I want to start this blog doing a review about the most important styles of Scotland’s music, their famous instruments and history.
Do you know something about traditional Scottish music? Maybe the most famous Scottish music band was Jethro Tull whose singer Ian Anderson mixes traditional Scottish music to folk or rock and roll, always with his flute. And I can’t forget Franz Ferdinand, from Glasgow, with more than five millions discs sold out. Their music blends punk with art rock.
Now, let’s look at their famous instruments: accordion, bagpipes (its original music is called Piobaireachd, which literally means 'piping' in Gaelic. It is also known as 'cèol mòr' which means 'great music'), fiddle, guitar, harp or tin whistle… do you know what I mean? There are the traditional musical instruments that everybody remembers. But, Scottish music is much more. It’s a mix up between different cultures from the rest of the Europe and United States, and thanks to emigration, is influenced and makes many forms of music. The instrumental music forms the base of all melodies of every kind of dance.
Originally, gaelic music is probably the oldest traditional Scottish music. Currently you can listen to this kind not only in the Highlands and Islands, but also in other regions through the country. The “Mod” is the annual festival where Gaelic poetry and music is commemorated.
In addition, the lowlands have their own tradition. It’s the folk music, whose ballads speak about current problems, daily facts of the country, as well as love, freedom and life in general. At the moment, the “big bands” of folk are Capercaillie or Runrig. Have you heard of them?
If this summary is not enough for you interests…wait for the next instalment!!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment