Scottish Tuning for Scottish Tunes

[boxplayer4000]

Pipemajor, Tom.
Raised in the country those work tasks were very familiar to me. I would add singling and then shawing turnips (after having scraped off the frost and snow) and the gathering of rosehips, which also raised some pocket-money. Probably this would all be called something akin to child slavery now but it didn't feel like that at the time. It also might suggest a degree of poverty to some people and though there were not many luxuries in the early post-war years I was always well fed and clothed and had good footwear.

 

[dunlustin]

I've never really enjoyed Scottish tuning but along with the horse-drawn plough, the tune and the colour of the soil, I can't imagine anything else that would fit so well.

 

[losthobos]

You know I've never really liked/have a strong aversion too Scottish tuned accordions and music but listening to some of the music in this thread from a cultural viewpoint has been most impressive...I must endeavour to be less blinkered in future
Thankyou Mr walker for the enlightenment

 

[Pipemajor]

Pipemajor, Tom.
Raised in the country those work tasks were very familiar to me. I would add singling and then shawing turnips (after having scraped off the frost and snow) and the gathering of rosehips, which also raised some pocket-money. Probably this would all be called something akin to child slavery now but it didn't feel like that at the time. It also might suggest a degree of poverty to some people and though there were not many luxuries in the early post-war years I was always well fed and clothed and had good footwear.

Ah yes, I think we called it snedding the neeps in Angus. Never did it personally but tried the rosehips gathering. I think it was encouraged by the government for vitamin C production.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Pipemajor.
Happy Daze!

 

[Ventura]

when a Scotsman plays these songs the
tuning sounds good to my ear in the moment

accordionists like me from the typical discipline
of my era in the USA normally play a lot of
chords and in pretty much every song.. even the songs with
those beautiful solo melody lines we find ways to slip some nice
chord combinations in (instead of the nice little trills or ornaments with
quick solo notes that you use)

that is why a strong meusette won't work for us or be appreciated
really, as to use even my one truly French tuned accordion requires
a lot of self control to resist my normal way of playing songs

but Petit Waltz does sound the best in that tuning of all my accordions
when i keep my wits about me and resist hitting a chord

a soon as i hit a chord the beauty of that strong meusette turns evil

i guess the accordion, the sound, the tuning, should dictate the songs
you play on it.. maybe the accordions are born actually having these songs
built in and we must just discover them

 

[dunlustin]

Ventura, I think you hit the nail on the head.
For me, I am not particularly fond of how accordion playing developed in the USA. For me, in a word - too many notes.
In Europe the origins are much more in single note playing with decoration:
In Scotland, accordion music grew out of pipe playing and the fiddle.
In France it was the fiddle, the biniou (friendlier bagpipes), the bombarde and the vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy).
In Ireland even bass/chord was little used on the button boxes. The Anglo concertina lends itself to tune + harmony but that has not found much favour in Irish trad music.
Look up 'skirl' and you will find the definition is unflattering. If you have ever heard, in the early hours of the morning in an otherwise deserted town, the sound of a Highland soldier piping himself home, then you know the real meaning of the word 'skirl.'
There is always room for music that grabs you by the 'tripes.'

 

[Tom]

Ventura, I think you hit the nail on the head.
For me, I am not particularly fond of how accordion playing developed in the USA. For me, in a word - too many notes.
In Europe the origins are much more in single note playing with decoration:
In Scotland, accordion music grew out of pipe playing and the fiddle.
In France it was the fiddle, the biniou (friendlier bagpipes), the bombarde and the vielle à roue (hurdy gurdy).
In Ireland even bass/chord was little used on the button boxes. The Anglo concertina lends itself to tune + harmony but that has not found much favour in Irish trad music.
Look up 'skirl' and you will find the definition is unflattering. If you have ever heard, in the early hours of the morning in an otherwise deserted town, the sound of a Highland soldier piping himself home, then you know the real meaning of the word 'skirl.'
There is always room for music that grabs you by the 'tripes.'

The question we face here concerns the evolution of the "too many notes" phenomenon. Lets get back to an easier question like cba versus piano or how many cents you should have.

 

[Ventura]

just enough cents for coffee (with free refill) and a doughnut suits me

 

[dunlustin]

" Let's get back to an easier question"
Not a question - just my prejudice - I don't even believe I'm right