United Kingdom Music: Instruments and Ensembles
Instruments of England
Fiddle
The fiddle, in England as in many countries, was the most important instrument for traditional dancing. Virtuoso traditions did not develop as they did in Ireland and Scotland, but country fiddlers were found in every region of England. Many fiddlers were musically literate, and preserved their tunes in tunebooks, which have been a valuable source to young fiddlers seeking to keep up the tradition.
Accordion and Concertina
The accordion and concertina became important in the second half of the 19th century. The volume, low cost, simple playing technique, and self-accompanying capability of the button accordion—usually called a melodeon by English folk musicians—made it a favorite instrument for country dances.
The concertina has the distinction of being the only musical instrument invented in England. (It was patented in 1829 by Charles Wheatstone, otherwise known as the inventor of the telegraph.) The instrument is strongly associated with Morris dancing, though this connection dates only to the late 19th century. Cecil Sharpe recorded the tunes and style of William Kimber, who played for an Oxfordshire Morris dance group, so we have a very good idea of how that music sounded. The concertina also provided music for country dancing; Scan Tester was a traditional dance concertina player who lived long enough to be recorded.
Bagpipes
Several different bagpiping traditions once coexisted in Great Britain, but only the Great Highland bagpipe in Scotland and the Northumbrian bagpipe from the Borders region can claim an unbroken tradition. Northumbrian piping has undergone periodic revivals throughout its long history, and there are many tunes for it, both traditional and recently composed. There have been several attempts to revive extinct regional bagpipes such as the Lincolnshire pipes and the Leicestershire small pipes.
Other Instruments
Other revivals have seen the resurrection of the Cornish bombarde, a folk oboe, and the crowdy crawn, the Cornish version of the Irish bodhran frame drum.
Instruments of Scotland
The Harp
In the popular mind, Scotland is the bagpipe, but at one time the most respected instrument was the harp. It is not certain when the harp was introduced into Scotland, or who introduced it. Ancient Pictish stone carvings depict a form of harp. The Gaels who invaded from Ireland probably brought along their own version. Of the three surviving ancient harps of the British Isles, two are in Scotland (and the third may have been made there).
The harping tradition began to die with the destruction of the Gaelic aristocracy. Since then Scottish musicians have tried sporadically to revive the harp, researching harp tunes from old manuscripts and re-imagining the music. By the late 20th century the tradition seems to have been reestablished, and there are now numerous harpers, amateur and professional. An important figure in this revival, and a brilliant performer and composer, is harper and visual artist Alison Kinnaird.
Bagpipes
The Great Highland bagpipes, unlike many traditional instruments, have never been in danger of extinction. After the defeat of the Scots at Culloden in 1746, it was for a while a capital crime to wear a tartan kilt or play the pipes. The prohibition must have been less than successful, however, since before the end of the 18th century the Brits hit upon the idea of putting the kilt-wearing, pipe-playing Scots in the British army. Bagpipe playing was preserved, and the sound of the pipes are heard around the world.
There are countless pipe bands and solo pipers in Scotland today. New pipe tunes are being composed, and the old ones lovingly preserved. And the pipes turn up in new and unusual configurations, partnering electric guitars in bands like Wolfstone, with Afro-Brazilian drums in MacUmba, or in heavy-metal-influenced neo-barbarian ensembles like Albannach (with four drummers and one piper).
Lowland Pipes
Lowland piping traditions, nearly extinct, have recently been revived in Scotland. The Lowland pipes (often known as border pipes for their origins in the Borders region of southern Scotland) are similar to the Great Highland pipes, but quieter and blown by bellows attached above the player’s elbows. The border pipes are similar to the Northumbrian pipes from across the border in England, though they have their own repertoire and style of playing. Hamish Moore and Gordon Mooney are the main movers behind the revival of these pipes, both as pipemakers and performers.
Fiddle
The fiddle was introduced to Scotland in the 17th century, and the century after saw a great flourishing of fiddle playing and tune writing. Neil Gow and William Marshall were the two greatest fiddlers and composers of the 18th century, when a vast amount of fiddle music was created. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Scott Skinner used classical violin technique and a prolific gift for composing tunes to make Scottish fiddle music popular far beyond Scotland. Contemporary fiddlers are legion; two outstanding and well-recorded ones are Aly Bain and Alastair Fraser.
Accordion
The accordion began to appear in Scotland during the late 19th century; in the 20th century it became a favored instrument for dance music. Accordion player and bandleader Jimmy Shand created a style that is still the standard for Scottish country dance music. More recent players such as Phil Cunningham bring a subtlety and precision to their playing and make accordion a respected part of traditional music.
Instruments of Wales
The long dominance of the Methodist church put a big dent in the tradition of dance music in Wales from which it is only now recovering. Nevertheless, traditional tunes have not completely vanished, and are being revived and reinvented by new generations of musicians.
Harp
Wales has an unbroken tradition of harp playing. The harp is held in high esteem and considered the traditional instrument par excellence. Music for the harp is the model for all Welsh instrumental music.
A unique form of the harp has been developed in Wales: the telyn deires (triple harp). The Celtic harp is a diatonic instrument, limited to a few keys. Some harps were made so that strings could be sharpened or flattened by turning a lever, but fully chromatic tunes were not possible. Since most traditional music is modal, chromaticism was not strictly necessary. Perhaps due to the need to accompany singers with different ranges, or perhaps influenced by art music, Welsh harpers adapted a harp with three rows. The outer rows on each side were tuned to a diatonic scale, like a standard harp. The inner row was tuned to give accidentals, like the black keys on a piano. This gave the harper the ability to change keys at will. Though invented in Italy, the triple harp caught on only in Wales. The unique construction and tuning of the triple harp has led to a style of ornamentation found nowhere else.
Crwth
Another instrument found only in Wales is the crwth (“krooth”). The crwth is a bowed lyre, similar to the talharpas of the Scandinavian countries. Equipped with five strings, two of which function only as drones, the instrument has a flat bridge, and all strings are bowed at once. Medieval church carvings show the crwth played together with the harp. Crwth playing had died out by the early 19th century, but is being revived today.
Fiddle
The fiddle was introduced to Wales in the 17th century, and soon replaced the crwth as the main instrument for dance music. It is an important part of the folk music revival in Wales, often heard at Welsh music sessions. Like the crwth, it is often played together with the harp.
Hornpipes and Bagpipes
The pibgorn (hornpipe) is not unique to Wales. Hornpipes have been played from North Africa to Scandinavia to Eastern Europe and Asia. The instrument is basically a kind of folk clarinet, with a single cane reed. A cow horn is used as a bell to amplify the sound; another horn forms the mouthpiece, with the wide end toward the player’s mouth.
The pibgorn was traditionally played with circular breathing—a challenging technique that produces a constant tone. An easier way to accomplish the same result is to stick the pibgorn in a skin bag. Thus arises the pibau cyrn—bagpipes. Bagpiping was well attested in Wales up to the 18th century. By the late 20th century, bagpipes were no longer used in Wales, but they have been revived based on the few specimens preserved in museums. Ceri Rhys Mathews has been the moving force behind the bagpipe revival, as both a pipemaker and performer.
Article written for World Trade Press by Marc Lecard.
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