!of!the!internet,!for!example,!

has!given!rise!to!world?wide!sharing).!These!ideas!are!also!expressed!by!Cope:!!

Learning!traditional!music!in!traditional!styles!may!now!be!an!increasingly!minority!activity!as!traditional!communities!are!subject!to!the!types!of!rapid!change!associated!with!economic!and!social!development.!Traditional!teaching!and!learning!does!not!account!for!all!the!informal!learning!which!takes!place.!Significant!numbers!of!musicians!still!learn!to!play!through!forms!of!self?tuition,!although!by!its!nature,!this!is!undocumented!in!a!systematic!way.!Anecdotal!evidence!suggests!that!such!informal!instrument!learning!occurs!in!almost!all!forms!of!music.11!

In!the!2010!Scottish!government!Traditional!Arts!Working!Group!report,!it!was!found!that:!‘In!

terms!of!access!to!the!traditional!arts,!if!they!can!be!held!to!be!thriving!in!any!one!area,!it!is!in!

the!field!of!informal!teaching!and!learning’.12!!

! 23!

Fieldwork(Findings(

Adapting)Teaching)Methods)for)Traditional)Music)

There!appears!to!be!a!wide!disparity!between!the!methods!used!by!different!instructors.!In!my!

opinion!this!is!because!methods!of!teaching!traditional!music!are,!or!can!be,!vastly!different!

from!those!of!teaching!classical!music,!which!are!more!or!less!uniform!throughout!the!school!

system.!But!there!is!no!such!uniformity!with!regard!to!traditional!music.!North?East!fiddler!and!

teacher!Paul!Anderson,!homes!in!on!the!issue!as!to!why!certain!music!types!and!teaching!are!

approached!differently:!‘There!are!a!lot!of!things!that!are!peculiar!to!Scottish!fiddling!that!you!

certainly!don’t!find!in!classical!music!and!largely!if!you!have!a!classical!musician!who!plays!

Scottish!music,!there’s!no!doubt!that!it’s!correct!but!it’s!completely!wrong’.13!!

So!why!the!difference!between!classical!and!traditional!training?!Anderson!described!

this!disconnect!from!the!music!on!the!page!and!the!style!of!playing!traditional!music,!thus!

explaining!his!assertion!that!‘it’s!correct!but!it’s!completely!wrong![.!.!.]!the!single!dots!

are!shortened!and!exaggerated!from!what's!on!the!page!by!playing!them!‘double?dotted’!

and!ornamentation!and!embellishments!are!added’.14!Anderson!was!saying!there!was!an!

inherent!difference!between!classical!and!traditional!music.!This!would!mean!that!the!method!

of!teaching!and!learning!classical!music!which!has!stood!the!test!of!time!is,!in!his!opinion,!at!the!

best!inadequate!and!at!the!worst!detrimental!in!the!field!of!traditional!music.!If,!as!he!says,!

something!is!different!about!the!music,!shouldn’t!something!be!different!about!the!approach!to!

the!music?!The!majority!of!the!teachers!I!spoke!with!said!they!approached!traditional!music!

and!classical!music!in!the!same!way!when!they!were!teaching;!they!do!not!change!the!lesson!

format,!method!book,!technique!and!skills,!notation.!Since!we!seem!to!have!this!disconnect!

! 24!

with!regard!to!music!that!is!different!from!classical,!let!us!now!examine!how!some!teachers!are!

approaching!traditional!music!teaching!differently.!

The!first!question!I!asked!was!to!what!extent!written!music!was!used.!As!mentioned!

above,!many!of!the!teachers!I!spoke!to!did!not!treat!the!two!types!of!music!differently,!

therefore!sheet!music!was!invariably!used.!But!amongst!those!who!used!different!approaches,!

there!seems!to!be!a!wide!variety.!Most!of!those!who!taught!in!groups!said!everything!was!

learned!by!ear!but!some!of!those!who!taught!privately!still!relied!to!some!extent!on!notation.!

Claire!White,!a!private!instructor,!described!how!she!would!typically!teach!a!beginner.!In!

her!case,!the!methods!of!progress!seemed!to!be!more!formal!and!she!used!the!written!music!

from!the!star—but!it!seemed!to!be!more!to!make!the!pupil!familiar!with!it!than!to!follow!it!

exactly!from!the!notation:!

We’ll!get!straight!into!tunes.!I’ll!typically!teach!Baa!Baa!Black!Sheep!first,!and!as!soon!as!somebody!has!a!mastery!of!how!to!hold!the!bow,!and!how!to!hold!the!fiddle,!they’re!straight!into!‘dah!dah!dah!dah’,!singing!it,!moving!the!bow!across!the!strings,!straight!into!the!notes.!Generally!I’ll!put!the!music!up!on!the!stand!so!there’s!an!awareness!of!what!it!will!look!like:!all!the!numbers!are!written!above!the!notes;!but!the!notation!is!there.!It’s!therefore!really!explicit!what!they!have!to!do!and!we!just!continue!in!that!model![.!.!.]!build!up!the!repertoire!in!the!order!they!appear!in!the!book,!and!usually!by!that!stage!they!are!very!good!at!copying!me!(the!model),!and!often!they’ll!just!look!at!my!fingers!and!copy,!which!I!encourage!too.!I!don’t!make!them!feel!in!any!way!ashamed!of!that!because!that’s!session!learning.15!

Nicola!Tierney,!a!school!instructor!who!also!leads!the!Garioch!Fiddlers,!was!of!the!opinion!that,!

although!learning!by!ear!was!essential,!it!was!also!important!that!pupils!learned!notation!at!an!

early!stage.!She!insisted!this!was!the!case!with!her!pupils,!otherwise!they!might!experience!

limitations!in!later!life,!as!her!real?life!experience!showed:!

In!my!opinion!it’s!better!to!try!to!get!all!students!to!read!first!because!if!they!have!a!good!ear,!they’ll!pick!it!up,!and!you!can!encourage!that!later!on;!but!if!they!learn!to!play!by!ear!first,!I!think!they!are!more!likely!to!say,!why!do!I!need!to!bother!with!this!note?

! 25!

reading!stuff?!I!can!just!learn!all!these!tunes.!And!it!becomes!really!difficult!for!them!because!they’ve!really!got!to!think!about!it.!So!I!try!to!get!them!to!read!from!a!young!age!because!it’s!a!lot!easier!for!them!that!way!round.!I’ve!found!you!get!a!lot!of!the!traditional!fiddlers,!often!older!guys,!that!never!got!the!chance!to!learn!to!read!so!they!learned!by!ear—they!still!can’t!read;!they!can’t!hook!it!up.!One!of!the!best!examples!I!ever!had!was!when!I!was!sitting!next!to!someone!when!playing!at!the!Fiddlers’!Rally:!there!was!this!tricky!tune,!and!he!turned!to!me!and!said,!“it’s!all!right!for!you,!you!can!read!these!notes,!these!tadpoles!!I!just!know!they!go!up!and!down!”16!

Five)Characteristics)of)Informal)Learning)

I!also!examined!whether!informal!teaching!methods!were!being!used,!according!to!the!five!

definitions!specified!by!Green.!

1.(Learner;initiated(choice(of(music:(According!to!Green,!this!means!‘learning!based!on!

personal!choice,!enjoyment,!identification!and!familiarity!with!the!music,!as!distinct!from!being!

introduced!to!new!and!often!unfamiliar!music’.17!

A!good!example!of!this!approach!is!that!of!Kat!Liley.!Her!group!at!Forfar!Academy!was!

run,!she!claimed,!totally!differently!from!what!the!council!did:!!

It’s!just!a!complete!departure!from!everything!else!and!I!find!that!kids!who!don’t!enjoy!orchestra!and!don’t!like!doing!what!they’re!told!like!to!come!here!and!tell!me!what!they!want!to!do!!Everything!we!do!depends!on!the!kids!that!are!there:!what!they!want!to!do,!what!instruments!they!play,!and!what!their!interests!are.!We!just!go!with!what!suits!them!and!what!they!want!to!do.!For!instance!I’ll!play!them!a!few!tunes!and!ask!which!ones!they!like,!and!they!pick!out!the!ones!they!want!to!do.18!

She!highlights!the!personal!choice!and!goals!set!by!the!learners:!they!obviously!chose!the!music!

with!which!they!were!familiar.!And!this!appeared!to!be!the!case!at!a!few!other!schools:!Hannah!

Renton,!three?time!Scottish!junior!fiddle!champion!who!received!her!basic!music!education!at!

Aberdeen!Grammar!School,!recalled!that!pupils!could!choose!a!tune!they!liked!and!take!it!to!

the!teacher!and!ask!to!learn!it.!

! 26!

2.(Copying(recordings(by(ear:(Green!defines!this!as,(‘recorded!music!as!the!principal,!

aural!means!of!musical!transmission!and!skill?acquisition,!as!distinct!from!notated!or!other!

written!or!verbal!instructions!and!exercises’.19!

Most!teachers!agreed!that,!compared!to!classical!music,!learning!by!ear!played!a!major!

part!in!learning!traditional!music—whether!from!recordings!or!in!a!group.!Kat!Liley,!when!

talking!of!her!Forfar!group!said:!‘A!lot!of!the!council!groups!are!sort!of!orchestras!or!bands!

where!they!kind!of!turn!up!and!they!get!their!sheet!music!and!they!all!play!it!and!then!they!do!a!

concert!and!they!go!home!again.!But!we!learn!everything!here!by!ear’.20!She!did!not!regard!

learning!by!ear!merely!as!a!way!of!learning!a!specific!tune—she!thought!it!made!the!pupil!

altogether!a!better!musician,!as!she!made!clear!in!this!quote!in!which!she!discussed!the!

differences!between!a!student!who!was!learning!something!by!ear!as!opposed!to!one!who!was!

just!learning!by!notation:!!

Their!ears!work!better,!I!think.!Their!ears!get!more!exercise!that!way.!It’s!all!about!listening.!They!listen!all!the!time:!they!listen!while!they!play,!they!listen!in!every!way,!their!tuning!is!better,!their!phrasing!is!better,!they!understand!the!tune!they’re!playing.!It’s!not!just!tick!the!box,!play!a!few!notes!on!the!page,!job!done,!shut!the!book.!You!can!tell!the!difference!between!kids!who!are!new!to!this!group!and!kids!who!have!been!here!for!a!while:!you!can!see!a!change!in!them!as!they!start!to!understand!not!just!the!music!we!do,!but!all!the!music!they!do.!They!just!have!a!different!approach!to!it:!they!feel!the!phrasing!more,!and!I!think!they’re!more!curious!about!it!as!well.!I!think!it!just!kind!of!stirs!up!a!bit!more!music!in!you!21!

Liley!goes!on!to!say:!‘I!think!the!style!of!music!lends!itself!to!learning!by!ear!and!learning!by!ear!

is!good!for!you!as!a!musician.!But!it!would!be!very!hard!to!learn,!for!example,!a!Handel!Sonata!

by!ear,!and!I!don’t!know!very!many!people!who!would!know!one!well!enough!to!teach!it!by!

ear!’22!Liley’s!last!assertion!may!not!be!due!to!an!inherent!difference!in!style,!as!of!course!the!

Handel!sonata!would!be!much!longer!than!a!traditional!piece,!but!she!went!on!to!suggest!that!

! 27!

the!shorter!length!of!traditional!pieces!was!part!of!their!traditional!‘style’—thus!supporting!her!

view!that!traditional!music!was!made!for!learning!by!ear:!‘The!traditional!tunes!come!in!bite!

sized!chunks.!And!they’ve!evolved!to!be!learned!that!way!and!to!be!remembered!that!way!and!

it!just!goes!together!that!way.!But!if!you’ve!learned!tunes!that!way,!and!you’ve!learned!to!

listen,!then!everything!else!you!play,!in!my!opinion,!is!going!to!be!more!musical’.23!

Another!teacher,!Anna?Wendy!Stevenson,!more!or!less!supported!this!view!in!that!she!

thought!the!written!traditional!pieces!did!not!include!the!detail!needed!to!play!the!tunes!as!

they!should!be!played.!She!described!her!experiences!with!traditional!music!that!inspired!her!to!

take!to!learning!traditional!music!by!ear:!

Essentially,!traditional!music!has!never!been!notated!with!the!level!of!articulation!and!direction!that!you!would!find!in!a!classical!piece.!Studying!in!depth!classical!music,!you!would!listen,!read,!reflect,!consider!and!perfect!the!directions!in!the!notated!piece,!alongside!a!tutor,!paying!attention!to!details!such!as!bow!pressure,!bow!speed,!accent,!phrasing,!variation!and!ornamentation.!Notated!traditional!music?!Not!much!existed!when!I!was!learning.!I!realised!that!alongside!workshops,!the!only!way!open!to!me!was!simply!to!use!my!ears!and!I!would!notate!the!tunes,!complete!with!as!much!detail!as!I!knew!on!such!as!bowing,!phrasing,!pressure!and!variation.!Learning!to!learn!by!ear!is!actually!an!important!skill!no!matter!what!genre!you!operate!in.24!

Even!those!teachers!who!advocated!learning!to!read!music!first!of!all,!such!as!Nicola!Tierney,!

did!not!dispute!the!value!of!playing!by!ear.!As!her!explanation!earlier!in!this!chapter!shows,!the!

reason!she!insisted!her!pupils!learned!notation!was!to!prevent!any!shortcomings!when!they!

went!on!to!learn!music!by!ear:!she!did!not!intend!that!their!style!be!restricted!by!having!

learned!to!read!music,!but!rather!the!opposite,!that!their!style!when!playing!be!ear!would!not!

be!hampered!on!any!occasion!when!it!was!necessary!to!refer!to!notation:!‘if!they!have!a!good!

ear,!they’ll!pick!it!up,!and!you!can!encourage!that!later!on’.25!

! 28!

As!will!be!explained!in!my!concluding!chapter,!both!audio!and!visual!recordings!of!

virtually!any!piece!of!music!are!now!readily!available!thanks!to!new!technology!(for!example,!

on!YouTube)!and!some!teachers,!such!as!Jo!Miller,!encourage!their!pupils!to!use!this!as!a!means!

of!learning.!

3.(Collaborative(Work(in(Friendship(Groups:!Green!describes!this!as!‘self?teaching!and!

peer?directed!learning,!as!distinct!from!adult!supervision!and!guidance,!curricula,!syllabi!or!

external!assessment’.26!

Some!of!my!contributors!placed!high!regard!on!collaborative!learning,!either!as!teachers!

or,!in!the!case!of!Katherine!Campbell,!in!her!days!as!a!pupil:!‘And!I!go!back!to!the!fiddle!group!

that!I!was!in.!It!was!fantastic!because!of!the!friendships!and!the!social!aspect:!meeting!other!

folk!in!the!community,!meeting!other!musicians,!going!to!festivals,!going!on!tours!overseas,!to!

places!we’d!never!have!been!otherwise.!So!it!was!a!brilliant!opportunity!and!the!levels!of!ability!

in!the!group!they!varied!very!much!but!it!didn’t!matter’.27!Campbell’s!point!also!manifests!itself!

in!the!description!by!Sharon!Hassan!of!her!North?East!Folk!Collective!group,!which!she!claimed!

to!be!unique!in!Aberdeenshire.!She!pointed!out!that!it!was!not!enough!just!for!friends!to!play!

together:!they!should!include!good!players!so!that!the!less!experienced!could!improve,!and!her!

groups!gave!musicians!the!opportunity!to!play!with!those!who!were!‘really!advanced’.28!!

It’s!for!senior!pupils,!so!for!advanced!kids,!there!was!nothing!like!that!when!I!was!around.!What!used!to!happen!was!that!the!kids!would!go!and!play!in!their!own!area,!but!they!wouldn’t!know!other!advanced!kids!so!they!wouldn’t!have!a!chance!to!play!with!their!peers,!the!ones!that!were!really!really!good.!So!now!it’s!a!case!of!just!gathering!kids!that!are!really!committed!and!giving!them!a!chance!to!play!as!a!band!and!giving!them!performance!opportunities.29!

However,!it!would!seem!the!pupils!benefit!from!having!a!common!identity!despite!the!range!in!

abilities:!‘I!think!it’s!important!that!they!all!know!each!other.!And!we’re!proud!of!being!from!

! 29!

the!North?East!so!that!is!why!we!call!ourselves!the!North?East!Folk!Collective’.30!Hassan’s!

involvement!could!be!seen!to!follow!the!conventional!meaning!of!‘informal’.!Her!description!of!

how!her!group!of!30!operated!made!it!seem!as!though!she!was!‘one!of!them’!as!opposed!to!

being!in!a!pupil?teacher!relationship.!She!says,!for!instance,!‘it’s!a!voluntary!thing,!so!I!don’t!get!

paid!for!that—I!just!do!it!for!fun.!I!think!it’s!important.!We!run!it!pretty!much!like!a!band,!like!

phone!around!or!text!around,!can!anybody!come!around!for!rehearsal,!if!there’s!enough!we!

meet!up,!whoever!can!make!it!comes.!But!I!see!them!all!most!of!the!time’.31!From!Hassan’s!

description!it!is!clear!that!her!group!would!regard!her!as!‘one!of!us’!and!therefore!as!a!peer!

rather!than!as!an!adult!leader.!Although!she!obviously!is!providing!adult!guidance!she!appears!

to!be!doing!it!quietly!and!in!such!a!way!as!to!encourage!‘self?teaching!and!peer?directed!

learning’.!!

4.(Holistic(immersion(in(projects(rather(than(sequential,(step;by;step(approaches:(

Green!defines!this!as(‘the!assimilation!of!skills!and!knowledge!in!haphazard!ways!according!to!

musical!preferences,!rather!than!following!a!progression!from!simple!to!complex’.32!

This!follows!from!the!third!characteristic!because!when!an!informal!group!is!playing!a!

tune,!the!whole!piece!is!played.!They!do!not!play!the!simple!bit!and!wait!until!everyone!has!

mastered!it!before!moving!on.!The!less!able!players!play!the!bits!they!can!and!as!they!become!

more!familiar!with!it,!whether!by!playing!it!once!or!several!times!over!a!period,!they!will!‘pick!it!

up’.!This!was!definitely!the!case!in!the!aforementioned!group!attended!by!Katherine!Campbell:!

‘as!long!as!folk!could!play!the!basic!tune!they!were!fine,!and!they!didn’t!do!any!of!the!solos:!

that!was!left!to!the!more!advanced!players.!I!think!the!accessibility!is!great!and!the!flexibility!as!

well:!there!was!a!lot!of!improvisation!and!you!didn’t!have!to!read!the!music,!and!you!didn’t!

! 30!

have!to!have!your!bows!all!in!the!one!direction’.33!Kat!Liley!makes!similar!observations!in!

describing!her!Forfar!group,!which!plays!everything!by!ear:!‘they!listen!all!the!time:!they!listen!

while!they!play,!they!listen!in!every!way’.34!That!would!include,!of!course,!when!the!pupil!was!

learning!while!playing!in!the!group.!

Claire!White,!however,!starts!by!playing!the!simple!parts!of!simple!tunes!using!the!

notation,!typically!teaching!a!beginner!pupil!by!aiming!to!‘build!up!the!repertoire!in!the!order!

they!appear!in!the!book’.35!This!step?by?step!approach!does!not!appear!to!conform!to!this!

indicator!of!informality!and,!along!with!her!use!of!written!music,!would!suggest!a!formal!

pathway.!Nevertheless,!she!went!straight!into!a!whole!song,!even!a!simple!one,!from!the!start.!

This!suggests!an!element!of!informal!learning,!as!do!her!references!to!modelling,!listening,!and!

copying,!which!are!vital!ingredients!of!the!‘friendship!groups’!discussed!above!and!therefore!

belong!more!in!informal!learning.!!

5.(Simultaneous(involvement(in(creating,(performing,(improvising,(and(listening(from(

the(start,(rather(than(a(progression(from(basic(technique(to(broader(musical(concerns.!Green!

describes!this!as(‘integration!of!listening,!performing,!improvising!and!composing!throughout!

the!learning!process,!as!distinct!from!their!increasing!differentiation’.36!

Green’s!concept!appears!to!have!been!practised!in!the!group!Katherine!Campbell!recalls!

attending:!‘there!was!a!lot!of!creativity!and!trying!out!new!arrangements;!some!of!the!folk!that!

played!the!fiddle!also!played!the!mandolin!and,!so!there!was!a!lot!of!flexibility.!Sometimes!I’d!

play!the!piano,!sometimes!the!cello;!sometimes!people!would!play!a!harmony—I!really!liked!

that’.37!And!Sharon!Hassan’s!young!group!is!encouraged!from!the!start!to!play!in!their!own!

individual!styles,!write!music!and!organise!events:!‘we!encourage!them!to!write!their!own!stuff!

! 31!

as!well,!we!just!organise!gigs!at!festivals,!give!them!a!chance!to!play!in!the!real!world![.!.!.]!and!

because!it’s!the!folk!collective,!we!don’t!have!to!play!in!any!particular!way,!be!creative!and!do!

what!you!want,!and!if!you!don’t!like!something!you!just!say!it’.38!

I!have!found!that!Green’s!five!characteristics!are!all!present!somewhere!in!the!North?

East.!Along!with!Green,!I!also!looked!at!the!theories!of!Cope!and!O’Flynn!to!consider!whether!

they!applied!in!practice.!Sharon!Hassan!is!one!teacher!who!appears!to!agree!with!O’Flynn’s!

emphasis!on!the!importance!of!the!‘“new!wave”!of!community?based!initiatives’!that!take!

advantage!of!‘diverse!facets!of!musical?social!experience’39!and!with!Cope’s!belief!in!‘the!

involvement!of!most!children!in!genuine!and!authentic!music!making’,40!particularly!within!

community!settings.!She!also!follows!the!‘more!traditional!music’!idea!in!that!‘we!always!do!

North?East!tunes!and!songs’,!and!she!ensures!that!the!‘involvement!of!parents!and!the!

community’!plays!a!vital!part!in!the!education!process,!by!‘giving!them!a!chance!to!play!as!a!

band!and!give!them!performance!opportunities’!and!by!taking!the!music!to!the!parents:!‘we!

have!it!in!parents’!houses,!so!there’s!no!cost!for!rehearsal!space,!and!sometimes!they!make!

muffins!and!scones!and!cookies!and!stuff’.41!However,!not!many!of!my!contributors!mentioned!

giving!pupils!the!opportunity!to!perform!in!the!community!as!a!major!consideration;!in!this!

respect!it!looks!as!if!Cope’s!statement!that!this!is!‘clearly!worth!further!exploration’42!certainly!

holds!true!in!the!North?East.!

!

Conclusion(

My!research!suggests!a!wide!spectrum!of!teaching!methods!is!in!practice!for!traditional!music!

education!in!the!North?East,!ranging!from!teachers!who!said!they!did!not!use!different!methods!

! 32!

to!those!who!practically!‘ticked!all!the!boxes’!with!regard!to!informal!teaching!and!culminating!

in!a!few!who!apparently!disregard!practically!all!aspects!of!conventional!formal!teaching!in!

certain!settings.!Between!the!two!extremes!are!many!who!satisfy!some!of!the!characteristics!of!

both!formal!and!informal!teaching!to!varying!degrees.!Even!teachers!who!said!they!approach!

classical!and!traditional!teaching!in!the!same!way!tended!to!mention!something!that!they!did!

differently.!James!Alexander,!for!example,!whom!I!shadowed!at!Mosstodloch!Primary!and!

Milne’s!High!School,!Fochabers,!said!that!in!his!case!there!was!‘no!real!difference!between!

teaching!fiddle!vs!violin!although!I!tend!to!spend!more!time!on!position!work!with!students!

wishing!to!play!classical!music!on!a!regular!basis.!My!view!is!that!the!various!bowing!styles!used!

for!trad!music!are!always!beneficial!to!other!styles!and!similarly!unisons!etc!have!a!beneficial!

effect!on!left?hand!technique!irrespective!of!musical!styles’.43!Alexander’s!view!seems!to!be!

supported!by!Paul!Anderson!who!commented:!‘you!need!to!be!learning!both!at!the!same!time,!

if!you!have!a!teacher!that!can!do!both.![.!.!.]!If!you!went!and!asked!Mr!Beethoven!or!Mr!

Brahms,!or!Mr!Mendelssohn!or!Bruch,!Haydn,!they!all!did!stuff!based!on!folk!music.!I!mean,!

Beethoven!said!Scottish!music!was!artistically!the!most!varied!folk!music!that!he’d!come!

across’.44!

There!appears!to!be!research!to!support!the!idea!that!a!mixture!of!formal!and!informal!

methods!constitutes!the!most!effective!approach!to!learning!traditional!music.!Ruth!Finnegan!

in!The)Hidden)Musicians,!which!is!a!look!on!amateur!musicians!in!Milton!Keynes,!found!that!

‘the!two!worlds!of!learning,!that!in!the!school!and!that!in!the!community,!were!not!totally!

divergent!for!there!were!overlaps!in!music,!individuals!and!instruments’.45!If!these!formal!and!

informal!communities!do!overlap,!perhaps!the!teaching!of!them!should!as!well.!The!point!

! 33!

perhaps!further!demonstrates!not!only!the!need!for!a!balance!between!formal!and!informal!

learning!approaches!but!also!the!inadequacy!of!each!method!alone!in!the!field!of!education.!

While!formal!learning!can!provide!information!and!structure,!informal!methods!can!compel!

students!to!make!their!own!decisions!and!thus!help!to!formulate!their!own!musical!identity;!

for,!as!Jenkins!says:!

It!is!this!kind!of!active!participation!in!the!construction!of!one’s!own!musical!identity!that!makes!the!informal!method!so!valuable.!Certainly!concepts!must!be!presented,!history!passed!from!teacher!to!student,!and!technique!must!be!modelled.!But!it!is!in!the!activity!of!making!music!oneself!that!one!finds!a!musical!identity.![.!.!.]!A!good!music!education!should!bring!about!a!fundamental!change!in!the!student’s!self?identity!and!foster!the!ability!to!make!critical!decisions!both!about!music!and!about!life.46!

In!this!respect!it!is!probably!the!interview!with!Claire!White!that!is!the!most!revealing.!White!

has!an!essentially!informal!approach,!going!straight!into!a!tune!which!the!pupil!knows,!but!uses!

some!standard!formal!methods:!‘usually!by!that!stage!they!are!very!good!at!copying!me!(the!

model),!and!often!they’ll!just!look!at!my!fingers!and!copy,!which!I!encourage!too.!I!don’t!make!

them!feel!in!any!way!ashamed!of!that!because!that’s!session!learning’.47!However,!the!

modeling!and!coaching!methods!she!refers!too!can!also!be!applied!in!informal!teaching!as!can!

be!witnessed!in!Kat!Liley’s!account.!White’s!method!is!the!most!complex!because!she!uses!

these!methods!which!can!be!both!informal!and!formal!techniques,!others!which!are!strictly!

formal!(using!notation!and!progressing!by!the!book),!and!yet!others!which!are!strictly!informal.!

This!all!seems!to!indicate!that!formal!and!informal!teaching!cannot!possibly!be!separated!in!the!

field!of!traditional!music.!

Both!informal!and!formal!teaching!should!play!a!part!in!traditional!music;!however,!it!is!

important!that!the!formal!part!is!not!allowed!to!constrain!the!subjective!nature!of!the!playing!

and!thus!the!process!of!finding!a!musical!identity.!In!this!respect!traditional!music!is!unique!

! 34!

among!learning!subjects!in!that!both!formal!and!informal!learning!goes!on!separately,!as!

suggested!in!the!aforementioned!quote!by!Cope:!‘one!of!the!most!striking!features!of!music,!

and!one!which!sets!it!apart!from!most!other!educational!activities,!is!the!occurrence!of!informal!

learning!outside!the!formal!system’.48!The!formal!parts!are!necessary!to!make!the!student!

technically!knowledgeable!enough!to!be!able!to!express!everything!they!want!to!say!in!their!

music!because,!even!if!they!are!learning!tunes!of!their!own!choice!by!ear,!they!need!to!have!the!

tools!to!be!able!to!know!how!to!express!themselves!as!they!want!to.!

Finally,!the!importance!of!the!interaction!between!traditional!musician!and!audience!

should!not!be!underestimated.!Several!contributors!suggested!a!major!part!of!the!education!

was!providing!the!opportunity!to!perform.!Jo!Miller!suggests!the!main!aim!for!the!future!is!to!

have!the!balance!between!the!formal!and!informal!learning!at!its!most!effective!in!order!to!

provide!the!optimum!experience!for!both!musicians!and!audience:!‘a!major!challenge!for!the!

future!will!be!to!establish!just!what!the!expectations!of!traditional!musicians!and!their!

audiences!in!Scotland!are,!and!how!far!the!‘formal’!and!‘informal’!can!work!together!in!local!

and!national!contexts!to!provide!the!best!experience!for!those!who!want!to!learn’.49!

Miller!wrote!in!2007!that!‘perhaps!the!single!most!important!change!in!traditional!music!

education!over!the!last!fifty!years!has!been!the!move!to!classroom!settings.!This!is!true!of!both!

formal!and!informal!education’.50The!challenge!she!now!identifies!could!possibly!reverse!this!

development,!moving!instruction!out!of!the!classroom!and!back!into!the!community.!Classroom!

teaching!would!remain!a!vital!ingredient,!but!one!among!many!ways!to!learn!traditional!music.!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1!David!Cofer,!‘Informal!Workplace!Learning’,!Practice)Application)Brief,)no.)10)(U.S.!Department!of!

Education!Clearinghouse!on!Adult,!Career,!and!Vocational!Education,!2000).!

! 35!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2!Phil!Jenkins,!‘Formal!and!Informal!Music!Educational!Practices’,!Philosophy)of)Music)Education)Review,!

19,!no.!2!(2011),!p.!181.!3!Lucy!Green,)Music,)Informal)Learning)and)the)School:)A)New)Classroom)Pedagogy!(Burlington,!

Vermont:!Ashgate!Publishing!Company,!2008),!p.!23.!4!Lucy!Green,!How!Popular)Musicians)Learn:)A)Way)Ahead)for)Music)Education!(Burlington,!Vermont:!

Ashgate!Publishing!Company,!2002),!p.96.!5!Peter!Cope,!‘Community?based!Traditional!Fiddling!as!a!Basis!for!Increasing!Participation!in!Instrument!

Playing’,!Music)Education)Research,!1,!no.!1!(1999),!72.!6!J.!O'Flynn,!‘Vernacular!Music?Making!and!Education’,!International)Journal)of)Music)Education,!24,!no.2!

(2006),!p.!145.!7!Peter!Cope,!‘Informal!Learning!of!Musical!Instruments:!The!Importance!of!Social!Context’,!Music)

Education)Research,!4,!no.!1!(2002),!p.!93.!8!O'Flynn,!‘Vernacular!Music?Making!and!Education,!p.145.!9!Ibid.!10!Ibid.!11!Cope,!‘Informal!Learning!of!Musical!Instruments’,!p.!95.!12!Scottish!Government,!Traditional!Arts!Working!Group!Report,!

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/28100441/0!13!EI!2013.032,!5:22.!14!El!2013.032,!05:32.!!15!EI!2013.030,!12:22.!16!EI!2013.027,!14:33.!17!Green,!How!Popular)Musicians)Learn,!p.96.!18!EI!2013.025,!7:55.!19!Green,!How!Popular)Musicians)Learn,!p.96.!20!EI!2013.025,!4:50.!21!EI!2013.025,!6:50.!22!EI!2013.025,!8:12.!23!EI!2013.025,!8:22.!24!EI!2013.024.!25!EI!2013.027,!6:20.!

! 36!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26!Green,!How)Popular)Musicians)Learn,!p.!96!27!EI!2013.029,!9:38.!28!EI!2013.033,!4:30.!29!EI!2013.033,!1:01:46.!30!EI!2013.033,!1:02:08.!31!EI!2013.033,!1:01:59.!32!Green,!How)Popular)Musicians)Learn,!p.!96.!33!EI!2013.029,!10:30.!34!EI!2013.025,!8:08.!35!EI!2013.030,!12:22.!36!Green,!How!Popular)Musicians)Learn,!p.96.!37!EI!2013.029,!10:40.!38!EI!2013.033,!1:02:17.!39!O’Flynn,!‘Vernacular!Music?Making!and!Education’,!p.!145.!40!Cope,!‘Community?based!Traditional!Fiddling’,!p.!72.!41!EI!2013.033,!1:02:38.!42!Cope,!‘Community?based!Traditional!Fiddling’,!p.!72.!43!Email!correspondence,!April!13,!2013.!44!EI!2013.032,!14:04.!45!Ruth!Finnegan,!The)Hidden)Musicians:)Music)Making)in)an)English)Town!(Middletown,!Connecticut:!

Wesleyan!University!Press,!2007),!p.!140.!46!P.!Jenkins,!‘Formal!and!Informal!Music!Educational!Practices’,!Philosophy)of)Music)Education)Review,!

19,!no.!2!(2011),!p.!193.!47!EI!2013.030,!12:30.!48!Cope,!‘Informal!Learning!of!Musical!Instruments’,!p.!93!49!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.)300.!50!Ibid.,!p.!288.!

! 36!

Chapter(Four(

Exams(and(Competitions(in(Traditional(Music((

What!is!it!for?!Who!is!it!really!for?!Is!it!really!in!the!best!interest!of!the!child!or!is!it!for!the!parents!and!

the!teachers!and!the!authorities?!Is!it!a!bit!of!paper!for!institutions!and!so!on?!

—Jo!Miller!

These!are!questions!which!were!posed!by!teacher!and!scholar!Jo!Miller!during!an!interview!I!

carried!out!as!part!of!my!research!for!this!dissertation.!We!were!discussing!the!role!of!exams!in!

traditional!music!education.!Indeed,!it!is!a!remark!by!Miller!that!forms!the!stimulus!for!this!

chapter:!‘Measuring!standards!in!traditional!music!is!not!a!new!issue:!competitions!have!been!

around!for!a!long!time.!Examinations!and!qualifications!in!this!area!are,!however,!more!recent,!

and!they!generate!much!debate!amongst!practitioners’.1!The!chapter!will!identify!and!assess!

the!main!arguments!in!the!debate!over!the!status!of!traditional!music!exams!that!Jo!Miller!

referred!to!in!2007.!As!was!highlighted!in!the!previous!chapter,!some!instructors!teach!

traditional!music!in!the!same!manner!as!they!do!classical!music,!the!only!difference!being!that!

they!are!teaching!students!how!to!play!traditional!tunes!as!they!are!written!rather!than!

classical!pieces,!while!others!think!traditional!music!should!be!taught!differently.!It!will!be!seen!

in!this!chapter!that!there!is!a!similar!situation!with!regard!to!exams.!!

The!first!syllabus!for!Scottish!traditional!music!graded!exams!was!developed!in!2008!by!

the!Royal!Conservatoire!of!Scotland!(RCS,!formerly!known!as!Royal!Scottish!Academy!of!Music!

and!Drama)!and!is!scheduled!to!expire!in!2014.!With!a!revision!of!the!syllabus!on!the!horizon,!

this!would!seem!to!be!a!good!time!to!look!at!the!development!of!traditional!music!exams!and!

to!consider!current!opinions!about!them.!A!vital!part!of!these!considerations!will!be!a!

comparison!of!the!traditional!music!exams!with!the!longWestablished!exams!in!classical!music!

! 37!

which!are!favoured!in!many!schools.!The!traditional!music!exams!are!available!for!fiddle,!harp!

and!accordion,!and,!along!with!graded!pieces,!include!assessments!in!practical!and!aural!

musicianship.!There!is!a!book!for!each!grade,!published!by!Taigh!na!Teud,!and!each!presents!

tunes!in!three!sections:!airs,!dance!tunes!and!recent!compositions.!Some!teachers!are!happy!to!

prepare!pupils!to!play!the!traditional!music!in!exams!exactly!as!it!is!written,!and!indeed!as!the!

examiners!would!expect.!Others!teach!their!students!to!play!with!a!‘traditional’!feeling!which!

may!entail!some!deviation!from!playing!the!music!strictly!as!it!is!written,!not!simply!following!

the!score,!and!therefore!playing!in!a!way!which!is!likely!not!be!marked!so!highly.!As!will!be!

seen,!the!importance!of!this!necessary!element!of!variation!according!to!feeling!is!

acknowledged!by!examination!authorities,!adding!even!more!complexity!to!the!issue.!

Joshua!Dickson,!the!Head!of!Scottish!Music!at!RCS,!was!instrumental!in!launching!the!

exams!and!will!also!be!involved!in!their!upcoming!redevelopment!in!2014.!Dickson!described!

the!early!stages!of!the!development!of!the!first!syllabus!in!2004!as!follows:!‘I!first!came!on!as!

project!manager!for!the!graded!exams!probably!a!good!year!and!a!half!or!more!after!the!initial!

conception!of!the!development!started.!So!it!was!the!brainchild!of!Brian!McNeill!but!the!person!

who!really!took!it!forward!and!developed!it!was!a!woman!named!Katherine!Campbell’.2!!

Dickson!explained!the!original!vision!of!Brian!McNeill!(his!predecessor!as!Head!of!Scottish!

Music)!and!the!RSAMD!(now!RCS)!for!the!development!of!the!exams:!

I!think!Brian’s!overall!really!longWterm!vision!was,!and!he!said!this!to!me!himself!word!

for!word,![.!.!.]!that!he!wanted!to!have!a!traditional!music!specialist!in!every!school!in!

Scotland.!So!that!was!his!main!vision!and!the!graded!exams![were]!kind!of!stepping!

stone.!And!then!so!the!graded!exams!were![.!.!.]!articulated!as!a!what!they!called!at!that!

point,!‘an!escalator!of!opportunity’,!and!as!a!way!not!so!much!to!dictate!how!traditional!

music!is!taught!or!indeed!performed!but!rather![to]!give!a!mechanism!for!the!

motivation!of!confidence!for!young!pupils!of!school!age.!And!as!a!teaching!tool![.!.!.]!that!

! 38!

any!teacher!could!use!as!a!way!of!inspiring!and!motivating!their!students!to!just!achieve!

higher!and!higher!standards!of!performance.3!

Dickson!also!gave!details!on!how!the!first!syllabus!was!put!together!based!on!focus!groups:!‘The!

way!the!repertoire!was!selected!for!each!syllabus—fiddle,!accordion!and!harp—was!actually!

quite!a!long!drawn!out!and!quite!an!ambitious!procedure![.!.!.]!It!was!quite!a!sophisticated!one,!

under!Kath!Campbell’s!management,!she!identified![for]!the!fiddle!syllabus![.!.!.]!half!a!dozen!

different!specialists!in!that!field!and!they!all!represented!the!sort!of!archetypal!geoWhistorical!

regional!styles’.4!Among!the!regional!fiddlers!who!participated,!Dickson!named!James!

Alexander!from!Elgin!in!the,!Angus!Grant!from!the!West!Coast,!Angela!MacEachern!from!

Edinburgh,!and!Iain!Fraser!from!the!Borders.!!

According!to!Dickson,!the!RSMAD!partnered!with!the!Associated!Board!of!Royal!Schools!

of!Music!in!London!to!figure!out!how!best!to!administer!the!exams,!how!to!preserve!their!

integrity,!and!how!to!formulate!the!overall!structure!and!method!of!delivery.!Katherine!

Campbell!then!took!the!ABRSM!parameters!for!‘repertoire!development!and!sort!of!adapted!it!

for!use!in!traditional!music!factors!and!gave!those!parameters!to!each!of!the!specialists’.5!This!is!

how!Dickson!explained!the!process!of!music!selection:!

So!each!specialist!came!up!with!their!own!ideas!for!repertoire!and!gave!reasons!why!

they!picked!that!particular!parameter,!that!particular!level,!that!particular!benchmark!

and!they!would!test!drive!these,!so!to!speak,!with!their!local!communities,!in!their!

schools,!along!with!their!students,!so!on!and!so!forth.!And!that!would!lead!eventually!to!

more!of!a!focus!group!where!they’d!all!get!together!in!one!room!and!talk!it!through,!and!

Kath!as!the!manager!would!be!the!final!arbiter!where!she!would!try!and!rationalise!the!

selection!of!certain!tunes!at!certain!grades.6!!

The!process!was!repeated!for!the!accordion!and!harp,!but!Dickson!noted!that!the!fiddle!

syllabus!was!the!most!ambitious!because!of!the!size!of!the!fiddle!community!and!the!number!of!

! 39!

sources:!‘there!was!about!forty!odd!different!sources,!repertoires,!collections,!historical!and!

contemporary,!and!so!each!tune!that!was!selected!would!be!traced!back!to!a!certain!source’.7!

Dickson!went!on!to!describe!how!traditional!exams!could!not!follow!the!same!model!as!other!

musical!exams:!‘philosophically!the!rationale!for!this!whole!process!was!that!although!it!had!to!

be!made!clear!that!the!graded!exams![for!fiddle!music]!at!the!Academy!needed!to!differentiate!

themselves!from!that!at!the!ABRSM’.8!To!do!this,!distinctive!qualities!of!traditional!music!would!

need!to!be!taken!into!account,!as!Dickson!explained:!‘the!printed!material,!the!score,!could!not!

be!the!end!all,!be!all,!that!is!followed!religiously.!There!had!to!be!that!nod!to!aural!tradition!and!

the!variation!that!comes!with!traditional!transmission!and!performance!and!so!on’.9!He!was!not!

saying,!however,!that!setting!up!a!repertoire!and!standards!had!no!place!in!traditional!music:!‘It!

would!still!be!proper!or!appropriate!to!choose!one!particular!tune!and!then!chose!one!

particular!arrangement!of!it,!from!one!particular!source!as!an!example!of!the!kind!of!the!artistic!

and!technical!benchmark!that!would!be!the!standard!that!would!be!expected!at!that!particular!

grade’.10!Dickson!then!made!an!important!point!about!the!selection!of!tunes,!saying!that!‘any!

one!tune!could!easily!be!a!grade!one!or!a!grade!five,!depending!on!how!you!approach!it’.11!!

Dickson!reiterated!the!concern,!which!seems!to!pervade!the!interviews!discussed!in!this!

chapter,!that!traditional!music!exams!cannot!follow!the!same!model!or!criteria!as!other!exams:!

But!having!said!that,!we!would!always!then!say!that!this!is!just!a!guide,!and!that!we!

would!expect!some!variation!in!all!this,!just!natural!variation!in!the!actual!performance!

on!the!day.!So!it!became!a!way!of!stamping!our!own!uniqueness!on!the!exams!as!

different!from!the!Associated!Boards!which!was!always!an!important!thing!to!do,!but!

also!a!way!of!kind!of!galvanizing!it!and!proving!our!credentials!when!it!comes!to!aural!

transmission,!our!respect!for!aural!transmission.12!

! 40!

The!varying!perceptions!of!traditional!music!exams!that!I!found!through!interviews!with!my!

contributors!largely!stem!from!this!concern!about!respecting!the!differences!between!classical!

and!traditional!music.!!

For!Claire!White,!a!private!fiddle!teacher,!exams!and!competitions!shared!the!same!

positives!and!negatives:!‘there!are!many!up!sides!to!it!but!there!are!many!down!sides.!I’m!kind!

of!on!both!ends’.13!On!the!positive!side,!she!described!how!exams!or!competitions!could!be!

helpful!for!students:!‘If!there’s!something!to!work!towards,!as!long!as!it’s!made!clear,!it!does!

not!matter!if!you!are!a!winner!or!not,!and!everybody’s!got!something!to!gain,!it’s!got!to!be!

healthily!described,!managed,!organised!so!it’s!enough!to!inspire!and!create!aspiration!but!not!

so!competitive!that!it!kills!all!of!the!people!who!have!things!to!offer,!but!maybe!aren’t!the!best!

of!the!bunch!in!a!particular!day’.14!White!explained!how!the!traditional!graded!exams!could!

benefit!the!status!of!traditional!music!in!general,!and!‘get!it!recognised,!get!it!that!status,!kind!

of!makes!the!ladder!of!progress!through!music!a!bit!more!systematic’.15!On!the!negative!side,!

she!shared!her!worries,!much!like!those!Dickson!voiced,!that!the!exams!might!not!necessarily!

take!into!account!the!expressive!variations!characteristic!of!traditional!performance:!‘at!the!

same!time,!I!mean!how!would!a!lot!of!those!people!who!played!with!amazing!soul!and!spirit!

fare?!And!would!they!be!deterred!if!they!didn’t!fit!the!mould?’16!White!voiced!an!additional!

reservation!about!examinations—that!is,!that!they!might!involve!commodifying!traditional!

music.!She!admitted!to!having!mixed!feelings!on!this,!mainly!because!she!had!been!directly!

involved!in!programmes!which!dealt!with!this!subject!in!the!course!of!her!work!as!a!BBC!radio!

producer.!White!noted!that!she!could!nevertheless!see!from!her!judging!experience!that!for!

some!students,!competitions!helped!them!excel.!Referring!to!a!recent!TMSA!event,!she!said:!‘I!

! 41!

judged!two!of!their!fiddle!competitions!and!I!must!say,!I!sat!there!and!I!think,!these!people!are!

brilliant,!they’re!so!much!better!than!I!am!and!I’d!say!that!in!my!judge’s!commentary!and!so!

that’s!great!if!that’s!what’s!happened!in!the!whole!field!in!that!time—fabulous!’17!!

Sharon!Hassan!explained!that!although!she!had!not!had!any!students!do!the!exams!

officially,!she!did!use!the!books:!‘it’s!kinda!handy,!I!use!the!books.!I!use!some!of!the!tunes!from!

them,!the!kids!actually!quite!like!it;!they!say,!oh!this!is!a!grade!three!tune’.!As!to!sitting!the!

exams!themselves,!she!put!no!pressure!on!students!to!do!so,!believing!them!to!be!‘another!tool!

you!can!have!in!your!box!if!you!want!to!use!it![.!.!.]!I!think!it’s!probably!a!handy!thing!to!have!

around!but!I!don’t!think!anybody!feels!any!pressure!to!put!kids!into!them.!I!think!some!people!

think!it’s!quite!a!nice!thing!that!they!can!have!a!certificate.!Some!kids!like!exams!and!like!to!

have!a!certificate,!and!they!practice!harder!if!they’ve!got!one’.18!Hassan!found!that,!although!

preparing!for!exams!was!a!good!way!to!encourage!students!to!practise,!this!was!not!always!the!

only!method!or!the!best.!She!said!that!offering!performance!opportunities!was!‘equally!a!way!

to!get!them!to!practise.!So!I!make!sure!they!play!in!public!at!least!twice!or!three!times!in!a!year:!

they!all!do!concerts!and!stuff.!As!long!as!there!is!a!mixture,!a!goal’.19!!

Hassan!did!say!she!was!aware!of!the!resistance!some!people!had!towards!the!exams!

and!that!she!had!some!sympathy!with!them:!!

People!say,!oh!if!you!have!exams!in!traditional!music!then!that’s!not!what!traditional!

music!is!about,!and!all!that!thing!as!well,!and!I’m!just!like,!there’s!nobody!saying!you!

have!to!do!it.!It’s!just!up!to!people,!same!with!competitions.!I’m!quite!easy!going,!a!lot!

of!people!find!that!quite!infuriating!about!me,!I’m!just!like,!each!to!their!own,!what!is!

the!problem?![laughs]![.!.!.]!And!a!lot!of!people!get!their!knickers!in!a!knot!about!it,!a!lot!of!people!became!quite!outspoken!about!it!when!it!was!the!trad!music!exams,!like,!

traditional!music!should!not!be!examined,!it!should!just!be!in!communities,!which!I!still!

think!actually!is!the!way.!I!still!think!like,!if!you’ve!got!somebody!in!a!community!that!

really!cares!about!it,!that’s!what!you!need,!and!if!every!community!had!somebody!in!the!

! 42!

community!who!really!cared!about!it!and!was!able!to!kind!of!just!pass!it!on,!that’s!what!

you!need!really.20!!

Hassan!also!agreed!with!White’s!observation!that!exams!raise!the!status!of!traditional!music:!‘it!

all!raises!the!profile!of!trad!music!as!well!I!suppose’,!adding!that!‘I!still!think!the!most!important!

thing!is!having!good!live!stuff!for!people!to!go!and!see:!it’s!not!too!bad,!there!could!be!more’.21!!

Nicola!Tierney!is!one!of!only!a!few!string!instructors!I!interviewed!who!enter!their!

students!in!the!traditional!exams:!

They!do!grade!one!to!five,!so!schools!and!things!are!along!the!same!kind!of!line!as!the!

classical!exams,!which!is!great.!Aural!tests!are!the!same,![.!.!.]!piecesWwise!they’re!quite!

straightforward.!I’ve!got!a!pupil!doing!grade!four!just!now,!doing!Niel!Gow’s!Lament!

[.!.!.]!for!James!Moray!of!Abercairney,!doing!that!one,!Jig!of!Slurs,!that!kind!of!thing![.!.!.]!

So!they!do!traditional!exams!which!is,!there’s!a!lot!more!music!performance!involved,!so!

they’re!looking!for,!say!grade!four,!they’re!looking!for!three!sets!of!two!tunes!by!

memory,!plus!five!tunes,!repertoire!tunes!which!they’ll!pick!and!choose!from,!by!

memory.!SightWreading,!quite!straightforward,!and!aural!tests!again.!But![.!.!.]!the!aural!

tests!are!more!geared!for!traditional!music,!like,!what’s!this!ornament,!they’ll!play!an!

ornament!and!you!have!to![reproduce!it]!and!there’s!discussions!on!regional!styles,!

different!composers,!different!types!of!tunes,!strathspeys,!jigs,!reels.22!

Tierney!therefore!appeared!to!think!the!exams!overall!were!worthwhile,!but!this!was!largely!

because!of!certain!aspects!that!were!beneficial!for!playing!traditional!music,!for!example,!the!

need!to!play!pieces!by!memory!and!to!learn!the!skill!of!aural!appreciation,!and!the!inclusion!of!

study!of!regional!styles.!

Katherine!Campbell,!who!was!on!the!initial!board!that!developed!the!exams,!was!

another!contributor!who!described!some!of!the!mixed!feelings!people!have!had!about!

traditional!exams!and!competitions:!!

There’s!a!thing!with!traditional!music!that!it’s!egalitarian!and!some!people!are!against!

testing,!you!see,!particularly!for!younger!children,!and!they!feel,!you!know,!it’s!more!

some!of!it!kind!of!emerges!from!the!community,!and,!whilst!I!see!that,!it’s!the!same!

thing!in!traditional!music.!Some!people!are!dead!against!competitions,!dead!against!it,!

other!folk!thrive!on!it.!So!it’s!very!much,!you!get!the!two!sides,!you!really!get!the!two!

! 43!

sides.!I!think!classical!exams!are!well!established,!although!having!said!that,!not!

everybody!goes!for!classical!exams!either!in!the!music!and!it’s!the!same!with!

competition,!so!it’s!kind!of!the!same!arguments!going!on,!but!I!think!it’s!stronger,!it’s!

more!evident!with!traditional!music.23!

Campbell!did,!however,!see!some!benefits!arising!from!taking!the!traditional!exams,!including!

the!motivational!factor!that!Dickson!mentioned:!

My!view!is,!I!think!this!is!great!for!some!people!but!not!everybody!will!want!to!buy!into!

it![.!.!.]!but!I!think!it’s!probably!quite!a!good!motivational!thing!for!some!people:!I!think!

it’s!a!goal.!Well,!you!know,!if!there!are!exams!in!classical!music,!why!not!in!traditional!

music?!I!mean,!‘We!live!in!Scotland,!why!should!we!not!have!exams!in!our!own!music?’!

would!be!my!contention,!though!I!know!that!not!everyone!will!agree!with!me!there,!but!

anyway!I!don’t!mind—that’s!just!the!way!it!is.24!!

Jo!Miller,!when!interviewed,!expanded!on!some!of!the!opinions!she!expressed!in!The)

Learning)and)Teaching)of)Traditional)Music,!when!she!stated:!

There!would!appear!to!be!little!scope!for!the!spontaneous!interaction!and!social!

element!of!musicWmaking!that!many!would!consider!central!to!the!experience!of!

learning!and!performing!traditional!music.!In!addition,!the!production!of!an!examination!

syllabus!and!the!training!of!examiners!does!not!in!itself!address!the!issue!of!who!

teaches!and!learns,!where,!when!and!how,!and!what!performance!opportunities!may!be!

available!to!learners!outside!the!examination!context.25!!

Describing!her!mixed!feelings!about!the!exams,!Miller!agreed!with!Campbell!that!they!were!

good!for!some!and!not!others!and!also!with!Hassan!that!the!performance!opportunities!were!

no!less!vital:!‘I!feel!ambivalent!about!music!exams!anyway:!I!think!they!suit!some!kids!and!not!

others.!One!of!my!children!has!never!done!a!music!exam!in!their!life!apart!from!school!and!the!

other!one!can’t!wait!for!the!next!one,!so!I!think!it!depends.!I!feel!that!you!have!to!look!at!the!

wider!context!W!do!they!have!other!performance!opportunities?’26!Miller!also!raised!the!

important!questions!that!opened!this!chapter!including!that!of!the!identities!of!the!main!

beneficiaries:!‘What!is!it!for?!Who!is!it!really!for?!Is!it!really!in!the!best!interest!of!the!child!or!is!

it!for!the!parents!and!the!teachers!and!the!authorities?!Is!it!a!bit!of!paper!for!institutions!and!so!

! 44!

on?’27!These!are!questions!that!should!be!taken!seriously!in!the!upcoming!review!of!the!

syllabus,!despite!the!temptation!to!take!the!value!of!the!already!established!exams!for!granted.!!

Miller!also!expressed!her!reservations!about!‘examining!somebody!on!their!solo!playing!

in!what’s!basically!a!collective!social!tradition’.28!During!the!interview,!Miller!did,!however,!

outline!what!she!saw!as!the!basic!reason!for!having!the!exams!in!the!first!place:!‘One!of!the!

justifications!for!making!those!exams!available!and!resourcing!them!was!so!that!school!music!

instructors!and!private!tutors!who!wouldn’t!feel!very!confident!at!working!with!traditional!

music!could!have!a!structured!set!up!and!a!way!of!grading!pieces’.29!Nevertheless,!as!will!be!

made!clear!at!the!close!of!this!chapter,!Miller!did!not!feel!that!this!led!to!an!effective!or!

efficient!method!of!encouraging!people!to!make!music—she!was!in!favour!of!informal!teaching.!

Yet!another!contributor,!Katherine!Liley,!a!peripatetic!string!instructor,!also!expressed!

her!doubts!about!traditional!music!exams.!One!of!her!concerns!was!that!many!students!

prepare!for!exams!for!the!wrong!reasons:!

I!just!don’t!think!it’s!done!classical!music!as!music!very!much!good,!I!think!when!you!

hear!someone!who’s!just!gone!through!grade!exams!and!not!done!any!other!music!

there’s!something!missing,!and!I!don’t!think!we!need!that!missing!from!traditional!music!

too![.!.!.]!I!think!you’re!in!grave!danger!of!people!who!jump!on!the!band!wagon!and!go,!

that’s!how!we!get!into,!for!example,!the!RSAMD,!I!want!to!do!this!so!I’m!just!going!to!

follow!all!these!steps!up!and!by!the!time!I!get!there!I’m!going!to!sound!exactly!the!same!

as!everyone!else!and!know!exactly!the!same!tunes!and!play!them!exactly!the!same!way.!

It’s!like,!taWdah,!I’m!one!of!you!guys!now.!It’s!like,!well!what!use!are!you!to!the!world?!

You’re!the!same!as!everyone!else.30!!

Liley!pursues!her!point!further:!

I!just!think,!I!think!they!have!made!an!effort!as!far!as!I!understand!to!accommodate!local!

styles,!but![.!.!.]!I!think!the!people!who!are!real!musicians,![.!.!.]!who!are!coming!from!

strong!traditions!and!have!got!their!own!identity!as!a!musician,!don’t!need!that.!And!I!

think!it’s!either!going!to!exclude!the!people!who!have!musical!integrity!or!it’s!going!to!

exclude!the!people!who’ve!done!the!exams!and!completely,!remove!their!merit.!So!I!

don’t!think!it’s!going!to!do!anybody!any!good!particularly.31!

! 45!

Liley!paused!to!think!about!some!possible!benefits,!including!once!again!the!motivational!

factor,!before!returning!to!the!questionable!reasons!some!students!have!for!gaining!

qualifications:!

Some!people!find!it!useful,!for!example,!for!kids!that!don’t!practise,!it!gives!them!a!

structure.!You’ve!got!to!do!this!exam!next!week!so!you!better!get!your!skates!on,!tick!all!

the!boxes.!So!it’s!not!really!any!better!than!forcing!anyone!to!do!their!grade!two!really,!

but!maybe!they!might!enjoy!that!a!bit!better!because!it’s!nicer!tunes,!I!don’t!know.!So!it!

might!be!useful!in!that!context![.!.!.]!I!wonder,!are!they!going!to!be!judged!on!whether!

they’ve!got!x,!y,!z!exam!papers!or!are!they!going!to!be!judged!on!whether!they’re!a!

really!good!musician!or!not.!And!you!can!hear!that!if!you!listen!to!them,!I!don’t!know!

and!I!suppose!the!principle!of!having!evidence!on!paper!that!you’re!any!good,!is!good,!

but!I!don’t!know!what!the!right!way!is!to!go!about!doing!it!without!destroying!the!thing!

you’re!trying!to!validate.!And!I!think!trying!to!validate!traditional!music!by!turning!it!into!

the!same!as!everything!else!is!defeating!the!purpose!in!a!massive!way.!Because!I!

remember!people!talking!about!it!when!they!were!first!having!the!idea!going:!wouldn’t!

that!be!brilliant—we’ll!be!accepted!cause!we’ll!have!exams!too,!it’s!like!no!![.!.!.]!I!think!

one!of!the!things!that!bothered!me!about!it!is!that!it’s!trying!to!emulate!the!grade!

system!in!classical!music,!as!if!that’s!improved!music,!and!I!don’t!think!it!has.!And!I!think!

traditional!musicians!trying!to!validate!what!they!do!by!trying!to!be!like!the!other!thing,!

I!just!don’t!think.!I!don’t!know![.!.!.]!I!completely!accept!that!they!might!be!amazing!and!

I!might!be!totally!wrong!and!they!might!be!the!best!thing!ever.32!!

Liley!then!revealed!that!deep!down!she!did!not!feel!the!exam!system!as!it!stands!was!in!keeping!

with!the!true!spirit!of!traditional!music:!

I!just!feel!with!traditional!music,!it’s!about!each!individual!person!doing!their!individual!

thing!and!what!kids!are!trying!to!do!with!these!exams!is!jump!through!hoops!and!doing!

what!someone!else!wants.!It’s!not!exploring!their!own!music,!it’s!just!doing!what’s!in!a!

book,!just!like!anything!else.!It’s!not!what!this!kind!of!music!is!about,!it’s!kind!of!

defeating!the!purpose!of!learning!traditional!music!I!think.!But!again,!that’s!just!an!

uninformed!opinion,!and!I’d!be!completely!happy!for!somebody!to!go,!no!no,!look!it’s!

brilliant,!and!if!it!is,!it!might!well!be,!I!don’t!know.33!!

The!contributors!so!far!have!seen!some!good!and!some!bad!in!the!exam!system,!but!

Paul!Anderson,!NorthWEast!fiddler,!is!one!of!its!strongest!critics:!!

I!mean!I’ve!got!a!slight!issue!with!doing!grades!in!Scottish!music.!The!folk!that!are!

grading!the!kids,!they!care!nothing!about!the!unique!qualities!they!should!be!looking!

for.!All!they!want!to!see!is!that!it!fits!on!the!page!and!it!varies.!I!mean,!if!I!had!a!pupil!

! 46!

that!was!following!what!I!taught!them,!how!to!get!the!right!character,!etcetera,!they!

very!well!might!be!marked!down!because!actually!you!don’t!play!what’s!on!the!music,!

dots.!You!double!dotted,!but!on!the!page!it’s!one!dot!and!the!ornamentation.34!

The!point!Anderson!was!making!is!that!what!he!teaches!his!pupils!to!play!does!not!follow!

literally!what!is!written!in!the!score!and!would!therefore!lose!them!marks!in!an!exam.!For!

example,!when!played!in!traditional!style,!the!single!dots!are!shortened!and!exaggerated!by!

being!played!‘doubleWdotted’!and!ornamentation!and!embellishments!are!added.35!Anderson!

stated!his!concern!in!relation!to!what!he!had!seen!with!competitions,!that!is,!pupils!learn!to!

play!the!pieces!in!a!way!to!please!the!examiners!and!not!the!listeners!of!truly!traditional!music:!

It’s!not!about!trying!to!have!one!kind!of!homogenised!Scottish!fiddler,!and!that’s!not!

what!it’s!about!at!all.!That’s!what!you!see!with!Highland!dancing,!because!it’s!been!put!

through!Highland!dancing!boards!that!everybody!dances!a!certain!way!because!that’s!

the!only!way!you’re!gonna!win.!Same!if!you!go!to!the!top!piping!competitions,!you!kind!

of!have!to!play!your!pibroch!a!certain!way.!There’s!not!room!for!much!kind!of!difference!

in!interpretation!of!the!music,!because!well!you’re!not!going!to!win.!So!if!you!want!to!

win!there’s!a!certain!way!you!have!to!play!it.!Your!fiddling!has!probably!not!suffered!

through!that!quite!as!much,!but!I!tend!to!feel!that!kind!of!exams!and!stuff!like!that!

[aren’t!good]!for!traditional!music.36!!

Anderson!concluded!by!reflecting!on!the!possible!role!the!exams!might!play!in!the!future:!‘I!

don’t!think!it’s!entirely!a!bad!thing.![I]!probably!would!have!been!quite!keen!on!that!when!I!was!

in!school.![.!.!.]!You!kind!of!get!the!feeling!that!the!longer!these!exams!are!in!place,!it’ll!be!kind!

of!the!main!access!for!kids!to!learn!traditional!music,!that!it’ll!be!learned!a!certain!way!cause!

that’s!what!is!expected!and,!for!better!or!worse,!so!we!need!to!just!wait!and!see’.37!

As!mentioned!in!the!introduction!to!this!chapter,!the!syllabus!for!the!first!launch!of!the!

traditional!music!graded!exams!expires!in!2014.!I!asked!Joshua!Dickson!about!what!changes!

might!be!made!in!the!next!syllabus:!

Well!not!necessarily!all!tunes!and!all!syllabuses!would!be!changed.!There!are!going!to!be!

certain!favourites,!timeless!tunes!that!are![.!.!.]!we’re!quite!happy!to!stay!there,!but!you!

! 47!

know!there!are!other!tunes!that!are!just!never!played!on!the!syllabus!from!our!records!

and!copies!of!all!the!exam!sheets![.!.!.]!there!are!some!that!are!just!really!never!chosen!

and!others!that!are!chosen!all!the!time.!So!we’d!like!to!go!back!and!again!take!account!

of!the!last!seven!years!and!provide!new!material![.!.!.]!It!could!overlap,!some!from!the!

same!sources!as!in!the!previous!syllabuses,!but!there!will!be!new!sources!out!there!that!

we!can!tap!and!just!provide!for!a!bit!more!interest!for!those!people!who!may!be!going!

up!to!maybe!grade!one,!two!and!three,!and!then!want!something!a!bit!different!for!the!

next!couple!of!grades,!or!a!need!for!those!who’ve!already!gone!to!grade!five!and!have!

nothing!else!to!do!at!that!stage:!part!of!that!redevelopment!would!be!to!look!into!

higher!grades.38!!

Dickson!was!well!aware!that!this!would!be!no!straightforward!task:!

So!that!would!demand!new!repertoire!as!well,!but!also!some!new!thinking!as!to!what!

that!type!of!exam,!that!higher!grade,!would!really!entail.!It!could!be!very!well![.!.!.]!

something!like!a!more!specialised!recital,!you!know,!take!the!works!of!Skinner!or!

Marshall!or!Milne!and!create!a!twentyWminute!recital!out!of!that.!So!it!doesn’t!

necessarily!have!to!follow!the!structure!that!the!Associated!Boards!have!up!to!grade!

eight.!At!this!stage!we!are!confident!enough!in!what!we!do!that!we!can!depart!from!the!

Associated!Board!model!as!needed!as!long!as!there’s!an!integrity!to!it,!artistic!and!

technical.!So!that’s!all!in!the!planning,!but!again!we!just!need!the!funding!to!do!it,!it’s!

part!of!that!capacity!problem!within!this!institution.39!

Whether!Dickson’s!vision!for!the!revised!syllabus!will!be!realised!remains!to!be!seen.!

!

Conclusion(

Based!on!my!research!it!appears!that!most!of!my!contributors!are!ambivalent!about!

competitions!and!exams.!The!exams!not!only!cause!tensions!within!communities!but!also!

create!feelings!of!ambivalence!in!the!minds!of!individual!teachers.!These!included!Kat!Liley!and!

Jo!Miller,!who!both!had!some!pupils!who!were!suited!to!exams!and!others!who!were!not.!

Nicola!Tierney,!who!entered!all!her!pupils!for!exams,!admitted!there!were!some!aspects!of!

exams!which!were!more!suited!to!traditional!music!than!others,!for!instance,!the!aural!part!and!

the!discussion!of!regional!styles.!Paul!Anderson!was!the!most!critical!of!the!exams,!saying!that!

those!who!were!taught!to!play!traditional!music!with!the!necessary!feeling!were!marked!down!

! 48!

in!exams!and!competition,!but!he!admitted!that!the!exam!system!was!‘not!entirely!a!bad!thing’.!

Several!contributors,!including!Hassan,!Liley!and!Campbell,!accepted!that!there!was!a!

motivational!factor!in!that!pupils!preparing!for!exams!were!given!a!structure!for!practising;!

however,!Hassan!was!of!the!opinion!that!preparing!for!a!concert!or!other!performance!was!an!

equally!good!motivator.!

! The!question!of!the!impact!of!exams!on!the!status!of!traditional!music!drew!both!

positive!and!negative!comments.!White!and!Hassan!agreed!the!grading!system!gave!traditional!

music!enhanced!recognition!and!status,!and!Hassan,!although!not!sending!pupils!for!exams,!

used!the!books!because!some!pupils!liked!knowing!that!they!were!playing!tunes!of!a!certain!

grade!level.!However,!Liley!thought!some!pupils!were!‘jumping!on!the!bandwagon’!because!

having!passed!a!certain!grade!of!exam!gave!them!a!false!sense!of!status!and!prevented!them!

from!gaining!a!musical!identity,!while!Miller!raised!doubts!about!how!grading!might!be!used!as!

status!symbols!by!teachers,!parents!and!institutions!

Other!reservations!were!expressed!about!the!suitability!of!the!exam!system!for!

traditional!music.!White!was!concerned!about!what!would!happen!to!pupils!who!played!with!

‘amazing!soul!and!spirit’!but!who!did!not!fit!in!the!expected!mould—a!sentiment!concurring!

with!Anderson’s!views!on!the!subject.!Liley!went!even!further!by!suggesting!that!even!in!

classical!music,!those!who!had!passed!the!grades!but!who!had!not!played!in!other!surroundings!

had!‘something!missing’—and!that!this!was!even!more!accentuated!in!traditional!music.!Miller!

said!that!the!grading!system!was!devised!to!allow!teachers!who!were!not!proficient!in!

traditional!music!to!teach,!and!that!traditional!pupils!were!being!examined!on!their!individual!

solo!playing!in!what!was!a!community!social!tradition.!

! 49!

! The!impression!given!to!me!by!my!interviewees!was!that,!on!balance,!they!felt!exams!

and!competitions!had!some!good!points!but!did!not!benefit!everyone,!and!that!if!they!did!not!

exist,!it!would!be!no!great!detriment!to!traditional!music!learning.!There!was!even!a!hint!of!this!

sentiment!from!Joshua!Dickson,!a!major!proponent!of!the!grading!system,!who,!as!noted!

earlier,!said!the!criteria!for!the!exams!came!with!a!notice!that!‘this!is!just!a!guide,!and!that!we!

would!expect!some!variation’.!Dickson!and!his!team!are!now!working!hard!on!devising!the!next!

grading!syllabus!for!2014.!But!there!are!likely!to!be!grave!doubts,!in!the!minds!of!some!of!my!

contributors!at!least,!about!whether!this!is!worth!the!effort.!It!may!be!possible!that!adaptations!

could!be!made!to!the!exams!to!address!the!criticisms—say,!rewarding!individual!style,!

ornamentation,!and!‘character’!added!to!the!bare!score.!

Miller!raised!some!of!these!doubts!in!2007,!and!now,!six!years!later,!she!appears!to!be!

of!no!less!strong!an!opinion.!She!concluded!in!her!interview!with!these!words:!‘I!would!rather!

put!time!and!effort!into!building!opportunities!for!people!to!make!music!in!the!first!place,!

develop!their!playing!and!make!it!with!their!friends!and!their!peers!and!their!families!and!their!

community!because!to!me,!you!know!in!all!my!years!of!music!teaching,!that’s!what!seems!to!

me!to!give!the!best!foundation!for!enjoyment!and!lifelong!participation!in!music’.40!

It!would!be!hard!to!imagine,!based!on!the!opinions!expressed!in!this!chapter,!any!of!my!

other!interviewees!disagreeing!with!this!statement.!And!I!would!imagine!that!they!are!all,!albeit!

to!varying!degrees,!devoting!some!time!and!energy!to!building!such!opportunities!for!players!to!

gain!maximum!enjoyment!and!fulfilment!from!being!traditional!musicians.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.!299.!!

2!EI!2013.031,!00:41.!

! 50!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!3!EI!2013.031,!00:14.!

4!EI!2013.031,!04:46.!

5!EI!2013.031,!04:22.!

6!EI!2013.031,!05:15.!

7!EI!2013.031,!08:11.!

8!EI!2013.031,!08:33.!

9!EI!2013.031,!09:44.!

10!EI!2013.031,!10:01.!

11!EI!2013.031,!10:23.!

12!EI!2013.031,!11:03.!

13!EI!2013.030,!24:15.!

14!EI!2013.030,!24:37.!

15!EI!2013.030,!24:50.!

16!EI!2013.030,!24:55.!

17!EI!2013.030,!25:01.!

18!EI!2013.033,!52:30.!

19!EI!2013.033,!52:59.!

20!EI!2013.033,!53:40.!

21!EI!2013.033,!51:20.!

22!EI!2013.027,!23:15.!

23!EI!2013.029,!18:47.!

24!EI!2013.029,!19:20.!

25!Miller,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!p.!299.!

26!EI!2013.028,!56:12.!

27!EI!2013.028,!57:40.!

28!EI!2013.028,!58:00.!

29!EI!2013.028,!58:33.!

30!EI!2013.025,!16:19.!

31!EI!2013.025,!17:00.!

32!EI!2013.025,!18:00.!

33!EI!2013.025,!18:30.!

! 51!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!34!EI!2013.032,!03:00.!

35!El!2013.032,!05:32.!

36!EI!2013.032,!11:50.!

37!EI!2013.032,!12:51.!

38!EI!2013.031,!21:00.!

39!EI!2013.031,!21:20.!

40!EI!2013.028,!59:08.!

50#

Conclusion)

Through#my#own#teaching#and#performance,#I#have#found#that#some#musicians#in#the#United#

States#are#interested#in#adapting#and#reinterpreting#traditional#melodies#and#styles,#but#that#

traditional#music#is#not#generally#being#incorporated#in#our#public#schools#and#orchestras.#There#

is#still#a#strong#preference#for#Western#classical#music.#Before#taking#on#my#research#into#the#

learning#and#teaching#of#traditional#music#in#the#NorthCEast,#I#did#not#imagine#that#there#would#

be#resistance#to#traditional#music#in#the#schools#in#Scotland.#After#all,#there#is#a#wealth#of#fiddle#

music#that#has#been#preserved#in#collections#and#carried#on#in#workshops#promoting#regional#

styles,#while#performances#and#innovations#by#contemporary#Scottish#musicians#steeped#in#

traditional#music#are#numerous;#I#initially#assumed#that#traditional#music#must#be#part#of#the#

curriculum#in#Scottish#schools.#Although#traditional#music#is#increasingly#being#heard#in#schools#

and#communities,#I#was#surprised#to#learn#not#only#that#there#were#some#teachers#who#believe#

that#traditional#music#is#inferior#to#classical#but#also#that#many#teachers#approached#teaching#

traditional#music#the#same#way#they#taught#classical#music,#using#the#same#format,#same#

technique#and#so#on.#I#also#assumed#that,#because#the#Curriculum#for#Excellence#includes#

traditional#music,#there#would#be#a#set#curriculum#and#resources#for#teachers#to#use.#This#turns#

out#not#to#be#the#case:#how#to#teach#and#what#resources#to#use#is#up#to#individual#teachers,#and#

there#does#not#appear#to#be#one#common#method.#

)

Resistance)to)Traditional)Music#

There#has#been#a#long#history#of#resistance#to#including#traditional#music#in#the#schools#of#

Scotland.#Dave#Francis#quotes#some#instances#as#far#back#as#the#1950s,#when#Alastair#Hardie#

51#

reported#that#some#pupils#were#told#in#no#uncertain#terms#not#to#be#heard#playing#that#‘Scottish#

teuchter#rubbish’.1#More#recently,#a#school#music#group#that#played#Scottish#music#at#the#

Edinburgh#music#festival#was#told#by#an#eminent#adjudicator#to#‘produce#some#real#music#next#

time’.2#Although#attitudes#are#changing,#there#appear#still#to#be#pockets#of#resistance.#Paul#

Anderson#reported#in#an#interview#that#Frank#Robb,#Angus#Strathspey#and#Reel#conductor,#

informed#him#that#he#was#having#difficulty#recruiting#young#players#because#pupils#were#being#

told#by#their#teachers#that#they#were#not#allowed#to#partake#in#Scottish#music.3#School#

instructor#Susan#Simpson#reported#that#in#her#schooldays#teachers#were#simply#not#allowed#to#

teach#Scottish#music,#and#it#was#only#by#joining#the#Ythan#Fiddlers#that#she#could#play#

traditional#music.4##

Obviously,#this#is#no#longer#the#case,#but#even#those#younger#teachers#who#are#

dedicated#to#teaching#Scottish#music,#such#as#Nicola#Tierney,#can#sense#that#it#is#looked#down#

on#by#some#of#their#colleagues#who#suggest#it#is#‘too#easy’.5#Katherine#Campbell,#however,#

found#that#informal#learning#was#encouraged#by#teachers#inside#or#outside#school,#although#it#

was#not#a#part#of#the#curriculum.6#It#would#appear#therefore#that#even#in#past#generations#

attitudes#toward#traditional#music#varied#from#school#to#school#and#from#teacher#to#teacher.#

Fortunately,#it#would#also#appear#the#some#inroads#are#being#made#into#this#resistance#to#

traditional#music,#and#it#should#be#noted#that#it#is#not#just#the#native#Scottish#fiddlers#who#are#

enthusiastic#about#the#music:#Tierney#reported#there#was#recently#a#Belgian#teacher#working#in#

Aberdeenshire#who#was#doing#all#he#could#to#obtain#the#resources#to#teach#Scottish#traditional#

music.7#

#

52#

Current)Traditional)Music)Education)

Sense%of%ownership%and%belonging%

There#would#seem#to#be#an#increasing#sense#of#increased#identity#with#Scottish#and#NorthCEast#

culture#including#music.#Nicola#Tierney#recalled#that#in#her#schooldays#she#was#‘so#close#to#

quitting,#cause#I#was#like,#this#is#not#cool,#nobody#else#in#my#school#does#this,#I#don’t#want#to#do#

this#anymore’.8#Nowadays,#in#contrast,#she#says#of#her#own#pupils:#‘you#give#them#a#tune,#like#

something#really#well#know#like#Màiri’s#Wedding#or#Scotland#the#Brave#and#then#they#come#

back#next#week#going,#my#mum#knew#that!’9#This#would#suggest#that#traditional#music#gives#

them#a#sense#of#ownership#of#the#music#as#well#as#an#identity#with#their#family.#Claire#White#

said#that#traditional#music#gave#students#identity#within#a#wider#culture:#‘well#I#think#it’s#great#

for#the#national#identity,#whatever#way#you#want#to#interpret#that,#that#there’s#a#pride#about#

living#culture#of#their#own’.10#She#saw#it#as#not#only#a#personal#phenomenon#but#something#with#

positive#wider#ramifications:#‘and#it’s#all#kind#of#coming#together,#it’s#a#coming#of#age#culturally#

of#radio#broadcasts,#qualifications,#degrees,#performers#doing#stuff#successfully#on#the#national#

circuit,#and#that’s#really#exciting’.11#

Christine#Kydd#also#thought#not#only#that#musicians#became#identified#with#their#own#

music#but#also#that#music#could#be#written#or#adapted#to#fit#their#identity#and,#going#a#step#

further,#to#give#them#a#feeling#of#ownership:#‘I#guess#that#the#idea#of#looking#at#song#writing,#is#

you’re#making#up#their#own#songs#about#their#own#place#based#on#traditional#tunes.#So#that#

gives#them#a#sense#of#ownership’.12#Katherine#Liley#felt#that,#whereas#previous#generations#felt#

somewhat#embarrassed#about#their#Scottish#culture,#this#embarrassment#was#giving#way#to#a#

feeling#of#pride#and#acceptance#and#that#this#was#now#playing#a#major#part#in#the#school#

53#

curriculum:#

There’s#just#a#general#acceptance#of#Scottishness,#that#Scottish#cringe#is#kind#of#easing#a#bit#and#people#are#more#kind#of#at#ease#with#their#own#culture#in#some#ways.#Also#with#the#new#curriculum#it’s#part#of#what#we#are#supposed#to#be#doing#is#educating#kids#in#their#own#culture.#[.#.#.]#I#think#one#of#the#streams#that#runs#right#the#way#through#it#is#educating#children#through#their#culture.#So#Scots#language#and#Gaelic#language#have#got#a#much#bigger#place#and#it’s#more#recognised#rather#than#being#kind#of#an#extra#thing#you#do#sometimes,#it’s#like#a#central#part#of#the#thing#that’s#going#on.13##

Liley#also#spoke#of#the#class#session#she#was#about#to#supervise#after#the#interview:#‘Well#I#think#

the#mission#behind#the#group#is#to#get#young#people#in#this#area#owning#their#own#music,#going#

out#to#sessions#and#playing#together’.14#

#

Resources%and%Training%

There#is#a#general#impression#that#the#resources#available#for#music#teachers#are#inadequate.#Jo#

Miller#noted#not#only#that#there#was#a#lack#of#‘an#established#training#scheme#for#instructors#of#

traditional#music#in#schools’,15#but#also#that#‘resources#designed#for#the#teaching#of#traditional#

music#in#secondary#schools#have#been#sparse’.16#Pamela#Flanagan,#in#her#2007#survey#reported#

in#chapter#four,#found#that#most#of#the#traditional#music#in#schools#was#provided#through#

external#providers.#In#her#report#she#recommended#that#a#central#database#should#be#

established#for#teaching#resources#and#materials#because#many#teachers#were#not#aware#of#the#

resources#available.17#Katherine#Campbell#believed#that#one#way#to#fill#the#gap#was#to#create#

more#teacher#training#and#opportunities#for#teachers#in#traditional#music:#‘It’s#basically#how#

Traditional#Music#Forum#might#assist#people#with#this,#sort#of#plug#this#gap,#because#I#think#

teachers#have#an#awful#lot#on#their#plates#and#how#do#they#cover#this?#So#they#need#the#

resources#and#tools#and#information#at#their#fingertips#so#they#can#prepare#a#lesson#quickly’.18#

54#

#

The%Challenges%That%Music%Instructors%Face%

AnnaCWendy#Stevenson#said#that,#as#a#tutor#in#traditional#music#groups,#she#was#expected#to#

have#students#learn#by#listening#and#to#distribute#written#music#only#at#the#end#of#classes:#‘As#a#

tutor#in#traditional#music#classes,#you#are#generally#expected#to#teach#aurally,#providing#sheet#

music#at#the#end#of#the#class.#I#have#never#experienced#any#conflicting#expectations#in#terms#of#

delivery’.19#However,#there#is#a#feeling#that#although#this#type#of#teaching#is#desirable#in#

schools,#the#fullCtime#music#teachers#are#often#not#equipped#or#knowledgeable#enough#to#

conduct#it.#Many#are#classically#trained#and#accustomed#only#to#teaching#from#written#music.#

This#is#why#outside#organisations#or#individual#folk#musicians#are#often#asked#to#come#to#

schools,#although,#of#course,#this#does#not#improve#the#capabilities#of#the#everyday#teachers.#Jo#

Miller#comments#on#the#use#of#outside#instructors:##

The#Fèis#organisation#would#be#paid#by#a#local#authority#to#come#in#and#deliver#traditional#music#which#is#great#in#a#way,#because#it#brings#performers#into#the#classroom#but#I#think#it#still#doesn’t#address#the#challenge#for#teachers#who#are#there#every#single#day#[hits%hand%three%times%on%table%to%‘every%single%day’]#so#I#think#that’s#one#of#the#things#I#was#say#has#characterised#that#last#twenty#or#so#is#that#partnership#and#we#have#it#here.20#

Miller#goes#on#to#say#that#some#teachers#had#never#taught#this#way,#by#that#those#who#really#

wanted#to#do#it#were#taking#steps#to#remedy#the#situation:#‘I#remember#there#was#one#woman#

who#came#because#she#had#a#few#pupils#who#wanted#to#do#this#and#she#thought#she#should#

know#more#about#it.#Which#is#great,#and#we#did#something,#she#said,#you#know#that#is#the#first#

time#I’ve#ever#learned#anything#by#ear’.21#

It#would#seem#therefore#that#the#single#most#effective#means#of#traditional#learning,#

now#and#in#the#future,#is#in#active#groups,#whether#government#funded#or#run#by#volunteers.#

55#

AnnaCWendy#Stevenson#reflected:#‘My#experience#of#traditional#music#education#has#involved#

working#for#a#variety#of#organisations#across#Scotland#which#are#often#run#by#dedicated#

volunteers#who#are#committed#to#quality#teaching#and#learning.##Fèis#Rois,#Lochgoilhead#Fiddle#

Workshop,#Fèis#Dhùn#Eideann,#Glasgow#Fiddle#Workshop,#Ceòlas,#Fèis#Rois#adult#Fèis’.22##And#Jo#

Miller#said#that#the#summer#schools#had#something#virtually#for#everyone:#‘I#went#to#one#of#

those#summer#schools#with#a#pupil#of#mine,#and#I#sent#her#off#to#the#Shetland#class#and#I#sat#in#

Angus#Grant’s#class,#still#have#got#the#recordings#of#those#somewhere.#But#then#that#was#quickly#

followed#by#all#sorts#of#other#things’.23#Miller#also#pointed#out#that#with#new#technology,#there#

were#now#a#variety#of#other#methods#for#learning#music,#either#on#one’s#own,#by#listening#to#a#

YouTube#recording,#or#in#a#group#situation#like#the#one#she#had#once#experienced:#‘so#they#all#

whipped#out#their#phones#you#see,#but#somebody#was#not#only#recording#it#but#videoing#it#on#

their#iPhone,#so#that#person#is#then#going#home#with#an#audio#version#but#also#a#video#

version’.24#

There#are,#however,#some#reservations#about#whether#all#these#beneficial#teaching#

arrangements#can#carry#on#to#their#full#potential#in#the#current#economic#climate.#Stevenson#

said#freelance#teaching#paid#better#than#performing,#although#rates#for#both#were#probably#

going#down#in#real#terms,#while#budget#cuts#were#also#a#concern:#‘[freelance#teaching]#pays#

better,#though#fees#are#not#necessarily#rising#with#the#cost#of#living.#Performance#fees#do#not#

seem#to#be#rising,#if#anything,#decreasing#and#both#performance#and#teaching#routes#are#

increasingly#more#competitive#and#under#threat#from#budget#cuts#from#local#councils,#arts#

bodies,#etc.’.25#Stevenson’s#observation#is#echoed#by#Jo#Miller:#‘Instructors#[.#.#.]#work#very#hard#

but#they’re#a#floating#community.#They#don’t#belong#in#any#one#school#and#yet#they’ve#got#to#

56#

make#a#huge#impact#in#that#school#while#they#are#there.#So,#unless#they#have#real#good#vision#

and#leadership,#they’re#an#easy#target#for#cuts’.26#

These#comments#would#suggest#that#the#pupilCteacher#situation#is#less#likely#to#be#

eroded#than#the#various#group#arrangements,#simply#because#of#economic#considerations:#

school#teachers#are#now#doing#more#because#of#cuts#in#outside#help,#while#private#tutors#are#

taking#on#more#pupils#to#compensate#for#dropping#performance#and#government#fees.#

#

The)Future)

Economic#considerations#aside,#the#outlook#appears#to#be#generally#optimistic.#In#regard#to#the#

amount#of#teaching#and#learning#going#on,#AnnaCWendy#Stevenson#thought#both#the#supply#

(the#number#of#music#instructors#available)#and#the#demand#(the#size#of#the#relevant#youth#

population)#would#increase:##

The#UK#demographics#indicate#that#there#will#be#a#demand#to#provide#new#musical#engagement#avenues#in#the#next#10#years.##The#increase#in#musicians#studying#music#at#degree#level,#developing#high#level#professional#skills#to#create#portfolio#careers#in#music#including#performance,#teaching,#recording#networking#coupled#with#the#accessibility#of#social#networking#platforms#makes#the#courses#designed#and#run#by#musical#professional#entrepreneurs#an#attractive#and#growing#area.27##

Moreover,#Katherine#Campbell#thought#there#was#scope#for#the#age#range#covered#to#be#

expanded#in#accordance#with#the#original#intention#of#the#Curriculum#for#Excellence:#‘also#

there’s#the#idea#[.#.#.]#that#it’s#not#just#secondary#school#that#covers#three,#it’s#supposed#to#cover#

three#to#eighteen#I#think,#which#is#right#down#to#nursery#education#and#it’d#be#interesting#to#

know#what’s#been#done#there’.28#She#also#thought#there#was#such#a#wide#range#of#genres#

coming#under#the#heading#of#‘Scottish#traditional,’#and#such#a#large#number#of#different#

organisations#with#an#interest#in#teaching,#that#a#suitable#overall#structure#would#need#to#be#

57#

developed—and#that#the#Traditional#Music#Forum#might#be#one#of#the#first#steps#toward#this:#

I#think#things#are#going#in#the#right#direction,#there’s#a#lot#of#different#organisations#in#Scotland.#The#Traditional#Music#Forum#is#a#body#that#brings#together#these#different#organisations#[.#.#.]#Fèisean#nan#Gàidheal,#TMSA,#the#pipers,#all#that#kind#of#thing#is#represented.#I#think#the#thing#about#traditional#music,#it’s#very#diverse#in#Scotland#and#even#in#terms#of#what#people#listen#to.#Some#people#are#very#much#into#the#tartan#side#of#things,#others#are#more#about#the#tradition#bearers,#the#music#emerging#from#the#community,#the#travelling#people#and#so#on.#So#it’s#very#very#different#and#some#people#like#the#modern#electronic#instruments#and#all#that#and#then#others#are#more#traditional,#they’d#rather#hear#a#solo#fiddle#play,#there’s#a#huge#variety.#It#does#make#it#interesting.29#

Katherine#Liley#also#saw#an#imminent#expansion#in#the#age#range#involved,#but#in#this#case#in#

the#general#population.#Interest#in#traditional#music#had#recently#been#concentrated#in#an#everC

ageing#generation,#with#much#of#the#younger#population#regarding#it#as#unfashionable#(‘that#

Scottish#cringe’),#but#she#believed#that#‘there’s#a#lot#of#people#who#have#wanted#to#do#

traditional#music#who#now#feel#liberated#to#do#that’.30#As#a#result,#she#thought#that#the#surge#in#

interest#among#the#current#youngest#generation#would#eventually#permeate#throughout:#‘I#

think#traditional#music#has#kind#of#gone#with#an#older#and#older#generation,#very#few#young,#

and#there’s#very#little#in#between#like#that,#so#I#think,#hopefully#we’re#going#to#fill#in#that#gap’.31#

But#progress#in#age#ranges,#qualifications#and#organisational#structure#would#count#for#

nothing#without#the#true#spirit#of#the#subject#being#an#overriding#factor.#I#think#this#is#embodied#

in#Jo#Miller’s#description#of#her#own#philosophy:#‘I#take#community#singing#groups#and#we#could#

be#singing#anything#from#spirituals#to#Jeannie#Robertson#to#modern#songs#to#whatever.#So#I#

don’t#really#divide#up#repertoire,#I’m#much#more#interested#in#what#brings#people#to#make#

music’.32#Miller#has#an#interest#in#Musical#Futures#Scotland,#which#seems#to#be#promoting#a#

similar#philosophy#based#on#its#own#original#research#project,#described#as#follows#by#Miller:##

They#started#asking#music#teachers#to#go#into#schools#and#be#nonCdirective,#to#work#with#

58#

friendship#groups#of#kids,#allow#them#to#learn#whatever#popular#music#they#wanted#to,#whether#or#not#they#could#play#an#instrument.#They#basically#worked#with#some#of#the#ways#in#which#folk#would#learn#informally#outside#of#the#school#anyway#so#that#you#learn#by#listening#to#recordings.#You’d#play#with#who#you#wanted#to#play#with,#whether#or#not#they#were#any#good.33#

Both#Sharon#Hassan#and#Paul#Anderson#got#to#the#root#of#the#importance#of#children#playing,#

and#of#the#experience#of#participating#in#music.#Hassan#says:##

So#I#teach#lots#of#groups#with#loads#of#different#kids#from#different#backgrounds#in#it.#Like#some#of#them#are#just#classical#and#just#getting#into#traditional#and#some#of#them#are#just#trad#and#they#actually#don’t#like#classical#or#never#heard#classical#before.#But#when#they#come#to#the#group#it#doesn’t#really#matter.#As#long#as#they#all#want#to#be#there#and#they’re#all#getting#an#understanding#of#it,#it’s#all#about#passing#it#on.34#

Paul#Anderson#says:#

Not#everybody#can#be#a#classical#musician,#not#everybody#wants#to#be,#but#the#notion#that#that’s#all#you#are#allowed#to#play,#for#God’s#sake,#you#don’t#care#what#they#play,#if#there’s#something#that’s#going#to#keep#them#playing#that#should#be#the#priority,#the#enjoyment#for#the#rest#of#their#life#of#the#music.35 #

Summary)

My#research#offers#a#snapshot#of#the#status#of#traditional#music#education#in#Scotland#at#a#

particular#moment#in#time.#The#issues#are#very#much#of#the#moment,#not#only#with#the#

upcoming#expiration#of#the#first#syllabus#for#traditional#music#exams,#but#also#within#the#context#

of#the#Scottish#independence#referendum,#both#in#2014.#The#public#discussions#leading#up#to#

the#referendum#vote#will#surely#heighten#the#sense#of#what#it#means#to#be#Scottish.#The#revision#

of#the#syllabus#will#again#raise#questions#about#the#appropriateness#of#standardized#approaches#

in#teaching—and#evaluating#students’#performance—in#a#traditional#art#for#which#individual#

expression#is#a#core#value.#A#future#assessment#of#the#state#of#traditional#music#education#

would#have#to#include#the#impact#of#the#results#of#the#referendum#and#the#revision#of#the#

traditional#exam#syllabus,#as#well#as#other#new#and#emerging#developments.##

59#

My#pool#of#interviewees#was#small#but#the#questions#explored#all#had#resonance#for#

those#I#interviewed;#nonetheless,#each#area#could#be#investigated#further.##Contributors#have#

mentioned#the#need#for#a#central#database#for#resources#and#information#on#the#teaching#and#

training#for#traditional#music.#With#the#current#deficit#in#teacher#training,#teachers#have#to#go#

out#on#their#own#to#seek#traditional#music#materials#and#instruction.#How#might#these#problems#

be#remedied#in#the#near#future?#One#possibility,#along#with#a#central#database,#is#a#

recommended#sequence#of#training#workshops#and#access#to#online#tutorials.#Organisations#

such#as#the#Traditional#Music#Forum,#57°#North#and#Creative#Scotland’s#Youth#Music#Initiative#

have#begun#to#create#online#forums#to#discuss#teaching#materials#and#to#collect#resources#for#

teachers.#Another#possibility#is#to#increase#collaboration#among#educators,#across#institutions#

and#also#engaging#with#traditional#musicians#and#organisations#in#the#community.#When#looking#

at#resources,#teaching#training#and#the#traditional#exams,#more#needs#to#be#done#within#

resources#and#training#to#identify#the#regional#characteristics#and#styles,#as#there#is#not#just#one#

Scottish#tradition.#An#important#question#that#should#be#addressed#is#whether#there#should#be#

a#curriculum#model#for#teaching#of#traditional#music,#if#so,#what#would#it#look#like#and#would#it#

be#useful#for#teachers#that#feel#inexperienced#or#lack#confidence.##

A#future#study#should#look#at#how#students#view#traditional#music#in#the#schools.#Could#

there#be#ways#to#track#student#engagement#in#traditional#music#in#the#schools#as#well#as#in#the#

community?#It#appears#that#it#is#important#to#my#contributors#that#not#only#students#are#

engaged#in#music#making#and#have#a#sense#of#local#identity#and#ownership#through#music#but#

that#they#also#have#opportunities#to#cultivate#creativity#that#encourage#students#to#create#new#

music#in#a#traditional#vein.##

60#

To#get#a#better#sense#of#the#bigger#picture#of#the#status#of#traditional#music#in#Scotland,#

there#would#need#to#be#wider#ranging#surveys#on#use#of#resources,#training,#exams#and#

acceptance#of#traditional#music#in#schools,#extending#the#sample#beyond#the#NorthCEast#regions#

and#from#primary#and#secondary#schools#to#specialised#schools#and#universities.##

# 1#Francis,#Traditional%Music%in%Scotland:%Education,%Information%and%Advocacy,#p.#21.#2#Ibid.#3#EI#2013.031#20:27.#4#EI#2013.023#5:40.#5#EI#2013.027#14:51.#6#EI#2013.029#3:55.#7#EI#2013.027#15:20.#8#EI#2013.027#18:01.#9#EI#2013.027#17:35.#10#EI#2013.030#27:15.#11#EI#2013.030#28:40.#12#EI#2013.022#8:32.#13#EI#2013.025#14:55.#14#EI#2013.025#26:05.#15#Miller,#‘The#Learning#and#Teaching#of#Traditional#Music’,#p.#295.#16#Ibid.#17#Flanagan,#‘Scottish#Traditional#Music#and#the#Primary#Classroom,’#

http://issuu.com/tradmusicforum/docs/traditional_music_forum_of_scotland_report_25.#18#EI#2013.029#26:15.#19#EI#2013.024.#20#EI#2013.028#32:40.#21#EI#2013.028#51:55.#22#EI#2013.024.#23#EI#2013.028#35:59.#24#EI#2013.028#40:30.#

61#

25#EI#2013.024.#26#EI#2013.028#55:37.#27#EI#2013.024.#28#EI#2013.029#23:39.#29#EI#2013.029#26:31.#30#EI#2013.025#14:05.#31#EI#2013.025#26:48.#32#EI#2013.028#43:20.#33#EI#2013.028#45:10.#34#EI#2013.033#2:15.#35#EI#2013.032#5:25.

! 61!

Appendix(1(

Excerpts(of(Fieldwork(Interview(Transcriptions(

Date:!Thursday!21st!February!2013,!5.00PM!Location:!Buchan!Library,!Elphinstone!Institute,!University!of!Aberdeen.!Present:!Christine!Kydd,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.022!!

NB![7:49]!How!do!you!think!students!respond!to!traditional!music!as!opposed!to!other!genres?!

CK!In!schools,!I!do!song!writing!in!schools!based!on!traditional!tunes,!I!would!say!they!respond!

very!very!well!to!it.!I!think!you!have!to!make!sure!that!your!starting!point!with!children,!in!

primary!school!for!example,!you!have!to!make!a!connection!with!them!and!what!it’s!about.!So!I!

think!it’s!not!that!the!material!isn’t!strong!enough!to!speak!for!itself!but!I!think!there!are!ways!

that!you!can!approach!it!where!children!will!really!hook!into!it,!and!a!lot!of!that!is!about!

ownership.!Going!in!and!working,!I!guess!that!the!idea!of!looking!at!song!writing,!is!you’re!

making!up!their!own!songs!about!their!own!place!based!on!traditional!tunes.!So!that!gives!them!

a!sense!of!ownership.!And!the!other!thing!that!I!do!at!the!moment!is!that!I!kind!of!unpack!a!

website!for!children!as!well!and!as!part!of!the!CPD!for!teachers.!So!I!think!that!everybody!

responds!very!well.!And!I!think,!my!kind!of!analysis!of!that!if!you!like,!is!just!that,!people!really!

do!want!to!know!about!Scottish!culture!and!traditional!music!but!they!don’t,!because!it’s!

slightly!under!the!radar,!some!of!it’s!under!the!radar!I!think,!it’s!just!a!little!bit!more!difficult!for!

them!to!access.!But!that!is!becoming!more,!it’s!becoming!easier!and!easier!for!people!to!access!

the!information,!partly!due!to!the!internet.!!

NB![9:51]!Where!do!you!see!it!going!from!here,!you!say!it’s!a!bit!under!the!radar,!it’s!growing!a!

bit,!as!far!as!what!you!see!going!on!in!the!schools,!what!is!your!overall!opinion?!

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CK!What!I!see!is!that!there!are,!there’s!quite!a!large!number!of!very!very!skilled!freelancers!who!

can!work!in!schools!and!that!resources!is!there,!it’s!ready,!it!works,!it!happens.!However,!it!

doesn’t!happen!to!the!extent!that!it!should.!And!I!think,!the!basic!part!of!like,!training,!in!

college!for!teachers,!they!don’t!know!an!awful!lot!about!Scottish!music,!and!actually!they’re!

desperate!to!know.!So!from!that!point!of!view,!we’ve!got!all!the!tools!that!we!need,!we’ve!got!

all!the!people!who!can!pass!on,!mentor!and!train,!we!just!need!it!to!be!integrated!into!the!

education,!well!not!integrated!into,!but!plugged!into!is!a!better!way!of!saying,!cause!I’m!not!

sure,!yeah,!when!freelancers!come!in!they!have!a!different,!it’s!a!different!thing!from!having!a!

teacher!teach!it.!But!anyway,!you!know,!there’s!never!going!to!be!too!much.!So!I!think!that!it’s!

all!very!positive!in!terms!of!the!people!that!we!have!on!the!ground,!the!actually!people,!

resources,!I!have!lots!of!great!colleagues,!so!it!can!all!happen.!The!area!in!which!is!it!more!

problematic!is!how!to!engage!with!youngsters!in!secondary!school,!because!they!are!

interested,!but!there’s!still,!we!still!haven’t!quite!cracked!how!to!actually!get!into!their!

curriculum,!not!necessarily!the!curriculum,!I!guess,!but!how!to!get!into!their!timetable!in!a!way!

that!we!can!work!effectively.!And!also!how!to!link!traditional!music!with!their!core!subjects.!

Now!you!would!think!that!would!be!music,!my!feeling!is!that!other,!you!either!have!somebody!

that!is!already!interested,!or!that!you!look!at!how!it!links!in!with!other!disciplines.!

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Date:!Thursday!27!February!2013,!6.00PM!Location:!Filling!Station!Restaurant,!Union!St.!Aberdeen.!Present:!Susan!Simpson,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.023!!

SS![3:37]!When!did!I!start!and!why!did!I!start!teaching?!Well!obviously!because!I’d!been!playing!

for!lots!of!groups!and!really!enjoyed!music!so!much,!that!was!my!main!thing!in!life!and!schools,!

to!play!is!an!many!groups,!played!in!recorder!group,!the!choir,!string!orchestra,!string!quartet!

and!that.!!!

My!current!teaching!situation,!well!I’m!teaching!Cults!Academy!and!the!feeder!primaries!for!

that,!there’s!about!7!or!8!schools!for!that,!I!also!do!Broxburn!Academy!and!primaries!as!well.!I!

teach!from!primary!3!upwards,!right!through!to!the!secondary!school,!presenting!them!for!

associated!board!exams!and!they!also!do!SQA!exams!which!at!present!is!standard!grade!or!

intermediate!2!and!higher!grade!exams.!That’s!about!to!change!to!something!else,!the!national!

fours!and!fives!this!next!year!I!think!it!is.!For!that!they!just!have!to!play!a!program!of!music!and!

it!can!be!different!styles.!This!is!where!you!can!actually!do!maybe!a!classical!piece!and!then!go!

in!do!a!march,!strathspey!and!reel!if!you!wanted.!Or!you!can!purely!do!a!Scottish!one.!So,!it’s!

become!more!acceptable.!Actually,!getting!back!to!school!days,!most!of!our!music!was!classical!

in!schools!because!they!actually!promoted!it,!they!weren’t!allowed!to!teach,!in!some!areas,!

they!weren’t!allowed!to!teach!Scottish!music.!And!Scottish!music!was!just!done!in!strathspey!

and!reels.!But!gradually!I’ve!seen!it!come!in!right!into!schools!now!and!it’s!very!much!up!to!the!

teacher!do!whatever!they!want!to!do,!if!they!want!to!do!classical!or!specialise!in!Scottish!or!do!

a!mixture.!!

NB![5:48]!Do!you!encourage!kind!of!mixing!it!up!in!the!lessons?!!

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SS!I!do!yes.!As!soon!as!they,!you!know!get!started,!maybe!a!first!book!and!perhaps!played!a!

couple!tunes!in!the!book!that!are!Scottish!if!they!like!playing!it,!then!you!know,!I’ll!give!them!

something!else!to!play.!Obviously!at!different!point!of!the!year,!like!Burns!time!and!St.!

Andrew’s!Day!as!well,!quite!often!classroom!teachers!are!saying,!you!know,!have!you!got!

anything!for!the!children!to!play,!so!they!get!some!music!out!for!that.!But!I!find!it!something!

they!really!enjoy!playing!and!I’ve!started!it!in!my!secondary!school,!I’ve!got!a!fiddle!group!and!

they!rehearse!every!Friday!lunchtime!but!we!do!concerts!out!and!about!as!well!as!the!school!

concerts.!I!have!to!say!it’s!been!a!great!success!in!the!schools!concerts,!they!really!like!that!toec

tapping!stuff!as!well.!!

NB![6:49]!In!the!primary!schools,!are!they!individual!lessons!or!group!lessons?!

SS!Mostly!group!lessons!to!start!with,!start!with!4!in!a!group,!sometimes!you!have!to!take!a!few!

more,!by!the!second!year!you!might!be!down!to!3!or!2.!Or!you!could!split!them!up!or!

sometimes!some!of!them!will!stop,!and!then!by!the!end!of!primary!sometimes!some!of!the!

primary!7s!are!individual!lessons.!And!then!going!to!secondary!school!and!the!majority,!apart!

from!one!group,!the!majority!are!individual!lessons.!!

NB![7:25]!Do!you!find!the!oneconcone!more!beneficial?!

SS!Yes,!definitely.!But!I!have!quite!got!used!to!now,!it’s!more!fun!I!think!for!the!children!and!

they!like!it!as!well.!And!if!you!kind!of!make!fiddle!games!up!for!them!then!it!truly!makes!it!fun.!

It’s!difficult!nowadays!getting!them!to!practice.!I’m!sure!it!is!all!over!![laughs]!

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Date:!Thursday,!February!28,!2013!Location:!Email!correspondence!!Present:!AnnacWendy!Stevenson,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.024!!

NB!What!is!your!overall!experience!with!traditional!music!education!and!where!do!you!see!it!

going!from!here?!

AWS!Living!in!Scotland,!it!is!wonderful!to!have!witnessed!traditional!music!becoming!so!

accessible;!particularly!for!young!people!–!though!the!proliferation!of!festivals!and!teaching!

festivals!which!are!open!to!adults!provide!numerous!options.!My!experience!of!traditional!

music!education!has!involved!working!for!a!variety!of!organisations!across!Scotland!which!are!

often!run!by!dedicated!volunteers!who!are!committed!to!quality!teaching!and!learning.!!Feis!

Rois,!Lochgoilhead!Fiddleworkshop,!Feis!Dun!Eideann,!Glasgow!Fiddle!Workshop,!Ceolas,!Feis!

Rois!adult!Feis.!!Many!of!these!organisations!run!weekly!classes!as!well!as!intensive!Feis!style!

weeks,!where!there!is!opportunity!and!encouragement!for!tutors!to!collaborate!for!additional!

performance!activities/!collaborations.!!As!a!tutor!in!traditional!music!classes,!you!are!generaly!

expected!to!teach!aurally,!providing!sheet!music!at!the!end!of!the!class.!I!have!never!

experienced!any!conflicting!expectations!in!terms!of!delivery!as!this!kind!if!format!is!pretty!

simple!to!understand.!Organisations!have!a!large!pool!of!skilled!traditional!musicians!to!choose!

from.!There!is!a!spectrum!of!financial!remuneration!between!organisations,!and!organisations!

running!workshops!increasingly!need!to!find!ways!to!attract!and!retain!attendees.!!I!am!aware!

from!professionals!in!the!field!who!rely!on!a!combination!of!free!lance!teaching!and!

performance!that!the!former!pays!better,!though!fees!are!not!necessarily!rising!with!the!cost!of!

living.!!Performance!fees!do!not!seem!to!be!rising,!if!anything,!decreasing!and!both!

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performance!and!teaching!routes!are!increasingly!more!competitive!and!under!threat!from!

budget!cuts!from!local!councils,!arts!bodies!etc.!!This!maybe!why!there!are!an!increasing!

amount!of!professional!traditional!players!developing!their!own!enterprises!to!offer!teaching!

weeks!to!their!own!networks!of!learners.!!In!addition!it!may!be!the!case!that!youth!projects!

have!been!more!able!to!access!funding!and!that!there!is!a!thirst!in!the!adult!learning!market.!

!The!UK!demographics!indicate!that!there!will!be!a!demand!to!provide!new!musical!

engagement!avenues!in!the!next!10!years.!!The!increase!in!musicians!studying!music!at!degree!

level,!developing!high!level!professional!skills!to!create!portfolio!careers!in!music!including!

performance,!teaching,!recording!networking!coupled!with!the!accessibility!of!social!

networking!platforms!makes!the!courses!designed!and!run!by!musical!professional!

entrepreneurs!an!attractive!and!growing!area.!In!terms!of!the!delivery!of!music!provision!to!

publicly!funded!and!public!sector!organisations,!the!need!for!quality!assurance!and!solid!policy!

drives!the!requirement!for!appropriate!accredited!qualification.!

A!new!CPD!module!'Music!in!Educational!and!Community!Contexts'!offered!through!the!

University!of!the!Highlands!and!Islands!has!been!developed!in!response!to!the!demand!for!

trained!practitioners!who!are!able!to!reflect!on!their!teaching!practices!and!contextualise!their!

delivery.!

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Date:!Monday,!March!4,!2013,!5:45pm!Location:!Music!room,!Fofar!Academy,!Forfar,!Angus!Present:!Katherine!Liley,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.025!!

NB![7:55]!Could!you!tell!the!difference,!do!you!think!there!is!a!noticeable!difference!between!a!

student!that’s!learning!something!by!ear!as!opposed!to!a!student!that!is!just!learning!by!

notation?!As!far!as!how!they!react!to!music?!

KL!Oh!absolutely,!their!ears!work!better!I!think.!Their!ears!get!more!exercise!that!way.!It’s!all!

about!listening.!

NB!Do!you!think!they!play!differently?!

KL!I!think!so,!they!listen!all!the!time,!they!listen!while!they!play,!they!listen!in!every!way,!their!

tuning!is!better,!their!phrasing!is!better,!they!understand!the!tune!they’re!playing.!It’s!not!just!

tick!the!box,!play!a!few!notes!on!the!page,!job!done,!shut!the!book.!It’s!something!that’s,!you!

can!tell!the!difference!between!kids!who!are!new!to!this!group!and!kids!who’ve!been!here!for!a!

while!and!you!can!see!a!change!in!them!and!they!start!to!understand,!not!just!the!music!we!do,!

but!all!the!music!they!do,!they!just!have!a!different!approach!to!it,!they!feel!the!phrasing!more,!

they’re!more!curious!about!it!I!think!as!well.!Yeah,!I!think!it!just!kind!of!stirs!up!a!bit!more!music!

in!you!really.!!

NB!Do!you!think!that!has!something!to!do!with!traditional!music,!or!just!the!learning!by!ear!a!

the!tune?!Do!you!know!what!I!mean?!!

KL!Yeah,!well!I!think!the!style!of!music!lends!itself!to!learning!by!ear!and!learning!by!ear!is!good!

for!you!as!a!musician.!But!it!would!be!very!hard!for!example!to!learn!a!Handel!Sonata!by!ear,!

like!I!don’t!know!very!many!people!who’d!know!one!well!enough!to!teach!it!by!ear!!And!it!just,!

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cause!the!traditional!tunes!come!in!bite!sized!chunks.!And!they’ve!evolved!to!be!learned!that!

way!and!to!be!remembered!that!way!and!it!just!goes!together!that!way.!But!I!think!you’ve!

learned!tunes!that!way!and!you’ve!learned!to!listen!then!everything!else!you!play,!in!my!

opinion,!going!to!be!more!musical.!I!think!it!is.!

NB![9:55]!How!do!you!think!they!respond!to!traditional!music!in!contrast!to!classical,!I!mean!

you’ll!have!the!students!that!connect!to!classical!more.!

KL!Yeah!well!I!think,!to!be!honest,!I!think!they!kind!of!catch!the!bug!from!me.!And!a!lot!of!them!

kind!of!are!interested!in!what!I’m!interested!in.!And!I’ll!do!classical!music!with!them,!but,!and!

some!of!it!is!really!like!the!wee!tunes!I!really!like,!it’s!great,!let’s!do!this,!but!they!just!want!to!

come!back!to!the!traditional!music.!!

NB!They!can!tell!you!are!more!passionate!about!traditional!so!they!are!more!excited!about!it.!

KL!I!think!they!catch!the!bug!from!me!more!as!well,!I!do.!I!think!also,!for!the!same!reason!I!like!

it,!they!like.!I!think!because!it’s!like!a!language!I!speak,!they!learn!that!language!and!it!makes!

more!sense!to!them!than!if!they!just!got!out!a!book!and!I!think!that!because!they!understand!it!

they!feel!like!it’s!theirs!and!they’ve!got!a!license!to!do!what!they!want!with!it.!Rather!than!

doing!what!you’re!supposed!to!do!from!a!book,!you’re!not!trying!to!decipher!what!someone!

else!wants!you!to!do,!you’ve!got,!this!is!mine,!here’s!what!I!want!to!do!with!it.!And!I!can!kind!of!

guide!them!into!that.!I!just!think!that!it’s!more!personal,!I!think!they,!most!of!my!kids!tend!to!

kind!of!veer!towards!that.!

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Date:!Wednesday,!March!6,!2013,!1:15pm!Location:!Music!practice!room,!MacRobert!Building,!University!of!Aberdeen!Present:!Hannah!Graham,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.026!!

NB![14:44]!Well!now!you!are!a!teacher,!when!did!you!start!teaching?!

HG!I!think!it!was!maybe!in!third!year!at!Uni.!

NB!And!what’s!your!current!teaching!situation?!

HG!I!teach!a!SCAT!class,!I!teach!as!a!tutor!at!the!International!School!and!I!teach!one!piano!

pupil,!three!private!violin!pupils!at!their!house.!!

NB!So!you!do!classical!and!fiddle?!

HG!Yeah,!mostly!classical,!but!I!have!a!few,!one!American!pupil!who’s!mom!ask!me!to!teach!him!

fiddle!while!he’s!here,!I!have!one!sort!of!less!advanced!pupil!who!at!the!time!took!her!on!was!

sort!of!not!sure!if!she!wanted!to!continue,!she!had!a!terrible!experience!with!her!last!teacher!

and!so!I!picked!some!fiddle!tunes!to!sort!of!you!know,!sometimes!you!can!sort!of!get!them!up!

to!a!standard!you’re!more!happy!with!quicker,!not!that!they’re!easier,!but!and!it’s!sort!of!nicer!

to!play!and!a!few!sort!of!poppy!things!and!that!just!to!sort!of!get!her!interested!in!it!again.!

NB!So,!do!you!have!different!approaches!for!fiddle!and!classical!lessons?!

HG!I!think,!it!is!good!to!keep!them!separate!just!because!I!had!a!while!when!I!was!at!school!that!

I!was!putting!fiddle!ornamentation!into!violin!and!I!could!not!even!hear!that!I!was!doing!it.!I!

could!not!even!tell!I!was!doing!it,!and!but!I!don’t!agree!with!people!who!say!you!can’t!do!both.!

But!I!do!think!it’s!very!different!rhythmically!mainly,!like!if!you’ve!got!a!jig!in!front!of!you!and!

you!play!straight!notes,!it!needs!to!have!dotted,!sort!of!more!bouncy!rhythmic!thing!which!you!

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couldn’t,!if!you!were!playing!triplets!in!like!Meditation!you!wouldn’t!put!a!bounce!in!them!that!

would!be!very!wrong!![laughs]!

NB![17:14]!Do!you!think!there!is!more!choice,!there’s!a!little!more!individuality!to!fiddle?!

HG!There’s!a!much!more!sort!of,!some!people!all!play!some!things!one!way!and!some!play!it!

this!other,!classical!musicians!still!do!get!criticised,!I!remember!reading!Lang!Lang,!his!biography!

and!he!was!criticised!for!playing!it!like!a!robot!like!playing!it!perfectly!putting!no!emotion!into!it!

sort!of!thing,!but!I!think!it’s!more!free!with!a!folk!tune.!You!know!you!wouldn’t!change!the!key!

of!a!Mozart!concerto!because!you!felt!like!it!or!you!wouldn’t!take!out!bits!put!a!bridge!passage!

you!know,!it’s!almost!like!you!are!almost!a!composer!and!a!player!when!you’re!doing!this,!I!

think!that’s!one!reason!so!many!fiddle!players!are!composers.!But!I!think!you’ve!got!to!have!a!

more!musical!brain!to!do!that,!you’ve!got!to!know!I!could!put!this!in!here,!I!can!change!this,!

sometimes!when!Josh!and!I!are!doing!things!together!like,!it’s!all!the!sets!that!we!do!and!we!

need!to!think!of!the!next!thing!to!put!it!with,!you!know!I!say,!oh!you!play!this!bit!or!I’ll!play!this!

rhythm!or!you!know,!you!need!to!sort!of!be!on!the!ball,!you!can’t!just!learn!something!and!sort!

of!regurgitate!it!and!ceilidhs!and!things!you’ve!got!to!take!your!audience!into!account,!we!have!

sets!that!change!depending!on!who!it!is,!change!in!advance!or!on!the!night!depending!on!the!

particular!feel,!we!take!things!out!so!then!you’ve!got!sort!of!new!juxtapositions!of!tunes.!You’ve!

got!to!sort!of!be!able!to!think!on!your!feet!I!think,!it’s!got!to!be!quite!natural!thing!for!you!to!be!

able!to!do.!!

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Date:!Friday,!March!8,!2013,!6:45pm!Location:!Peckham’s,!Union!Square,!Aberdeen!Present:!Nicola!Auchnie!Tierney,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.027!!

NB![7:44]!So!what!is!your!current!teaching!situation?!

NT!Well!I!started!as!a!secondary!teacher,!I!enjoyed!it,!I!did!a!year!and!then!I!got!a!job!teaching!

fiddle!in!the!council.!So,!that’s!a!good,!it’s!really!nice.!

NB!So!are!you!a!lot!of!schools?!

NT!Actually!I’m!at!Inverurie!Academy!and!surrounding!primary!schools,!so!I!do!eleven!schools,!

116!kids!a!week,!don’t!quite!love!the!group!teaching!so!much!as,!not!great!quality.!

NB!Do!you!find!that!it’s!harder!than!one!on!one?!

NT!Yeah!you!can’t!cater!to!everyone!in!a!group.!You!know!we!you’ve!got!someone!that!works!

really!hard!and!is!really!talented!and!are!way!up!there!and!then!you’ve!got!another!person!in!

the!group!that!doesn’t!work!at!all,!isn’t!quite!so!musical,!they’re!really!struggling!behind,!it’s!

difficult,!it’s!about!trying!to!encourage!them!all!the!best!you!can,!find!things!that!suit!them!and!

that!kind!of!thing.!It’s!nice,!I!like!it.!And!my!schools!are!quite!encouraging!of!doing!traditional!

music.!I’ve!got!a!school!that!insists!that!once!a!year!they!go!and!play!at!the!old!folks!home!and!

it’s!has!to!be!Scottish!music!they!play!and!I’ve!got!a!couple!school!fiddle!bands!at!Inverurie,!I!

have!a!junior!and!a!senior,!senior!go!out,!they!do!ceilidhs,!concerts,!things!like!that,!background!

music!jobs,!that!kind!of!thing.!They!seem!to!like!that,!so.!

NB!So!you!do!both!classical!and!fiddle!at!the!primaries?!

NT!Yeah.!So,!like!I!say,!it!tends!to!depend!on!the!music,!I!use!these!books,!I!don’t!know!if!you’ve!

come!across!them,!Fiddle!Time!Joggers!and!Fiddle!Time!Runners,!they’re!Kathy!and!David!

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Blackwell!books!and!they’re!not!so!much!like!fiddle!music!they’re!like!proper!music,!things!that!

build!up!gradually!and!they’ve!got!really!cool!jazzy!backing!tracks!so!it!gets!them!going.!Once!

you!get!them!to!play!it,!it’s!like,!right!let’s!try!it!with!a!backing!track,!and!they’re!like!ah!that’s!

really!cool!!So!and!then!just!like!fiddle!stuff,!kind!of!mix!them!in,!Burns!time!drag!out!some!

fiddle!tunes,!anytime!they’ve!got!a!concert!coming!up,!drag!in!some!fiddle!tunes,!that!kind!of!

thing,!so!yeah.!And!then!when!they!get!older!a!lot!of!them!tend!to!go,!that’s!all!I!want!to!do!

and!you!just!have!to!kind!of!go!with!their!choice,!okay,!alright,!if!that’s!what!you!want!to!do!

let’s!do!that!and!try!to!challenge!them!to!do,!you!know,!Scott!Skinner![laughs],!give!them!a!bit!

of!them,!give!them!a!bit!of!a!challenge!so.!

NB![10:25]!When!do!they!start,!primary!three?!

NT!Three!or!four,!depends!on!the!school!for!me.!!

NB!Is!it!kind!of!a!big!group!and!they!gradually!get!to!smaller!groups?!

NT!This!is!a!bit!of!a!sore!point!at!the!moment.!We’ve!had!a!lot!of!funding!from!the!Youth!Music!

Initiative!and!that’s!music!for!all,!music!for!everyone,!in!my!schools,!I!tend!to!get,!one!of!my!

schools!in!particular!a!big!primary!school,!you!know!you’ve!printed!a!letter!to!primary!fours!and!

say,!who!wants!violin?!And!you!get!twenty!back.!So,!the!old!way!would!have!been,!right!here’s!

a!listening!test,!here’s!a!couple!of!oral!tests,!let’s!pick!a!few!and!give!them!a!chance,!which,!fair!

enough,!we!usually!end!up!with!the!top!of!the!class!getting!picked.!Music!for!all!last!year!was,!

take!the!first!come!first!served,!so!it’s!quite!difficult!at!times.!And!this!year!it!was!everyone!

needs!a!chance!so!it!was!twelve!week!blocks!of!fiddle!without!any!continuation,!I!was!like,!not!

for!me,!so!I!did!twelve!week!blocks!of!everyone!and!then!whittled!it!down,!which!was!quite!

heartcbreaking.!In!hindsight!I!wish!I!hadn’t!done!it!that!way,!but!I!have!ended!up!with!really!

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good!pupils,!we’re!in!groups!of!four,!five,!six,!and!just!depended!how!many!were!in!a!group!to!

start!with!and!how!many!instruments!I’ve!got!spare!and!that!kind!of!thing.!I!don’t!really!enjoy!

the!group!teaching!as!much,!as!I’ve!said,!but!once!they!get!older,!you!know,!you!find!a!certain!

age!that,!there’s!a!certain!age!for!boys!where!they’re!like,!oh!no!this!is!isn’t!cool,!and!then!

there’s!a!certain!age!where!girls!are!like,!I!can’t!be!bothered!with!this,!kind!of!thing,!so!you!kind!

a!leave!a!few!and!end!up!with!the!keen!ones!and!you’ve!got!them!on!their!own.!So!that’s!the!

way!it!works,!and!if!there’s!someone!particularly!talented,!you!know,!I’ll!say!to!their!parents,!do!

you!mind!if!I!take!them!out!of!that!group,!if!I’ve!got!time,!give!them!a!lesson!on!their!own!and!it!

just!costs!them!a!few!pounds!more.!So!I!try!and!do!that!with!the!really!talented!kids,!yeah,!the!

dedicated!ones,!quite!hard!to!come!by![laughs].!!

NB![12:49]!So!the!Youth!Music!Initiative!thing,!how!long!has!that!music!for!all,!everyone!come!

in,!been!going!on?!

NT!Probably!the!last!couple!years!really,!but!it’s!just!you!know,!I!suppose!it’s!like!anywhere,!

they’re!trying!to!get!people!to!do!more!and!more!to!get!the!funding!from!them,!and!trying!to!

provide!more!and!more!for!them!money,!I!think!our!services!are!trying!to!cut!back!a!little!bit!on!

how!much!they!take!in!from!youth!music!and!how!much!we!get!through!the!council!alone,!so,!I!

don’t!really!know!what’s!going!to!happen!next!year,!everyone’s!in!the!same!boat!there,!so!I!

don’t!know.!We’ll!wait!and!see.!But!also,!where!I!am!and!in!a!few!other!areas,!so!I’m!in!

Inverurie,!and!there’s!the!Garioch!Fiddlers!as!I’ve!mentioned!before,!so!when!I!got!the!job!I’m!

doing!now!the!conductor!who’d!be!doing!it!for!the!last!twenty!years!or!something,!she!was!

retiring,!so!she!said!to!me!that!no!that!you’re!in!the!schools!can!you!come!and!conduct!and!you!

can!bring!all!your!pupils!in.!So!I’m!doing!that!now,!so!that’s!good!to!get!them!into!traditional!

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music,!it’s!just,!you!know,!come!along!on!a!Monday!night,!really!kind!of!easy!going,!one!concert!

a!year,!just!come!and!play!some!tunes!kind!of!thing,!make!some!new!friends,!that!kind!of!idea.!

There’s!one!like!that!in!Banchory!as!well,!and!Aberdeen!has!two,!and!Ellon,!so!there’s!quite!a!

few!fiddle!orchestras!around!about!that!have!a!junior!section!which!is!quite!nice.!For!me!that’s!

like!a!highlight,!is!getting!little!kids!along!and!see!them!playing!away,!it’s!brilliant,!that’s!what!

it’s!all!about.!!

NB![14:33]!Have!you!seen!any!resistance!at!all!to!bringing!in!traditional!music!into!lessons.!

NT!Personally!or!from!other!people?!

NB!Just!like!from!other!music!teachers!!

NT!I!think!there!probably!is!a!few!people,!other!teachers!in!my!service!who!would!look!at!it!

with!a!bit!of,!hmmm,!oh!it’s!just!Scottish!fiddle!music,!you!know.!I!think!they!see!it!as!being!too!

easy!in!some!respects,!you!know!cause!most!of!the!tunes!are!first!position!kind!of!work,!you!

know!they!don’t!see!the!agility!side!of!things,!playing!a!Scottish!reel!fast!with!fluid!being!is!not!

that!easy!really,!when!you!get!them!doing!it!from!kids,!you!know,!it!comes!naturally!but!

sometimes!when!you!see!a!classical!musician!trying!to!do!it!it’s!kind!of!quite!awkward!looking!

[laughs].!!

NB!Well!look!at!some!of!the!Scott!Skinner!music!

NT!Exactly,!a!lot!of!them!don’t!know!about!that.!The!other!things!is,!we’ve!got!a!Belgian!teacher!

in!Aberdeenshire,!who!at!one!of!our!insiders!days,!which!is!like!a!training!day,!said!I!don’t!know!

much!about!Scottish!traditional!music!but!a!lot!of!my!kids!want!to!do!it,!can!anyone!

recommend!any!material!he!could!use?!So!I!mean,!he!didn’t!really!particularly!know!about!it,!so!

that’s!more!where!he!was!coming!from,!but!he!said!that!and!he!asked,!I!think!he’d!be!like!the!

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best!teacher,!he’s!just!amazing,!amazing!violinist,!absolutely!fantastic,!he!taught!when!I!was!in!

school!and!going!to!the!local!orchestra!thing,!I’d!just!be!like,!oh!my!god!he’s!amazing!!But!you!

know,!he!turned!round!and!said!I!don’t!know!much!about!Scottish!traditional!music,!who!can!

help!me!out!here,!who!can!give!me!some!pieces!to!use.!

NB!I!think!that’s!part!of!it,!a!lot!of!the!teachers!are!violinists!and!or!classically!trained!so!they!

just!don’t!

NT!They!don’t!really!know!or!they!don’t!have!an!interest,!I!always!get!the!feeling!maybe!it’s!just!

because!like,!as!teachers,!that!I!always!get!the!feeling!that!I’m!kind!of!looked!down!on!slightly,!

with!all!my!like!Scottishy!fiddley!stuff,!they’re!like,!oh!yeah,!oh!that’s!her!that!does!that.!

[laughs]!I!mean!I!do!teach!them!properly!as!well,!a!bit!of!both![laughs].!And!you!see!like,!a!lot!of!

the!old!fiddlers!with!their!shoddy!technique!and!you!know!holding!their!bow!like!a!saw!

[laughs].!

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Date:!Wednesday!27!March!2013,!11AM!Location:!Coffee!café,!Stirling,!Scotland!Present:!Jo!Miller,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.038!!

NB!There!is!a!lot!about!that,!the!institutionalisation!of!traditional!music.!

JM!That’s!right.!Well!I!mean,!there’s!a!lot!of!similarities!with,!for!example,!what!Pam!Swing!says!

about!taking!Shetland!fiddling!into!schools,!that!it’s!an!invented!tradition.!So,!anyway,!the!other!

interesting!aspect!of!it!from!my!point!of!view!was!pulling!together!a!team!of!teachers.!And!that!

was!a!very!creative!thing!because!I!was!thinking,!well,!who!do!I!know!who’s!out!there!who’s!got!

a!lot!to!give,!who’s!got!the!time!and!people!weren’t!necessarily!coming!from!a!background!in!

formal!education!or!higher!education!at!all!because!of!the!nature!of!the!thing.!So!that!was!

extremely!interesting!and!you!know!we!had!a!great!team!of!people!and!I’m!sure!it’s!the!case!

now.!So!while!I!was!there,!I!did!that,!we!launched!that!in!1996!and!there!were!various!

developments!of!it,!it!became!an!honours!degree,!we!got!linked!up!with!the!piping!centre!

across!the!road!which!was!very!new!then.!And!they!very!very!very!much!wanted!a!piping,!a!

degree!with!piping!in!the!title.![28:11]!So!I!was!deputed!while!I!was!off!having!another!baby!to!

kind!of!redraft!all!that.!So!I!did.!So!there!were!three!things!that!followed!on!from!the!initial!

degree!course,!one!was!the!piping!degree,!another!was!the!honours!year,!and!another!was!the!

option!of!music!education!students!doing!more!Scottish!music!as!part!of!the!course.!So!I!was!

there!for!a!while!and!also!in!my!time!there!at!the!academy!got!the!powers!to!award!higher!

degrees!with!St.!Andrews!University,!so!they!now!have!two!or!three!PhDs!who!come!out!of!

there.!So!that!was!great!to!see!that!development!and!while!I!was!there!I!did!still!have!an!

interest!in!schools!and!another!thing!I!did!when!I!was!off!on!maternity!leave!was!I!got!

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commissioned!from!Learning!and!Teaching!Scotland!which!produces!resources!for!teachers,!to!

update,!to!produce!a!new!online!version!of!the!old!battered!green!folder,!I’m!trying!to!

remember!when!that!would!be,!it!must!have!been!about!2001,!something!like!that,!it’s!online,!

if!you!look!up!LTS,!the!music!of!Scotland!and,!there!are!background!notes,!there!are!concepts,!

you!see!in!the!music!curriculum!in!Scotland,!it!might!change,!but!it’s!still!the!case!that!people!

have!to!learn!a!wide!range!of!concepts!so,!say!they!have!to!recognise!an!arpeggio,!I!would!have!

to!look!at!a!reel!and!think!right,!where’s!the!arpeggio!in!there,!you!know,!so!it!was!a!bit!artificial!

in!a!way!but!that’s!what!they!wanted,!those!links!so!that!teachers!could!use!it,!now!there!have!

been!other!resources!produced!for!teachers!since,!Kath!will!tell!you!about!her!book!with!Ewan!

McVicar!and!so!on,!but!the!other!thing!I!was!trying!to!do,!and!what!I’d!felt!from!my!experience!

in!schools!was!there!wasn’t!enough!performance!of!the!music!and!where!it!did!mix!it!was!a!bit!

of!a![whispers?!30:10],!a!Scottish!waltz,!a!pentatonic!scale,!what!does!that!really!teach!you!

about!Scottish!traditional!music,!you!see,!so!I!did!do!some!arrangements!for!this!package!and!

you’ll!find!traditional!melodies!which!can!be!played!on!melody!instrument!but!there’s!also!

parts!for!drums,!bass,!you!know!I!did!some!quite!advanced!arrangements!so!that!people!could!

use!a!combination!of!instruments!and!I!don’t!know!how!widely!that’s!been!used,!one!of!the!

things!that!surprises!me!unless!there’s!something!I!don’t!know!about!hardly!any!research,!

possibly!none,!has!been!done!on!what’s!happened!with!Scottish!music!in!schools!since!1988!

[30:53].!Which!is!when!it!became!compulsory,!part!of!the!curriculum,!it!extraordinary.!But!then!

when!you!know!Scotland!it’s!not!surprising,!we!don’t!like!to!look!too!closely!sometimes.!

Sometimes!people!just!are!too!close!to!it.!When!you!consider!that!it!is!a!compulsory!part!of!the!

curriculum!and!has!been!for!what,!two!and!a!half!decades,!1988,!fifteen!years,!no,!twenty!five!

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years.!A!generation!and!what!do!we!actually!know?!I!mean!there’s!lots!of!anecdotal!reports!and!

those!of!us!who’ve!been!into!schools!and!done!bits.!One!of!the!interesting!things!now!is!that!

there’s!another!arts!council!report!that!I!was!on!the!steering!group!for!which!came!out!in!about!

2000!and!something,!2002,!3,!4,!which!took!another!look!at!traditional!music!provision!in!

Scotland,!Dave!Francis!wrote!it!up,!but!there!were!a!range!of!us!on!the!steering!group!of!that!

and!I!think!it!was!becoming!clear!then!and!there!was!another!report!which!came!out!about!

youth!music!in!Scotland!generally,!it!was!becoming!clear!that!quite!a!lot!of!musical!

opportunities!were!starting!to!be!delivered!outside!of!schools.!Or!that!schools!were!buying!in!

people!to!do!it.!For!example,!the!Feis!organisation!would!be!paid!by!a!local!authority!to!come!in!

and!deliver!traditional!music!which!is!great!in!a!way,!because!it!brings!performers!into!the!

classroom!but!I!think!it!still!doesn’t!address!the!challenge!for!teachers!who!are!there!every!

single!day![hits!hand!three!times!on!table!to!‘every!single!day’]!so!I!think!that’s!one!of!the!

things!I!was!say!has!characterised!that!last!twenty!or!so!is!that!partnership!and!we!have!it!here.!

And!also!the!Youth!Music!Initiative!released!funds!to!make!new!things!possible,!so!for!example,!

here!in!Stirling!one!of!my!children!goes!to!three!music!workshops!a!week!at!the!local!arts!

centre.!Monday!night!is!trad,!Tuesday!night!is!jazz,!Wednesday!is!pump!up!the!jam,!which!is!

rock!and!roll,!and!they!are!all!free,!all!funded!by!that!kind!of!money.!So!some!of!it,!it!came!from!

central!government!in!Scotland!initially,!but!now!local!authorities!have!taken!on!a!lot!of!that!

funding,!it’s!a!partnership.!!

NB![33:32]!is!free!tuition!typical?!I!haven’t!found!that.!!

JM!Think!it’s!up!to!local!authorities!to!make!their!own!arrangements!and!arts!workers!have!to!

lobby!for!keeping!this,!but!the!Scottish!government!has!I!believe,!a!commitment!to!keep!a!

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certain!amount!of!funding!going.!So!it’s!been!recognised!as!something!that!has!to!keep!going.!

But,!nobody!knows!how!far!to!look!ahead!with!these!things.!So!that’s!something!I!would!say!

you!know!has!definitely!changed,!you!know,!over!the!last!twenty!years,!but!again!it!doesn’t!

reach!everybody!and!it!depends!on!knowing!about!it,!being!able!to!get!there,!you!know,!it!

being!well!done.!So!it’s!the!same!old!things!with!music.!But,!the!other!thing,!the!other!big!thing!

that’s!interesting!I!think!is!the!grown!of!organisations!in!the!community![34:21].!I!mentioned!

the!Riverside!Music!Project!which!I!run,!but!that!would!go!back!to,!I!don’t!know,!the!very!first!

summer!schools!that!I’m!aware!of!were!1979!at!Stirling!University!here,!traditional!music!

summer!schools!which!started!as!fiddle!schools!with!Tom!Anderson!from!Shetland,!and!that’s!

when!he!and!Pam!produced!‘Haan!me!doon!da!fiddle’!because!there!started!to!be!a!call!for,!

you!know,!where!can!we!get!these!tunes,!and!you’ll!see!that!that!little!book!is!actually!

published!by!Stirling!University,!you!know!the!wee!yellow!one,!have!you!seen!it?![can!be!found!

http://www.malcolmrutter.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/hmddf.pdf].!And!then!they’d!have!Alastair!

Hardie!doing!the!NorthcEast!style!and!have!Angus!Grant!doing!the!West!Coast!style.!Now!it’s!

now!finished,!that!program,!but!for!many!years!it!ran!and!it!mushroomed!into,!you!know!you!

could!do!Scottish!country!dancing,!Scottish!history,!Gaelic!language,!whatever.!A!big!demand.!

NB!Why!do!you!think!it!was!right!then?!

JM!1979,!well!I!think!one!of!the!reasons,!from!the!50s!to!the!60s!and!spilling!over!you’ve!got!

the!modern!folk!song!revival!and!by!the!70s!it!was!starting!to!feature!instruments!much!more,!

so!you!had!the!rediscovery,!if!you!like,!of!the!small!pipes,!they!were!starting!to!be!built!again,!

played!again,!heard!and!seen.!Clarsach!getting!a!higher!profile,!a!broader!interest!in!the!skills!

and!styles!of!something!like!fiddle,!so,!even!something!like!Shetland!fiddling!would!be!seen!as!

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quite!exotic.!And!I!went!to!one!of!those!summer!schools!with!a!pupil!of!mine,!and!I!sent!her!off!

to!the!Shetland!class!and!I!sat!in!Angus!Grant’s!class,!still!have!got!the!recordings!of!those!

somewhere.!But!then!that!was!quickly!followed!by!all!sorts!of!other!things,![?]!so!there’s!

summer!schools!but!then!there’s!also,!1980,!what!was!it,!the!Feisean!nan!Gaidheal!started!up,!

must!about!1989,!1988,!something!like!that,!on!Barra.!So!you!got!the!sense!of!people!becoming!

aware!of,!well!two!things,!one!is!the!existence!of!these!traditions,!so!that!in!a!way!is!some!of!

the!success!of!the!School!of!the!Scottish!Studies!and!the!dissemination!of!recordings!plus!the!

performance!culture!with!Peter!Cooke!from!Ireland!and!the!States!and!whatever,!and!people!

like!Jean!Redpath!making!their!career!in!the!States!on!the!back!of!Scottish!music,!you!know,!it!

became!a!wee!bit!more!visible,!the!music!put!its!head!above!the!pack/path?![36:50],!plus!mass!

media,!recordings,!radio!and!that!kind!of!thing,!people!thinking!well,!you!know,!is!this!

something!we!care!about,!I!think!you’ve!got!the!Gaelic!language!issue!in!the!case!of!the!Feis!

and!the!case!of!traditional!music!generally,!so!it!was!seen!as!a!good!tool!for!promoting!Gaelic!

and!opening!it!up!to!more!than!just!Gaelic!speakers,!getting!a!lot!of!folk,!and!also!I!think!

pragmatically!people!were!looking!for!ways!of!looking!after!kids!in!the!summer,!getting!them!to!

do!something!useful,!building!community,!I!mean!there’s!a!lot!of!literature!on!the!Feis!in!terms!

of!people!have!done!research!but!nothing!on!the!actual!teaching!trend!and!learning![37:36]!

transactions,!most!of!it,!unless!there’s!something!I!don’t!know!about!is!about!social!and!

economic!impact!and!a!little!bit!of!the!experiencing!the!learners,!there’s!a!big!book!called!

Twenty!Five!Years!on![The!First!TwentycFive!Years!of!the!Feis!Movement],!which!is!really!

fascinating!but!its!little!snap!shots!of!interviews,!there’s!not!really,!nobody’s!done!a!critical!

interview!or!a!detailed!look!at!the!teaching!and!learning!processes!that!go!on,!but!it’s!been!very!

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influential!not!just!in!terms!of!creating,!you!know,!a!generation!or!two!of!good!players!who’ve!

come!through!that!system!and!now!have!a!lot!of!status!and!influence,!but!in!terms!of!providing!

a!model!for!community!learning,!so!you’ve!got!something!like!the!Adult!Learning!Project,!Scots!

Music!Group,!and!Edinburgh!Youth!Gathering!that’s!sort!of!designed!on!that!model,!but!

something!like!SCAT!in!Aberdeen.!

! 82!

Date:!Wednesday!27!March!2013,!2PM!Location:!School!of!Scottish!Studies,!University!of!Edinburgh!Present:!Katherine!Campbell,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.029!!

NB![12s]!Where!are!you!from!originally?!and!tell!me!about!your!upbringing!and!beginnings!in!

music.!

KC!Well!I’m!from!the!Fochabers!area!which!you!know!already!in!NorthcEast!Scotland,!I!was!born!

in!1972!and!I!went!for!piano!lessons!when!I!was!five!in!the!town!of!Elgin!in!the!NorthcEast,!and!

but!always!my!dad!had!played!the!accordion!from!as!far!back!as!I!can!remember.!So!that!was!

going!on!in!the!house!and!then!my!brother!who!is!a!year!and!a!half!younger!than!I!am!he!

started!the!fiddle!fairly!early!on!with!James!Alexander!as!well,!so,!my!grandfather!in!Elgin!

played!the!fiddle!and!I!think!he!also!made!fiddles!and!he!I!think!made!my!brother’s!first!fiddle!

or!something!like!that,!one!of!his!fiddles!anyway,!and!he!was!involved!in!the!Elgin!Strathspey!

and!Reel!Society.!I!also!had!an!aunt,!Aunt!Lizzie!in!Elgin,!and!she!was!also!in!the!Elgin!Strathspey!

and!Reel!Society,!and!my!mother!played!the!piano!a!bit,!but!not!much,!so!it!was!mainly,!you!

know,!my!dad!and!sort!of!extended!family!on!my!mother’s!side!actually,!that!played!and!my!

dad’s!family!didn’t!play,!my!dad!had!picked!up!the!accordion!as!an!adult!actually,!partly!after!

meeting!somebody!at!a!wedding![laughs],!so!traditional!music!was!certainly!there!and!I!was!

just,!sort,!in!piano!lessons!I!was!doing!mainly!classical!stuff!and!that!carried!on,!but!at!the!same!

time!I!was!listening!to!a!lot!of!Scottish!music!through!my!dad!playing!the!accordion,!but!also!

through!audio!recordings,!like!the!Corries!were!very!very!popular!and!you!know,!it’s!interesting,!

some!of!my!students!now!they!still!talk!about!the!Corries,!so!their!influence!was!huge.!So!I!

heard!a!lot!of!those!songs.!The!actual!type!of!tradition!bearer!stuff!like!Jeannie!Robertson!I!

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wasn’t!really!aware!of!growing!up!in!Fochabers!and!it!was!kind!of!a!revelation!to!me!when!I!

came!here,!but!at!the!more!commercial!side!of!it,!Isla!St!Clair,!she!was!from,!is!from!Buchie!and!

her!mother,!I!used!to!see!her!mother!quite!a!bit!in!the!village!of!Fochabers,!and!so!we’re!all!

aware!of!that!and!you!know,!there!were!occasional!concerts!where!she!would!come!up!and!

perform!and!so!there!was!a!lot!going!on.!When!I!went!to!secondary!school!I!had!the!idea!I!

wanted!to!learn!another!instrument!and!there!I!started!the!cello!with!a!lady!called!Ella!Taylor,!

who’s!also!from!Elgin,!she’s!long!deceased!now!sadly.!But!she!was!very!very!encouraging!and!

again!that!was!the!classical!side.!But!at!the!same!time!I,!through!my!brother!playing!the!fiddle,!

James!Alexander!by!then!had!started!the!Fochabers!Fiddlers,!it!hadn’t!been!long!going.!

NB!I!think!he!says!1981.!

KC!I!must!have!started!secondary!school,!oh!heavens,!left!in!1989,!so!I!must!have!started!in!

1983.!So,!James!was,!knew!my!family!and!knew!my!dad!and!my!brother!and!everybody,!so!

through!that!I!started!playing!the!piano!with!them,!actually!doing!the!accompaniment,!the!

piano!accompaniment.!At!the!same!time!I’d!started!learning!the!cello,!so!I!got,!then!I!sort!of!

practiced!quite!hard!and!was!able!to!do!cello,!and!I!did!a!bit!of!double!bass!with!them!as!well.!

So!mainly,!laterally,!it!was!cello!and!double!bass!rather!than!piano,!but!that’s!how!I!got!into!the!

group.!So!it!started!in!the!group!in!first!or!second!year!of!high!school!and!carried!on!right!until!

the!end!in!1989!and!that!was!great!because,!we!learned!a!huge!number!of!tunes!through!that,!

we!did!a!huge!number!of!concerts!locally,!there!was!barely!a!week!that!went!by!when!we!didn’t!

have!a!concert,!it!was!huge!numbers!concerts,!at!old!folks!homes,!school!concerts,!leavers!

dances,!Burns!Suppers,!opening!of!galas,!launch!of!a!new!boat,!I!remember!being!at!that!in!

Buckie,!all!sorts!of!things.!And!through!that,!of!course!you!come!in!contact!with!other!musicians!

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so!things!like!the!Keith!Festival!was!a!great!occasion,!that’s!in!June.!And!we!met!people!there!

like!Scott!Gardner,!the!bothy!ballad!singer,!Paul!Anderson,!all!the!Banchory!crowd,!all!the!

Tarland!people,!and!other!local,!older!musicians!from!Keith!as!well.!So!you!see!basically!when!

you!went!to!a!concert!you!met!more!musicians,!a!lot!of!them!from!the!local!area.!And!I!also!

then,!again!fairly!early!I,!I!joined!the!Elgin!Strathspey!and!Reel!Society!junior!section!and!that!

met!in!Elgin,!what!is!that!place,!Bishopmill,!I!think!in!Elgin,!and!I!can’t!remember!what!night!of!

the!week!is!was!on!but!there!were!keen!to!encourage!cellists!so!I!went!to!that.!So!there!were!

younger!fiddlers!and!younger!musicians!went!along!to!that.!And!so!we!also!did!concerts!with!

them!as!well.!So!the!main!performance!outlets,!you!know!it!was!all!the!old!folks!homes!all!that!

kind!of!thing,!but!obviously!playing!in!orchestras,!school!orchestras,!school!choirs!because!the!

classical!side!as!well.!So!that!was!it,!so!I!was!very!heavily!involved,!particularly!from!the!age,!

particularly!second!year!onwards,!right!until!the!end!with!that.!And!then!I!really!didn’t!have!any!

firm!notion!of!what!I!wanted!to!do!as!a!profession!and!my!cello!teacher,!Ella!Taylor,!I’d!only!

been!going!for!lessons!a!wee!while,!but!I’d!really!stuck!in!with!it!and!was!doing!lots!of!

practicing,!all!the!things!you!need!to!do.!She!said,!you!know,!one!day!you!could!do!this!as!a!

living!if!you!wanted!to,!so!that!was!really!the!inspiration!to!work!pretty!hard!and!practice!and!

all!the!rest!of!it.!And!then!so!I!left,!when!I!left!I!then!went!to!music!college!the!RSAMD![6:14]!

and!I!studied!classical!music!and!I!studied!cello!first!study,!second!study!piano,!and!then!I!did,!at!

that!time!they!had!Scottish!Music!Studies!as!part!of!the!degree!program.!So!the!Scottish!Music!

degree!hadn’t!started!by!that!time!cause!this!was!1989!to!1993!I!was!there.!

NB!so!you!just!missed!it.!

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KC![laughs]!yeah!but!Jo!Miller!was!there,!she!was!really!great,!she!did!Scottish!Musical!Studies!

in!first!year!which!I!loved,!and!I!did!a!dissertation!with!her!in!my!fourth!year,!and!you!could!

chose!whatever!you!wanted!to!do!and!I!was!particularly!interested!in!Scottish!Music.!

! 86!

Date:!Sunday,!April!21,!2013,!7pm!Location:!residence!of!Claire!White,!Aberdeen!Present:!Claire!White,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.030!!

NB![11:09]!Do!you!remember!the!first!event!you!taught!at?!

CW!When!I!first!started!teaching!I!was!fourteen.!

NB!to!peers?!

CW!yeah,!generally!a!little!bit!younger!than!me.!Tammie’s!philosophy!was!that!you!never!hold!

onto!the!tradition,!you!always!pass!it!on.!And!certain!pupil,!a!handful!of!pupils!used!to!help!him!

out!on!a!Saturday!with!teaching.!I!ended!up!doing!that!with,!I!can’t!remember!if!Tammie!was!

alive!at!that!time!or!not,!I!don’t!think!he!was!but!I!think!the!Young!Heritage!Committee!which!

continued!ensured!that!that!teaching!would!continue!and!I!would!teach!on!Saturdays!and!in!

Isleburgh!Community!Centre!and!also!in!my!house,!evenings!during!the!week.!So!that!was!

happening!right!when!I!was!fourteen.!And!yeah!so!the!first!time!I!did!it!was!a!one!to!one!basis,!

exactly!the!way!Tammie!taught!me!and!it’s!still!exactly!how!I!continue!in!that!way,!because!I!

think!my!thinking!on!that,!now!with!a!much!more!conscious!mind,!is!it’s!brought!me!such!light!

and!joy!and!wonderful!times!in!life!that,!if!I!can!just!replicate!that!and!do!the!same!thing!over,!it!

can!have!a!similar!effect!on!others,!you!know,!that’s!pretty!good.!

NB![12:22]!Can!you!put!that!into!more!words,!besides!the!modelling!and!the!sheet!music!that!

you!were!talking!about,!exactly!what!that!is!

CW!For!example,!I’ve!been!teaching!Elle,!just!before!you!came!today.!So!Elle!came!to!me,!her!

mom’s!brother!is!quite!a!famous!fiddler,!Herman!Henderson!from!Shetland,!and!she!wanted!to!

learn!to!play!fiddle,!so!we!started!off,!we’d!get!straight!into!tunes,!I’ll!typically!teach!Baa!Baa!

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Black!Sheep!first,!and!soon!as!somebody!has!a!mastery!of!how!to!hold!the!bow,!how!to!hold!

the!fiddle,!they’re!straight!into!‘dah!dah!dah!dah’![singing!Baa!Baa!Black!Sheep],!singing!it,!

moving!the!bow!across!the!strings,!straight!into!the!notes.!Generally!I’ll!put!the!music!up!on!the!

stand,!just!so!it’s!there,!so!there’s!an!awareness!of!what!it!will!look!like!and!all!the!numbers!are!

written!above!the!notes!but!the!notation!is!there,!there’s!even!strings,!I’m!not!sure,!so!it’s!

really!explicit!what!they!have!to!do!and!we!just!continue!in!that!model,!so!practicing!and!then!

taking!it!away!and!recapping!the!next!week,!build!up!the!repertoire!in!the!order!they!appear!in!

the!book,!then!round!about!the!Merry!Boys!of!Greenland!stage!the!notes!start!to!disappear.!So!

by!that!time!I’ve!started!the!note!card!process!so!they!can!already!recognise,!which!is!E,!G,!B,!D,!

F!and!F,!A,!C,!E,!and!so!on,!the!cards!have!on!one!side!the!note!on!the!staff!and!on!the!back!are!

the!letters!and!the!string!name!and!finger!numbers.!So!by!that!time!they’re!ready!to!slowly!pick!

through!the!notes!and!pick!which!is!which.!And!from!there!they!start!to!learn!individual!

numbers!of!tunes.!And!usually!by!that!stage!they!are!very!good!at!copying!me,!the!model,!and!a!

lot!of!times!they’ll!just!look!at!my!fingers!and!copy,!which!I!encourage!too,!I!don’t!make!them!

feel!in!any!way!ashamed!of!that!because!that’s!session!learning.!!

[.!.!.]!

NB![24:02]!How!do!you!feel!about!traditional!music!exams?!

CW!I!remember!pitching!various!programs!at!work!about!whether!we!should!kind!of!

commodify!traditional!music.!I!always!have!mixed!feelings!on!these!things,!I!don’t!know!if!it’s!

work!that!trains!me!to!think!in!that!balanced!way.!I!was!just!discussing!the!very!idea!of!music!

competitions!with!relation!to!Young!Fiddler!of!the!Year,!with!somebody,!and!I!kind!of!feel!the!

same!way!about!competitions!as!I!do!about!grades.!There!are!many!up!sides!to!it!but!there!are!

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many!down!sides.!I’m!kind!of!on!both!ends,!for!young!people!I!wish!that,!the!young!lassie!I’m!

teaching,!had!other!people!that!she!could!play!with!and!I’m!constantly!looking!for!those!folk!

cause!I!think!it’ll!just!spur!a!child!on!so!much!at!that!stage,!and!if!there’s!something!to!work!

towards,!as!long!as!it’s!made!clear,!it!does!not!matter!if!you!are!a!winner!or!not,!and!

everybody’s!got!something!to!gain,!it’s!got!to!be!healthily!described,!managed,!organised!so!it’s!

enough!to!inspire!and!create!aspiration!but!no!so!competitive!that!it!kills!all!of!the!people!who!

have!things!to!offer,!but!maybe!aren’t!the!best!of!the!bunch!in!a!particular!day.!So!I!feel!the!

same!way!about!grades,!get!it!recognised,!get!it!that!status,!kind!of!makes!the!ladder!of!

progress!through!music!a!bit!more!systematic.!But!at!the!same!time,!I!mean!how!would!a!lot!of!

those!people!who!played!with!amazing!soul!and!spirit!fair!and!would!they!be!deterred!if!they!

didn’t!fit!the!mold.!I!remember!Tammie!trying!to!get!me!to!do!my!own!level!fiddle!when!I!was!

about!twelve!or!something,!he!was!piloting!then.!And!I!remember!getting!a!pink!paper!booklet!

but!I!never!looked!into!it!properly,!and!there!were!various!Scots!tunes!particularly!that!I!had!to!

learn,!so,!we!used!to!have!a!book!called!the!Caledonian!Companion,!that!was!where!my!

journey!learning!with!Tammie!ended,!with!things!like!the!high!level!hornpipe,!there!were!things!

that!were!really!loads!of!third!position!work!and!I!was!trying!to!master!all!these!things!before!

Tammie!got!ill!and!then!eventually!passed!away.!So,!I!remember!that!being!on!the!curriculum!

at!that!point.!I!judged!the!TMSA!competition,!I!judged!two!of!their!fiddle!competitions!and!I!

must!say,!I!sat!there!and!I!think,!these!people!are!brilliant,!they’re!so!much!better!than!I!am!and!

I’d!say!that!in!my!judge’s!commentary!and!so!that’s!great!if!that’s!what’s!happened!in!the!

whole!field!in!that!time,!fabulous.!!

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NB!What!do!you!think!about!the!institutionalisation!of!Scottish!Music?!That!you!can!get!a!

degree!in!it?!

CW!Well!I!think!it’s!great!for!the!national!identity,!whatever!way!you!want!to!interpret!that,!

that!there’s!a!pride!about!living!culture!of!their!own,!indigenous!pride!which!I!think!is!a!healthy!

thing.!If!you!are!strong!about!your!identity!and!where!you!come!from!you’ll!venture!into!the!

world!with!a!strong!healthy!respectful!attitude!to!others!and!where!they’re!coming!from.!And!

you!can!pick!and!chose!what!you!want!to!engage!with!in!life.!So,!yeah!I!think!it’s!great!that!

these!things!are!recognised!with!equal!footing!and!equal!billing!with!other!cultures.!!

NB!Where!do!you!think!that!came!from,!it’s!kind!of!gained!momentum!

CW!Yeah!I!remember!a!series!on!radio!four!about!this!indirectly!called!Highland!Hip,!it!was!

presented!by!Sally!Magnusson!and!transmitted!in!2006,!fifteen!minute!interspecials!really,!

featured!slot!and!they!were!montage!based!and!I!made!various!music!programs!about!the!jazz!

scene!in!Scotland,!trad!music,!kind!of!various!topics.!And!it’s!all!kind!of!coming!together,!it’s!a!

coming!of!age!culturally!of!radio!broadcasts,!qualifications,!degrees,!performers!doing!stuff!

successfully!on!the!national!circuit,!and!that’s!really!exciting.!I!remember!reading!a!feature!

piece!with!a!classical!musician!who’d!been,!who’s!Scottish!who!moved!to!London!for!some!time!

and!returned!a!decade!later!and!somebody!said,!what’s!the!biggest!change!you!see!in!the!

musical!world!in!the!last!ten!years?!And!he!said!absolutely!indigenous!music!status,!has!

transformed.!So!I!think!you!forget!what!a!big!revolution!there’s!been!when!you’ve!been!in!the!

middle!of!it.!

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Date:!Monday,!April!22,!2013,!2:30pm!Location:!Telephone!Present:!Joshua!Dickson,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.031!!

NB![19:02]!So!what!is!going!to!happen,!I!know!the!syllabus,!I!guess!you!would!say,!expires!next!

year?!

JD!Yeah,!I!have!asked,!I’ve!been!in!talks!with!the!director!of!academic!development!here!

because!she!was,!Celia!Duffy,!she’s!the!one!who!was!there!as!head!of!research!in!2004,!2005,!

2006,!where!the!whole!graded!exams!program!was!in!her!department!rather!in!the!Scottish!

music!department,!per!se,!because!the!Scottish!music!department!was!then!the!BA,!the!

undergraduate!degree,!and!this!was!something!a!bit!more,!it!was!related!to!the!BA,!it!was!

related!to!the!subject!but!it!was!more,!it!was!considered!research,!sort!of!outreach!for!the!

purpose!of!the!funding!stream!that’s!supported!it,!so!the!Academy!at!that!time!got!a!grant!from!

the!Higher,!Further!Education!Council!and!other!funding!sources!in!order!to!really!put!the!

graded!exams!together,!but,!it!was!a!very!specific!type!of!funding!stream!which!was!to!do!with!

the!research,!the!knowledge!exchange!that!the!Conservatoire!does.!So!it!had!to!be!within!Celia!

Duffy’s!department.!So,!I’ve!been!in!talks!with!her!to!kind!of!basically!get!a!package!of!ours!for!

Alasdair!MacCulloch!to!come!back!in!and!oversee!the!development,!kind!of!the!refreshing!of!

the!syllabuses!in!time!for!2014.!!

NB!So!what!changes!would!be!made!ideally?!

JD!Well!not!necessarily!all!tunes!and!all!syllabuses!would!be!changed,!there!are!going!to!be!

certain!favourites,!timeless!tunes!that!are!quite!happy,!that!we’re!quite!happy!to!stay!there,!

but!you!know!there!are!other!tunes!that!are!just!never!played!on!the!syllabus!from!our!records!

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and!copies!of!all!the!exam!sheets!and!we!know,!and!there!are!some!that!are!just!really!never!

chosen!and!others!that!are!chosen!all!the!time.!So!we’d!like!to!go!back!and!again!take!a!count!

of!the!last!seven!years!and!provide!new!material!from!maybe!from,!it!could!overlap,!some!from!

the!same!sources!as!in!the!previous!syllabuses,!but!there!will!be!new!sources!out!there!that!we!

can!tap!and!just!provide!for!a!bit!more!interest!for!those!people!who!maybe!gone!up!to!maybe!

grade!one,!two!and!three,!and!then!want!something!a!bit!different!for!the!next!couple!of!

grades,!or!a!need!for!those!who’ve!already!gone!to!grade!five!and!have!nothing!else!to!do!as!a!

stage,!part!of!that!redevelopment!would!be!to!look!into!higher!grades,!so!that!would!demand!

new!repertoire!as!well,!but!also,!some!new!thinking!as!to!what!that!type!of!exam,!that!higher!

grade,!would!really!entail,!it!could!be!very!well!more!something!like!a!more!specialised!recital,!

you!know!take!the!works!of!Skinner!or!Marshall!or!Milne!and!create!a!twenty!minute!recital!out!

of!that.!So!it!doesn’t!necessarily!have!to!follow!the!structure!that!the!Associated!Boards!have!

up!to!grade!eight,!it!could!be!something!more!that!we,!at!this!stage!we!are!confident!enough!in!

what!we!do!that!we!can!depart!from!the!Associated!Board!model!as!needed!as!long!as!there’s!

an!integrity!to!it,!artistic!and!technical.!So!that’s!all!in!the!planning,!but!again!we!just!need!the!

funding!to!do!it,!its!part!of!that!capacity!problem!within!this!institution.!You!know,!funding!was!

made!and!jobs!were!created,!so!on!so!forth,!to!produce!or!create!this!program,!but!when!it!

comes!to!the!follow!through!for!the!long!term!development!and!making!it!a!really!successful!

commercial!enterprise!or!a!social!enterprise!it’s!harder!to!really!find!that!support,!so!the!main!

reason!why!the!exams!have!held!their!own!but!no!more!than!that!at!this!stage,!the!numbers!

are!steady!because!it!does!enough!at!this!stage,!to!wash!its!own!face!financially!and!to!sort!of!

promote!itself!and!we!have!an!annual!expenditure!budget,!but,!it!needed!more!of!that!every!

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once!in!a!while!it!needs!more!of!an!injection!to!make!sure!that!those!who!are!organising!and!

developing!new!aspects!on!the!program!can!be!remunerated.!So!it’s!capacity.!

NB![23:40]!And!even!more!funding!would!be!needed!for!teaching!training!maybe!on!how!to!use!

it!and!implement!it,!

JD!Yeah!although,!I!mean!that’s!more!of!an!organisational,!what!we!need!to!do!in!fact,!that!is!

something!we!need!to!do,!is!to!organise!like!a!new!series!of!seminars!around!Scotland,!where!

we!can!talk!with!teachers!in!private!and!school,!peripatetic,!or!classroom!teachers,!we!have!

done!that!in!the!past,!but!it’s!about!time!we!needed!to!start!doing!that!again.!!

NB!Right,!maybe!if!a!new!syllabus!is!released,!alongside!that.!

JD!Yeah,!to!launch!that.!We’ve!done!seminars!in!say,!Aberdeen,!different!places!in!Glasgow,!the!

ISTA!Society!for!String!Teachers,!or!is!it!ESTA,!European!Society!for!String!Teachers!Association,!

we’ve!done!some!seminars!with!them.!We’ll!probably!go!up!to!Plockton!or!indeed!somewhere!

that!associates!with!Feis!Rois!as!well.!Plockton!is!kind!of!a!bit!strange!because!they!have!their!

own!in!house!system!for!their!community!through!Trinity/Guildhall,!but!having!said!that!they!

are!quite!happy!to!support!what!we!do!as!much!as!they!can,!but!at!some!point!they!decided!

with!Trinity!a!spoke!system!of!exams.!!

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Date:!Friday,!April!26,!2013,!7pm!Location:!Aberdeen!Arms!Hotel,!Tarland!Present:!Paul!Anderson,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.032!!

NB![58s]!I!am!curious,!going!back!to!your!upbringing,!if!you!could!tell!me!about!your!tutors!and!

how!they!taught!you.!How!did!you!learn!fiddle?!

PA!Well!I!mean!I!started!at!school!learning!classical!music,!which!I!did!up!to!fifth!year,!might!

have!done!up!to!sixth!year,!I!can’t!remember.!I!certainly!did!up!to!Higher,!which!I!think!is!grade!

seven!level,!I!actually!did!my!grade!five!in!first!year,!so!it!was!twelve!when!I!did!that,!but!I!never!

really!did!any!other,!I!was!never!that!focused!enough!for!that,!although!I!did!get!a!lot!

technically!into!it.!Just!kind!of!handling!the!instrument!but!I!had!a!totally!different!thing!going!

on!with!Scottish!music.!It!is!a!very!different,!especially!when!it!comes!to!bowing,!there’s!a!lot!of!

things!that!are!peculiar!to!Scottish!fiddling!that!you!certainly!don’t!find!it!in!classical!music!and!

largely!if!you!have!a!classical!musician!who!plays!Scottish!music,!it’s!standing!a!mile!away,!cause!

there’s!no!doubt!that!it’s!correct!but!it’s!completely!wrong.!And!that’s!probably!the!biggest!

thing!I!would!say,!unless!it’s!a!school!teacher!who!is!an!enthusiastic!traditional!player,!then!

they!really!don’t!have!a!clue.!They!need!teaching!themselves!cause!they!don’t!have!a!clue.!It’s!

correct!on!the!page,!I!mean!I’ve!got!a!slight!issue!with!doing!grades!in!Scottish!music,!the!folk!

that!are!grading!the!kids,!they!care!nothing!about!the!unique!qualities!they!should!be!looking!

for,!all!that!want!to!see!is!that!it!fits!on!the!page!and!it!varies,!I!mean!if!I!had!a!pupil!that!was!

following!what!I!taught!them,!how!to!get!the!right!character,!etcetera!they!very!well!might!be!

marked!down!because!actually!you!don’t!play!wants!on!the!music,!dots,!you!double!dotted!but!

on!the!page!it’s!one!dot!and!the!ornamentation.!All!these!things,!it!may!not!be!as!bad!as!that,!I!

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have!no!idea!but!that’s!my!kind!of!issue!with!stuff!like!that!so.!You!need!to!be!learning!both!at!

the!same!time!if!you’ve!got!a!teacher!that!do!both.!But!my!teacher,![3:40]!Dougie!Lawrence!he!

played!with!the!Royal!Scottish!National!Orchestra!for!over!twenty!years!so!classically!he!was!

very!very!good!but!he!had!a!great!background!in!traditional!music,!things!like!the!bowing,!and!

expression!and!character,!which!he!got!from!Hector!McAndrew,!he!was!easily!Hector’s!most!

accomplished,!most!acclaimed!pupil.!He’s!very!well!respected!as!a!judge!and!as!a!teacher,!he!

still!teaches,!I!bet!he’s!had!umpteen!Glenfiddich!Scottish!Champions.!So!it!says!a!lot!for!the!

qualities!that!you!would!look!for!as!a!traditional!fiddler!when!you’re!judging,!actually!the!sort!of!

stuff!that!he!is!passing!on!to!his!pupils,!in!that!respect!I!won!Glenfiddich!myself,!for!someone!

that!sort!of!never!wanted!it!as!well,!and!I’ve!had!a!couple!pupils!who’ve!won!it!within!the!last!

five!years,!so!then!again!you!are!seeing!the!same!thing!at!the!next!level.!You!can!see!that!

coming!from!Hector,!to!Dougie,!to!me.!I!mean!it!not,!there’s!other!folk!in!the!same!musical!tree!

if!you!like,!but!if!you!go!in!the!opposite!direction,!Hector!got!it!from!his!father,!his!grandfather,!

and!Hector!was!very!well!respected!for!his!interpretation!of!pipe!music,!cause!his!father!was!a!

piper!and!there!was!a!lot!of!pipers,!a!lot!of!good!pipers!who!had!very!little!time!for!fiddlers!

playing!pipe!tunes!cause!sort!of!didn’t!play!it!with!the!right!character,!you!hopped!it!up!too!

much,!but!Hector!had!a!very!good!understanding!of!how!to!interpret!pipe!music!on!to!the!

fiddling,!he!was!friendly!with!a!lot!of!great!pipers,!he!kind!of!idolised!George!S.!MacLennan,!

who!was!probably,!arguably!one!of!the!greatest!pipers!of!his!day!and!certainly!the!finest!of!pipe!

music!in!his!day.!And!Hector’s!grandfather!was!taught!by!James!McIntosh!in!Dunkeld,!he!was!a!

pupil!of!Niel!Gow,!so!whatever!you!folk!might!make!of!that,!there!is!definitely!a!good!strong!

thread!there,!the!kind!of!qualities!that!have!been!passed!on.!!

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[.!.!.]!

NB![13:52]!The!other!side!of!a!teacher!that!would!like!to!teach!fiddle!music,!some!of!these!

teachers!that!I’ve!been!talking!to,!that!are!kind!of!the!fiddle!teacher!in!their!area,!some!of!the!

other!teachers!have!some!kind!of!resistance!to!it.!They’d!say,!oh!that’s!the!teacher!that!does!

the!fiddly!stuff.!What!would!you!say!to!somebody!that!thinks!that!the!fiddle!music!is!inferior!to!

classical?!

PA!Well,!it’s!just!there!are!ignorant.!There’s!no!other!way!to!put!it,!pure!and!simple.!You!kind!

of,!if!you!went!and!asked!Mr.!Beethoven!or!Mr.!Brahms,!or!Mr.!Mendelssohn!or!Bruch,!Haydn,!

they!all!did!stuff!based!on!folk!music.!I!mean,!Beethoven!said!Scottish!music!was!artistically!the!

most!varied!folk!music!that!he’d!come!across.!Was!an!enterprising!publisher!from!Edinburgh!

sent!some!of!these!Haydn!and!Beethoven!and!folk!like!that,!copies!of!the!music!and!they!did!

kind!of!very!work!on!some!of!these.!So,!they!know!nothing!about!it.!Certainly!couldn’t!support!

it.!I!mean!I’ve!worked!with!really!good!classical!musicians,!you!find!that!the!good!ones!are!

generally!very!open!to!learning!traditional!music.!Yehudi!Menuhin,!kind!of!an!absolute!

gentlemen!of!a!guy,!he!was!very!very!keen!on!Scottish!music.!I!guess!he!was!keen!on!all!music.!

He!had!a!great!respect!for!traditional!Scottish!fiddling,!I!mean!there!was!a!great!program,!

Menuhin’s!Welcome!to!Blair,!1974!it!was!filmed!in,!you!could!tell!he!had!a!huge!amount!of!

respect!for!Hector!McAndrew!who!was!teaching.!And!some!other!guys,!like!Sandy!Milne!in!the!

Banchory!Strathspey!and!Reel,!came!from!Tarland!actually!originally,!kind!of!just!asking!about!

the!music!and,!I!just!kind!of!question!some!of!these!folk,!whether!they!actually!think,!cause!I!

have!heard!it,!they’re!very!resistant!to!their!pupils!learning!Scottish!music!cause!they!think!it’s!

going!to!ruin!them!as!players.!Well,!good!grief,!certainly!in!the!NorthcEast,!if!you’re!playing!

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strathspeys!for!instance,!the!unison,!it’s!a!very!small!thing,!but!your!technique!needs!to!be!

really!really!good!or!you!cannot!play!it.!It’s!a!crucial!part!of!the!style!of!the!music,!without!that!

it’s!like!having!a!fifth!gear!in!your!car,!it!just!gives!you!that!little!bit!of!bite!in!it,!attack,!that!you!

cannot!get!with!an!open!string!or!just!a!plain!forth!finger,!it’s!not!just!the!forth!and!the!open,!

it’s!the!grace!note!in!front!of!that,!which!gives!it!some!grrr.!It’s!a!bit!like!what!Skinner!used!to!

say!that!you’re!playing!strathspeys!with!the!devil!in!them,!it’s!that!kind!of!a!fire,!feel!the!hackles!

rising,!you!should!kind!of!deliver!a!wee!bit!of!that.!So!there’s!a!lot!of!things!like!that!you!cannot!

get!that!with!the!tune!unless!you!have!the!technique,!cause!if!you!have!bad!technique!or!your!

forth!finger!drags!across!the!open!string,!it!doesn’t!work.!So!you!need!a!good!technique,!it’s!not!

just!Skinner!tunes,!like!Simon!Fraser’s!Caledonia’s!Wail!for!Niel!Gow!uses!third!position,!uses!

the!whole!fiddle!right!from!the!bottom!G!up!into!third,!folk!like!Niel!Gow!had!a!great!respect!

for!the!value!of!good!technique,!Nathaniel!Gow!was!sent!to!‘Red’!Rob!Mackintosh!for!lessons,!

you!think!Niel!Gow!would!be!perfectly!capable,!but!he!was!not!totally!self!taught,!but!largely!

self!taught,!I!don’t!think!he!had!a!lot!of!lessons,!he!obviously!had!a!lot!of!character!and!lift!to!

his!music,!the!technical!side,!I!think!he!probably!thought!he!wasn’t!equipped!to!teach!it!

probably,!so!he!put!his!son!with!someone!who!could,!and!Robert!Mackintosh!he!taught!you!

know!minuets!and!all!that!stuff,!cause!these!professional!musicians!they!took!their!work!where!

they!could!get!it,!so!Skinner!did!a!lot!of!concert!hall!stuff,!he!would!take!money!where!he!could!

get!it,!he!was!a!dancing!master!as!well,!you!know,!a!lot!of!these!fiddlers!were,!because!even!

today!it’s!a!difficult!way!to!make!a!living!as!a!professional!musician.!So!you’ll!see!folk!popping!

up!in!odd!places!and!you!think,!what!on!earth!are!they!doing?!You!do!it!to!pay!the!bills.!It’d!be!

ideal!if!you!could!just!be!playing!your!love!to!play!all!the!time,!but!sometimes!you!just!have!to,!

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well,!not!many!paying!this!month!so,!yeah!but!you’d!think!nowadays!with!the!popularity!of!

traditional!music!it’d!be!a!little!bit!more!open!mindedness,!cause!when!I!was!young!I!think!it!

woulda!been!not!quite!common,!my!teacher!Andy!actually!did!like!Scottish!music!and!he!was!

very!supportive.!I!mean!he’d!go!along!to!the!Banchory!Strathspey!and!Reel,!but!not!so!long!ago!

I!had!a!post!at!the!Elphinstone!Institute,!I!must!have!interviewed!over!twenty!folk![19:47]!in!the!

North!East!about!traditional!music!and!Frank!Robb!who!is!the!conductor!of!the!Angus!

Strathspey!and!Reel,!I!went!and!seen!him!in!Forfar!and!he!said!they’re!having!a!hard!time!

getting!juniors,!and!it’s!not!because!there!aren’t!a!lot!of!juniors!locally!who!play,!but!the!local!

teachers!are!all!telling!them!they!aren’t!allowed!to!go!to!Scottish!fiddling,!which!I!find!just!

astounding,!cause!not!everybody!can!be!a!classical!musician,!not!everybody!wants!to!be,!but!

the!notion!that!that’s!all!you!are!allowed!to!play,!for!god!sake,!you!don’t!care!what!they!play,!it!

there’s!something!that’s!going!to!keep!them!playing!that!should!be!the!priority,!the!enjoyment!

for!the!rest!of!their!life!of!the!music.!So,!it’s!quite!a!different!one!that,!you!can’t!force!folk!to!

change!their!attitudes!they!have!to!sort!of!be!persuaded!through!argument!and!good!example,!

I!mean!if!you!could!drag!them!all!into!a!room!and!sit!them!down!with!a!good!exponent!I!think!

maybe!you’d!get!some!of!them,!if!you,!alright!okay,!I’ve!got!some!theory!now!try!this,!no!that’s!

wrong.!You!cannot.!You!might!get!some!more!there,!stir!them!up!a!little!bit.!!

! 98!

Date:!Monday,!April!29,!2013,!10:30am!Location:!The!City,!Aberdeen!Present:!Sharon!Hassan,!Natalie!Brown!(recorder)!Elphinstone!Institute!Archive!Accession!Number:!EI!2013.033!!

SH![0s]!…like!a!really!traditional!technique,!if!you!are!just!doing!trad!stuff,!which!is!a!lot!of!what!

I!do,!I!do!mainly!trad!now,!and!kids!that!do!trad,!if!they!want!to!do!classical!later!on!it!can!be!

difficult!for!them,!I!think!that’s!sometimes!what!the!classical!teachers!thing!is,!in!classical!

technique!you!know,!you’ve!got!to!have!your!hand!in!the!correct!position!and!all!these!things!

for!classical.!So!if!you!are!doing!trad!stuff!and!you!play!like!how!the!old!fiddlers!played,!which!

is,!absolutely!brilliant!that!doesn’t!work!if!you!are!doing!classical!music,!you!can’t!really!play!

great!classical!music!if!you’re!playing!with!an!old!fiddler!technique.!So!it!just!depends.!Like!

when!I’m!teaching,!I!do!mainly!trad!stuff!so!I!make!sure!they!play!in!tune,!I!think!it!is!important,!

cause!traditional!music!kind!of,!see!the!thing!is!it!has!moved!on!a!lot!and!there!are!a!lot!of!

fiddle!players!with!amazing!technique,!they!could!play!jazz,!traditional,!everything.!So!it’s!like,!I!

think!there’s!room!for!everyone!to!be!honest.!And!people!get!their!knickers!in!a!knot!about!it!

all!the!time!but!I!think!trad!music!is!doing!pretty!well!at!the!moment,!there’s!loads!of!kids!that!

are!into!it!and!some!of!them!play!classical!as!well,!some!of!them!don’t,!but!when!it!all!bubbles!

down!to!it,!it!doesn’t!actually!matter.!If!what!we!are!trying!to!do!is!get!more!kids!into!

traditional!music!and!they’re!all!playing!it,!then!that’s!the!most!important!thing.!So!I!teach!lots!

of!groups!with!loads!of!different!kids!from!different!backgrounds!in!it.!Like!some!of!them!are!

just!classical!and!just!getting!into!traditional!and!some!of!them!are!just!trad!and!they!actually!

don’t!like!classical!or!never!heard!classical!before.!But!when!they!come!to!the!group!it!doesn’t!

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really!matter.!As!long!as!they!all!want!to!be!there!and!they’re!all!getting!an!understanding!of!it,!

it’s!all!about!passing!it!on.!!

NB![2:23]!So!what’s!your!current!teaching!situation,!where!do!you!teach?!

SH!I!teach!in!Insch,!in!my!local!village,!that’s!where!I!grew!up.!So!I!teach!there,!I!used!to!teach!in!

the!school!there!but!I’m!not!in!the!school!there!anymore,!because!I!had!so!many!that!

apparently!taking!them!out!of!the!class!was!impacting!on!their!reading!and!learning.!Don’t!

know!if!I!quite!agree!with!that,!in!fact,!I!totally!think!it’s!the!opposite.!But!I!take!them!after!

school!and!I’ve!got!a!club!on!a!Tuesday!night!and!it’s!in!Insch.!And!I!teach!for!SCAT,!so!I!teach!

adults!on!Monday!nights!and!I!teach!in!special!school!in!Inverurie,!I!work!for!Drake!Music!

Scotland,!they!work!with!kids!with!special!needs!and!stuff.!So!work!with!them!one!day!a!week!

as!well.!It’s!not!generally!trad!stuff!it’s!creative!music!stuff,!I!use!traditional!music!in!it.!It’s!all!

different!stuff,!cause!their!all!quite!mixed!classes!and!different!abilities,!so!we!all!technologies,!I!

use!Logic!sound!stuff!and!mainstream!instruments!as!well,!like!percussion!stuff.!!

NB![4:19]!So!you!teach!kids!and!adults,!how!do!you!usually!approach!a!lesson,!do!you!provide!

sheet!music,!do!you!do!stuff!by!ear?!

SH!I!do!a!bit!of!both,!cause!some!of!the!kids!I!teach!really!love!learning!by!ear!and!some!prefer!

to!use!the!music!or!have!something!to!see,!something!visual.!So!they!all!do!both,!I!think!it’s!

important!these!days,!I’ve!got!a!kid!who’s!really!really!advanced!at!playing!tunes,!he!can!play!

reels!and!jigs!up!to!speed!really!really!well,!he’s!got!an!amazing!ear.!I’ve!got!a!seven!year!who!is!

the!same.!But!they!really!hate!having!to!read!it.!But!they!were!doing!reading!kind!of!alongside!

it,!but!their!ears!so!advanced!and!they’re!so!good!at!picking!it!up!that!they!can!just!do!it!

straight!away!so!then!it!becomes!quite!a!struggle!to!get!them!to!read,!but!we!do!a!bit!of!

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everything.!If!you!make!it!fun!then.!But!yeah!I!do!a!bit!of!both.!I!just!mainly!type!out!all!my!own!

stuff,!I!have!Sibelius!so!I!just!type!out!all!my!own!sheets!that!I!do!each!term!and!they!all!have!to!

learn!certain!tunes!for!the!concert!and!they!can!pick!which!ones!they!want!to!do.!It’s!all!stuff!

that!I!want!them!to!do![laughs]!so!it!doesn’t!really!matter!which!one!they!pick.!I!try!to!teach!

them!the!old!stuff!as!well!as!the!new!stuff.!Like!the!old!tunes,!quite!a!lot!of!kids!are!in!their!

teens!don’t!know!very!many!of!the!olds!tunes,!they!just!want!to!play!the!up!to!date!ones,!which!

I!love,!that’s!kind!of!what!I!really!enjoy,!I!like!all!the!new!stuff,!so!and!I!love!the!old!stuff!as!well.!

I!can!see!why!they!like!playing!other!ones,!but!if!you!give!them!some!of!the!old!ones!like!the!

Atholl!Highlanders,!like!the!little!ones,!they!love!it,!like!the!Harvest!Home!hornpipe!and!all!

these!old!classics,!they!totally!don’t![7:13?].!And!they!play!things!like!Easter!Island!and!things!

that![?]!and!bands!like!that.!But!thing!just!now!called!Bothy!weeks!and!we’re!organising!a!big!

concert!for!them!all,!like!for!kids!from!the!Inverurie!feeder!schools.!There’s!a!girl!Nicola!Tierney.!

NB!Oh!yeah!I!have!talked!with!her.!

SH!So!she!teaches!all!the!Inverurie!kids,!so!we!did!a!fundraiser,!so!my!organisation,!me,!Gadie!

Music,!so!we’re!paying!for!it,!so!we!did!a!ceilidh!so!we’ve!got!money!to!pay!for!a!band!to!come!

up!so!get!the!band!to!come!up!to!the!school,!so!gonna!have!a!day!off!from!school!to!come!to!

Inverurie!and!they’ll!be!a!bothy!ballad!singer!there!and!like,!Daniel!Thorpe,!he’s!from!Inverurie,!

he!won!the!Young!Trad!Award!a!couple!of!years!ago,!and!he’s!got!a!band!now!so!we’re!gonna!

get!his,!he’s!like!about!24,!25,!so!we’re!going!to!get!his!band!to!come!up!and!do!part!of!the!

concert!and!then!all!the!kids!to!come!along!on!the!trip!they!have!to!learn!all!the!bothy!ballad!

tunes!on!their!fiddles!and!stuff!before!they!can!come!to!the!concert!and!then!they’re!all!going!

to!play!together.!So!hopefully!they’ll!be!seventy!of!them.!I!teach!in!Methlick!primary!school!as!

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well,!but!it’s!not!through!the!council,!cause!I’m!selfcemployed,!but!they!don’t!have!any!strings!

tuition!there!so!I!started!there!about!a!year!and!a!half!ago,!so!I!provide!them!with!instruments!

and!stuff,!the!Gordon!Gaitherin!they!have!a!bank!of!instruments,!so!they!used!to!let!me!lend!

out!instruments!to!young!folk!in!the!Shire!in!Aberdeenshire,!so!it!was!also!quite!good!for!them!

cause!they!would!have!more!kids!playing!that!could!to!their!Gaitherin!and!their!events.!But!I’ve!

got!my!own!instruments!now,!so!I’ve!got!some!so!I!can!lend!them!out!to!the!kids!and!they!can!

learn,!so!they!come!in!groups!and!they!all!pay!a!fiver!and!so!it’s!just!a!fiver!for!everybody,!

anyone!that!comes!to!a!group!lesson!just!pays!a!fiver!and!it!all!kinds!of!works!itself!out!

depending!on!the!size!of!the!group,!it!doesn’t!really!matter.!Everyone’s!paying!a!fiver!and!that’s!

fine,!parents!are!happy,!I’m!happy,!so!there’s!twentycfive!of!them!playing!at!the!school,!which!

is!I!think!is!quite!a!lot,!I’m!not!sure!if!there’s!peripatetic!system!in!Aberdeenshire,!I’m!not!sure!if!

there’s!that!many!in!each!school!playing.!But!so!that’s!quite!a!good!thing!we!are!doing,!there’s!

a!lot!of!them.!And!I!teach!them!in!groups!as!well,!so!we’re!doing!some!different!stuff,!we’re!

doing!some!trad!stuff,!and!some!James!Bond!stuff!and!other!bits!and!bobs.!And!they!make!up!

their!own!pieces!and!stuff!which!is!quite!good.!Well!we!start!off!doing!something,!have!them!

doing!open!strings,!and!the!next!ones!come!in!and!then!they!do,!some!of!them!are!doing!

quavers!up!here!and!then!like!some!rhythm!stuff.!They’ve!got!their!teacher!is!becoming!part!of!

this!piece!that!they’ve!got,!one!group!do!the!knock!the,!one!group!do!that!tap,!then!the!other!

ones!go!Mr.!McGoverly!and!they!come!up!with!stuff,!ask!them!what!other!things!they!can!do!

with!their!fiddles,!they!do!like!tremolando!or!hit!it!with!their!bow!or!they!just!make!silly!noises,!

they!just!build!up!the!piece.!So!with!like!hardly!any!stuff,!they!only!play!open!strings,!first!

fingers,!second!fingers,!they’re!the!little!tiny!ones,!but!they!can!actually!come!up!with!a!piece!

! 102!

that!sounds!quite!not!bad,!it’s!quite!long!like!a!three!or!four!minute!piece![laughs]!just!with!

their!own!little!bits!and!bobs,!cause!there’s!twentycfive!of!them,!you!can!get!some!good!ideas!

them.!So!it’s!quite!cool.!So!I’m!hoping!to!have!this!bothy!weeks!thing!every!year!so!there’s!all!

these!generations!of!kids!that!know!the!bothy!songs,!cause!a!lot!of!them!don’t!know!the!bothy!

songs!at!all,!and!I’m!like,!all!man,!this!is!ridiculous!you!don’t!know!that,!cause!these!are!what!it!

all!comes!from.!I!think!if!you!do!stuff!like!that!with!the!younger!ones!they’ll!always!have!that!

then,!won’t!they!and!they!also!get!an!appreciation!of!where!the!music!they!are!playing!come!

from!and!maybe!they!go!down!to!Glasgow!or!Edinburgh,!they!always!have!tunes!that!are!from!

their!area!so!they!can!feel!quite!proud!of!that.!It’s!important!that!they!feel!proud!of!the!stuff!

that!they!are!playing.!!

! 101!

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Anderson,!Paul,!‘Folk!Who!Speak!in!Strathspeys’,!http://www.leopardmag.co.uk/feats/110/folkIwhoIspeakIinIstrathspeys.!

Anderson,!Paul,!‘Musical!Fingerprints!of!NorthIEast!Scottish!Fiddle!Style’,!Crossing$Over:$Fiddle$and$Dance$Studies$From$Around$the$North$Atlantic$3,!ed.!Ian!Russell!and!Anna!Kearney!Guigne,!Elphinstone!Institute!Occasional!Publications,!no.!7!(Aberdeen:!Elphinstone!Institute,!2010),!176–183.!

Alburger,!Mary!Anne,!Scottish$Fiddlers$and$Their$Music!(London:!Victor!Gollancz!Ltd.,!1983).!

Barz,!Gregory!F.!and!Cooley,!Timothy!J.!Shadows$in$the$Field:$New$Perspectives$for$Fieldwork$in$Ethnomusicology,$ed.!Gregory!F.!Barz!and!Timothy!J.!Cooley!(Oxford!University!Press,!New!York:!1997).!

Bridging$the$Gap?:$Conference$Report,$August$2008:$A$One$Day$Conference$Exploring$The$Transition$From$Music$at$School$to$Music$in$Higher$Education,$and$Music$in$the$Scottish$School$Curriculum$(Aberdeen:!University!of!Aberdeen,!2008).!

Byrne,!C.,!and!M.!Sheridan,!‘The!Long!and!Winding!Road:!The!Story!of!Rock!Music!in!Scottish!Schools’,!International$Journal$of$Music$Education,!36,!no.!1!(2000),!46–57.!

Byrne,!Charles,!‘Scottish!Traditional!Music:!Identity!and!the!Carrying!Stream’,!Green,$Lucy.$Learning,$Teaching,$and$Musical$Identity:$Voices$Across$Cultures,!ed.!Lucy!Green!(Bloomington:!Indiana!University!Press,!2011),!239–251.!

Campbell,!Katherine,!The$Fiddle$in$Scottish$Culture:$Aspects$of$the$Tradition!(Edinburgh:!Birlinn,!2007).!

Cofer,!D.,!‘Informal!Workplace!Learning’,!Practice$Application$Brief,$no.$10$!(U.S.!Department!of!Education!Clearinghouse!on!Adult,!Career,!and!Vocational!Education,!2000).!

Cope,!Peter,!‘CommunityIbased!Traditional!Fiddling!as!a!Basis!for!Increasing!Participation!in!Instrument!Playing’,!Music$Education$Research,!1,!no.!1!(1999),!61–73.!

Cope,!Peter,!‘Informal!Learning!of!Musical!Instruments:!The!Importance!of!Social!Context’,!Music$Education$Research,!4,!no.!1!(2002),!93–104.!

Creative!Scotland,!Investing$in$Scotland’s$Creative$Future,$Corporate$Plan$2011–14.$

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Green,!Lucy,!‘The!Music!Curriculum!as!Lived!Experience:!Children's!“Natural”!MusicILearning!Processes’,!Music$Educators$Journal,!3,!no.!91$(2005),!27–32.!

Green,!Lucy,!Music,$Informal$Learning$and$the$School:$A$New$Classroom$Pedagogy!(Burlington,!Vermont:!Ashgate!Publishing!Company,!2008).!

Greig,!Gavin,!and!James!Bruce!Duncan,!The$GreigXDuncan$Folk$Song$Collection,$ed.!Patrick!N.!ShuldhamIShaw,!Emily!B.!Lyle,!and!Peter!Hall!(Aberdeen:!Published!by!Aberdeen!University!Press!for!the!University!of!Aberdeen!in!association!with!the!School!of!Scottish!Studies,!University!of!Edinburgh,!1981).!

Hardie,!Alastair,!The$Caledonian$Companion$(London:!EM!,!1981).!

Hunter,!James,!The$Fiddle$Music$of$Scotland,!ed.!by!Alastair!Hardie!and!William!Hardie!(Edinburgh:!The!Hardie!Press,!1988).!

Jenkins,!P.,!‘Formal!and!Informal!Music!Educational!Practices’,!Philosophy$of$Music$Education$Review,!19,!no.!2!(2011),!179–197.!!

Johnson,!David,!Scottish$Fiddle$Music$of$the$18th$Century!(Edinburgh:!John!Donald,!1984).!!

Lederman,!Ann,!C.!White,!J.!Alexander,!C.!Baggins,!‘Passing!the!Bow:!A!CanadaIScotland!Panel!on!Personal!Experiences!of!Teaching!and!Learning!Traditional!Fiddling’,!Routes$&$Roots:$Fiddle$and$Dance$Studies$From$Around$the$North$Atlantic$4,!ed.!Ian!Russell!and!Chris!Goertzen,!Elphinstone!Institute!Occasional!Publications,!no.!8!(Aberdeen:!Elphinstone!Institute,!2012),!

199–211.!

Lockhart!G.W,!Fiddles$&$Folk:$A$Celebration$of$the$ReXEmergence$of$Scotland’s$Musical$Heritage!(Edinburgh:!Luath!Press!Limited,!1998).!

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McLucas,!Anna!Dhu,!The$Musical$Ear:$Oral$Tradition$in$the$USA!(Burlington,!Vermont:!Ashgate!Publishing!Company,!2011).!

Miller,!Josephine,!‘The!Learning!and!Teaching!of!Traditional!Music’,!Beech,!John,!et!al,!eds.,!Scottish$Life$and$Society:$Oral$Literature$and$Performance$Culture,$A$Compendium$of$Scottish$Ethnology,!vol.!10$(Edinburgh:!Birlinn!Ltd,!2007),!288–304.!

Munro,!Ailie,!The$Democratic$Muse:$Folk$Music$Revival$in$Scotland!(Aberdeen:!Scottish!Cultural!Press,!1996).!

Murray,!Neil!J.,!The$Scots$Fiddle:$Tunes,$Tales$&$Traditions$of$the$NorthXEast$&$Central$Highland!(Glasgow:!Neil!Wilson!Publishing,!1999).!

North!East!Folklore!Archive,!Fiddles$and$Fiddlers,!http://www.nefa.net/archive/songmusicdance/fiddles/musicians.htm.!

O'Flynn,!J.,!‘Vernacular!MusicIMaking!and!Education’,!International$Journal$of$Music$Education,!24,!no.2!(2006),!140–147.!

Russell,!Ian,!‘Working!with!Tradition:!Towards!a!Partnership!Model!of!Fieldwork’,!Folklore,$!117!(2006),!15–34.!

Schippers,!Huib,!Facing$the$Music:$Shaping$Music$Education$From$a$Global$Perspective!(Oxford:!Oxford!University!Press,!2010).!

Scottish!Government,!A$Curriculum$for$Excellence$by$the$Curriculum$Review$Group,$2004.!

Scottish!Government,!A$Curriculum$for$Excellence:$Experiences$and$Outcomes,!http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/expressivearts/index.asp!

Scottish!Government!Instrumental!Music!Group,!Instrumental$Music$Tuition$in$Scotland,!June!2013.!

Scottish!Government,!Traditional$Arts$Working$Group$Report,!January!2010.!

Sheridan,!M.,!and!C.!Byrne,!‘Ceilidh!Culture!and!Higher!Education’,!International$Journal$of$Music$Education,!26,!no.!2!(2008),!147–159.!

ShuldhamIShaw,!Patrick!and!Emily!B.!Lyle,!eds.,!The$GreigXDuncan$Folk$Song$Collection,$Volume$1!(Aberdeen!University!Press:!1981),!xiii.!!

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Vallely,!Fintan,!et!al,!eds.,!Crosbhealach$an$Cheoil,$The$Crossroads$Conference$2003:$Education$and$Traditional$Music!(Dublin:!Whitestone!Music,!2013).!

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Interviews,

EI!2013.022,!Interview!with!Christine!Kydd,!Elphinstone!Institute,!University!of!Aberdeen,!21!February,!2013.!

EI!2013.023,!Interview!with!Susan!Simpson,!Aberdeen,!26!February,!2013.!!

EI!2013.024,!Interview!with!AnnaIWendy!Stevenson,!email!correspondence,!28!February,!2013.!

EI!2013.025,!Interview!with!Katherine!Liley,!Forfar!Academy,!Angus,!4!March,!2013.!

EI!2013.026,!Interview!with!Hannah!Graham,!University!of!Aberdeen,!6!March,!2013.!

EI!2013.027,!Interview!with!Nicola!Auchnie!Tierney,!Aberdeen,!8!March,!2013.!

EI!2013.028,!Interview!with!Josephine!Miller,!Stirling,!27!March,!2013.!

EI!2013.029,!Interview!with!Katherine!Campbell,!School!of!Scottish!Studies,!Edinburgh,!27!March,!2013.!

EI!2013.030,!Interview!with!Claire!White,!Aberdeen,!21!April,!2013.!

EI!2013.031,!Interview!with!Joshua!Dickson,!telephone!to!Glasgow,!22!April,!2013.!

EI!2013.032,!Interview!with!Paul!Anderson,!Aberdeen!Arms!Hotel,!Tarland,!26!April,!2013.!

EI!2013.033,!Interview!with!Sharon!Hassan,!Aberdeen,!29!April,!2013.!

!