A Fine Time

A while ago I wrote here about my interest in playing music and how this had come about. Since moving from Carradale into a (slightly) bigger Scottish village I have teamed up with other players who share my enthusiasm and with whom I feel encouraged and emboldened to squeeze away at my concertina more often. This has taken part of my life in a new direction so I thought maybe it was time to record here where things have gone and what doors it has opened for me.

OK, so we are not talking here about fame and fortune working as a musician. But in Scotland we have a thing called a ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee) which is a traditional social gathering, a lively event where people come together to celebrate, often with traditional Scottish folk music and dancing. Ideally the music comes live from musicians in a band playing together but this does not necessarily imply a professional performance of music and in the case of myself and those who I team up with this is certainly not the case. Our objective is simply to produce something which is sufficiently listenable to and rhythmic so as to generate enough enthusiasm for those in the room who might like to dance. There are a number of traditional set dances which are well known enough and these have tunes which are associated with them such that so long as we can play those particular melodies then there is a good chance that someone will rise from their seat and give it a go. If they are joined on their feet by the requisite number to make a 'set' then that is all we need. All the musicians have to do is to keep playing long enough at the right sort of speed until the dancers feel they have completed the dance. Some dances have a regular sequence of moves to be followed but other than this it is simply a matter of guesswork and intuition, the tunes being repeated to extend the dances if necessary. This might sound quite straightforward, and it is, although keeping time is not as easy as one might think as we have to listen to each other's playing at the same time as playing our own instruments. 

After one dance is finished it might be important to allow the dancers to have a rest (particularly if there is a more senior age profile) so the band might follow on with a slow number, something melodic with a nice harmony or perhaps a song, to fill in until the next dance. This gives us the chance to show off in a different way, to demonstrate musicianship on our own instruments with different arrangements of lesser known tunes. The band in which I now play, The Fyne Thyme Ceilidh Band, has fiddlers (some might call them violinists but when playing traditional music they become fiddlers), guitarists, a keyboard player, a drummer and, of course, my concertina. The noise we make when playing together is sufficient for a small venue although we do use some amplification to help us balance the sound better if there is likely to be a large crowd. And there is one other thing that our band tries to do and that is to invite younger players to join us, either to play along with us or to contribute their own music if they can. We hope that this is of benefit to them such that their confidence will grow and music will become an important part of their lives.

We all have favourite tunes - melodies that touch something hidden inside us that makes us feel good - and to a musician if a tune also falls easily to the fingers then this is an added bonus. But not too easy, or else the challenge of playing that tune is lost and the satisfaction of adding emphasis or 'feeling' becomes too simple.

Just recently our band's repertoire has spread slightly as we play some tunes from another part of the Celtic world, Brittany. The harmonies and the minor keys are interestingly different and it feels satisfying to diversify in this way. We discovered a french website devoted to those learning the diatonic accordion, something we might call a melodeon, but with two different notes on each button, much like my own instrument.

On the same website is a detailed explanation (in french) of how it is possible to know when and where to place one's fingers on a musical instrument without consciously thinking about it. All musicians need this trick, particularly when playing fast, so that the conscious thought process can get on with doing what it does best, putting expression into the music. It is all about constructing connections in the brain between hearing a particular sound and the placement of one's fingers to make that sound. Then if you are reading from written music, there is a further connection involving sight where the dots on the page are associated with particular notes and sequences thereof. All these sensations are reinforced by repetition until they are wired into memory and can be called upon quickly with no conscious thought. Some might think of this as 'finger memory' but it is really our brains that are doing it and in reality it is probably no different from riding a bike or learning to walk on two legs without having to think consciously about avoiding falling over.

Aside from memorising a set of tunes, playing with other musicians requires patience as well as being able to listen to and watch those alongside you. Clues taken from each other's body language is what makes us into a 'band' rather than simply a few people playing instruments at the same time. If I were to inadvertently speed up midway through tune I would need to be brought back into line with a glance from someone else or by seeing their foot stamping on the floor and I must also be prepared to make similar signs myself at times.

All of which needs to be ready for our next gig, coming up in a few weeks time, an eightieth birthday party for a local man. We have a mix of tunes on our set list, ones that are within our musical capabilities and which we have practiced together to improve our confidence. Will I be nervous? Of course I shall, but hopefully my brain will feed my fingers the right instructions without me having to worry about anything.

Music tradition

Unexpectedly, since we moved into our present house, the one on which we have spent so much time and energy transforming it to conform to our tastes, I have been lucky enough to find an outlet for my musical abilities, such as they are. The group of like minded players I have teamed up with are of a broadly similar age and seem to enjoy playing the sort of tunes I feel comfortable with. The music we play is known here in Scotland as 'Traditional' music (although elsewhere it might be called 'Folk' music) and it generally consists of simple tunes, many of which are old, originating in previous centuries, and perhaps having been passed down orally through generations before being recorded as modern day written music.

These are not orchestral symphonies; instead they generally consist of two separate eight bar 'movements' or 'sections' which are referred to amongst musicians as 'A' and 'B'. Typically each of these sections is played twice through, one after the other, an established pattern that encourages participation by other musicians who will always know when the changes occur. This pattern is common to traditional music played throughout the British Isles and Ireland and almost certainly further afield as well. Some variations can arise if there are more sections in the tune, known as 'C' or 'D', but again these will be repeated in sequence following the A and B music. It is the awareness and acceptance of these 'rules' by players that has given rise to the creation of vast libraries of tunes written out in the modern day music language, the lines and dots we are most familiar with. Such tunes can now be accessed through the Internet by anyone interested and performed anywhere, ownership through copyright rarely coming into play.

Also from the world of traditional music is another form of music notation, one that emerged around fifty years ago and in the last ten years has become standardised to make it more accessible and understandable. 'ABC Notation' is a text based system which means that it is far more suitable for use on the smaller computing devices we have come to accept in today's world. And needless to say there are now phone apps available which can transpose music written in ABC, something that can easily be written and amended, into the more conventional form of music, the lines and dots that those of us who grew up with sheets of paper on music stands. For illustration here is an example:

X:1

T:Speed the Plough

M:4/4

C:Trad.

K:G

|:GABc dedB|dedB dedB|c2ec B2dB|c2A2 A2BA|

  GABc dedB|dedB dedB|c2ec B2dB|A2F2 G4:|

|:g2gf gdBd|g2f2 e2d2|c2ec B2dB|c2A2 A2df|

  g2gf g2Bd|g2f2 e2d2|c2ec B2dB|A2F2 G4:|

This is a very simple example but the same code can be used to create far more complex pieces with multiple parts, chords and rhythms, indeed whole orchestral scores can be written in ABC by those clever enough and familiar with the code. For this is what it is, in effect, a computer code which has a set of rules, all of which are managed by letters and symbols found on a standard computer keyboard.

I don't know of anyone who plays directly from ABC notated music (personally I would find this very difficult) but given the world we live in it does not come as a surprise to see the traditional music stand being replaced by a selfie stick supporting a phone or tablet. (I have long ceased to marvel at the abilities of these devices.) However reading music in any form is not important for many performers of traditional music. The tunes themselves often predate written music - they have survived through the ages by being heard and committed to memory then passed on to others - and thankfully for me such tunes do not require great skill to learn and play.