Re Stuart Eydmann's recent e-mail on the subject: I am very interested in the work you refer to which was done by Dr. Peter Cooke..........." to explain the internal rhythmic variation in traditional players which gives the music its particular lift, lit and drive." Is it available?
Re the issue of "traditional characteristics" or "the Scottish Idiom" as Hunter describes it ; the following may be of interest to you and others. The quote from Hunter in your e-mail "Snap bowing is one of the most fundamental strokes in strathspey playing", continues "and mastery of it is essential if the player is to capture the rhythmic drive inherent in the music". In my experience not a single Cape Breton fiddler plays or ever did play strathspeys this way. In fact I believe that it is virtually impossible to play strathspeys this way at "step dance" tempo, [176 to 184] but you'd be in for a royal fight if you concluded that CB fiddlers don't play them with rhythmic drive. It is also interesting to note that Hunter's description of "the Scots snap" on the same page and the "up-driven bow" on the following page describe precisely how CB fiddlers execute this bowing. Alexander Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
