Fiddle Styles

Cape Breton style is the old Scottish style of some 150-200 years ago. Its main influences are pipes and traditional singing. It's highly ornamented and mostly uses single bows.

West Coast style is exemplified by the playing of Angus Grant. It's a style which doesn't relate much to the old fiddle style and seems to have come mostly from piping. There's a lot of ornamentation and very long bowstrokes are used to mimic the drone of the pipes.

There's a traditional east coast style that is very seldom heard. Most of the east coast players of today are heavily influenced by classical violin style. There's one recording of the old style I know: "The Cameron Men".

Shetland is a totally different tradition which relates strongly to Scandinavian fiddling.

To compare various fiddle styles from around Scotland, the following tape/CD from Greentrax may be of use:
The Fiddler and his art (reference: CDTRAX/CTRAX 9009) there is another one in this series focussing on Shetland music: CDTRAX/CTRAX "Shetland Fiddle Music"

Alasdair Fraser has also recorded "Portrait of a Scottish Fiddler" - this is now available on CD. For Cape Breton Fiddle styles, anything by Buddy MacMaster or Natalie MacMaster is recommended.

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