Next to the Pipe and drum bands, probably the most popular and well known of traditional Scottish music is the Scottish country dance bands, which typically consist of two accordions, a fiddle, a piano, a bass and drums. There are hundreds of these bands throughout Scotland, (and undoubtedly thousands more throughout the world), who provide the music for Scottish country dancing, and also appear in their own right in clubs music halls and theatres. The bands generally play to a strict tempo, which, of course, is essential when providing the background for dancing.
Scottish fiddle music is performed at concerts and other events throughout Scotland. The Scottish fiddle dates back to the sixteenth Century and is played in a number of regional styles; namely Shetland, Orkney, West Coast, East coast and Borders, each with their own distinctive techniques.
Scottish Gaelic music has its roots in the Western Isles, (Outer Hebrides), and ranges from unaccompanied singing, to music played by pipes, fiddles, dance bands and even full instrumental music. The music has been appropriated into English songs for centuries, (such as “Mari’s Wedding”), and in form, can be sweet, melodic twenty note songs to complex and sonorous twenty minute pipe tunes; from laments to love songs, to merry dance tunes.
Scottish fiddle music is performed at concerts and other events throughout Scotland. The Scottish fiddle dates back to the sixteenth Century and is played in a number of regional styles; namely Shetland, Orkney, West Coast, East coast and Borders, each with their own distinctive techniques.
Scottish Gaelic music has its roots in the Western Isles, (Outer Hebrides), and ranges from unaccompanied singing, to music played by pipes, fiddles, dance bands and even full instrumental music. The music has been appropriated into English songs for centuries, (such as “Mari’s Wedding”), and in form, can be sweet, melodic twenty note songs to complex and sonorous twenty minute pipe tunes; from laments to love songs, to merry dance tunes.