Capercaillie

1. Capercaillie the study of this set work you will learn about: ‘Skye Waulking Song’ from the Album Nadurra • the development of folk music • • the music of Capercaillie • how the set work 'Skye Waulking Song' is constructed through an analysis of the music • • the key features in the music.

2. Folk music • Folk music is music of the people - hence the name 'folk' music. • It is generally music performed and owned by the lower classes of a society expressing something about their way of life, how they used to live, or about local mythology. • It is passed on by the oral tradition and is rarely notated. • Folk music is often played at informal occasions, such as jam sessions at pubs or impromptu performances at any social gathering. • Folk music is about everyone taking part, enjoying the music and passing on the tales of life, legend and heritage. Folk music around the world • There is folk music in every region of every country, reflecting the traditions, life and myths of that particular corner of the world. • In the US, folk music was performed by artists such as Woodie Guthrie, who learned songs from his mother and recorded his own versions of them. • He in turn influenced Bob Dylan, who wrote songs in a folk style but whose lyrics were politically charged - he wrote lyrics protesting against the Vietnam War and other things that he felt strongly opposed to. • Folk songs with political lyrics such as Dylan's were known as protest songs.

3. Folk instruments • guitar • harmonica • hurdy gurdy - a similar shape to a violin, • but played by a wheel rotating in contact • with the strings. The pitch of the strings • is changed by a set of keys rather than • direct contact with the fingers • mandolin • piano • tin/penny whistle • uilleannpipes - similar to the bagpipes, • but using bellows operated by the • elbow rather than blowing. They • produce a sweeter and quieter sound • than the bagpipes making them more • suitable for use in an ensemble of other • instruments • Folk music is traditionally played on acoustic instruments. Some of the most common instruments used in folk music include the following: • accordion • bagpipes • banjo • bodhran - Irish drum struck with the hand or a double-ended stick called a 'tipper' or 'bones‘ • bouzouki - a Greek string instrument, generally with four groups of two strings tuned in unison or octaves. It was imported to Ireland and developed into a very similar instrument called the Irish bouzouki • concertina - similar to an accordion, but smaller • double bass • fiddle - the name given for a violin played in a folk music context.

4. Electric instruments • Electric instruments such as the electric bass, keyboard and electric guitar have been used in folk music almost as long as they have in popular music. • Purists fell that music should always be played on acoustic instruments - folk music is also called 'traditional music', and electric instruments are not traditional or part of the folk heritage, so some people felt that the use of electric instruments in folk music was something of a betrayal of their values. • With the introduction of electric instruments into folk music, there is often a cross-over of stylistic influences as well, such as the introduction of elements from pop or rock music (riffs, rock rhythms etc), • When another musical style is integrated with folk music, it is called a fusion of musical styles.

5. Fusion • In a wider musical context, fusion is a mingling of more than one musical style or culture - it does not have to include folk music. • This could be the fusion of Indian music with Western popular music (Bhangra), jazz with classical music, African music with Celtic music and so on. • When talking about fusion, it is important to know what musical styles are fusing together in order to understand the term. • Capercaillie are an example of a band that fuse Celtic folk music with the instruments and production values of Western popular music.

6. Waulking songs • Waulking is an ancient process used for making tweed fabric more flexible and windproof. • A waulking song refers to a song used to make this process into a more sociable occasion. • To keep everyone in time, the work was accompanied by song - waulking song. There would be one person leading with lyrics based on a well-known story, some aspect of village life or general gossip, and the others would join in after each line with some nonsense syllables (serving the same purpose as 'la-la-la' might do in a modern song). • It was considered unlucky to repeat a whole verse, so the songs often had many verses with each line repeated once to form a verse, perhaps giving the lead singer time to think of the next line. • Although machines are used now to produce Harris tweed commercially, the process of waulking by hand or feet still continues in some parts of Scotland as a means of preserving the tradition and as a social occasion for the women of the region. • Waulking songs are still sung by these societies and collections of waulking songs have been produced in notation and recordings.

7. Background to Capercaillie • Capercaillie were formed in Oban High School, in the West Highlands of Scotland, in the early 1980s by Donald Shaw and a few friends • The name is taken from a Scottish grouse (a native bird) • The band preserve Scottish folk music, often singing in the Scots Gaelic dialect. • They were first spotted as a potential recording act while performing in the Mull Music Festival in Tobermory in 1983. • Singer Karen Matheson (winner of a national Gaelic singing competition) joined them in 1984 when they recorded their debut album, Cascade. • Fiddle player Charlie McKerronjoined the band in 1985 and Manus Lunny(guitar and Irish bouzouki) in 1988. • DonalLunny, brought some production skills to the band when he produced their 1989 album Sidewaulk - their first album to contain songs with English lyrics • In 1991 they recorded the album Delerium. This album contained an arrangement of a folk song 'Coisich a Ruin' - a 400-year-old work song that they brought new life to with their fusion sound of electric instruments and interesting rhythms. • In the 1990s, they released the self-titled album Capercaillie, which did very well commercially, but was slated by the folk community as a 'disco' record because of the dance music-influenced percussion parts in the album.

8. Background to Nadurra • Nadurrawas released in September 2000 featuring Capercaillie's highly acclaimed touring line-up as follows: • Donald Shaw: accordion, piano, synth • Michael McGoldrick: flutes, whistle, uilleann pipes • Karen Matheson: vocals • Ewen Vernal: acoustic and electric bass • Charlie McKerron: fiddle • Manus Lunny: bouzouki, guitar, bodhran, vocals • James MacKintosh: drums, percussion • This line-up was acclaimed as 'the marriage made in heaven' because of their individual virtuosity on their own instruments, and also because of the way they gelled together so well as an ensemble, seeming to create a sound greater than the sum of the parts. • The line-up for the band has gone through many incarnations over time, but this particular line-up stayed together for several years in a row, allowing them to build up a real musical partnership. • If you listen to the opening of 'Skye Waulking Song', the sound of the band is almost that of one instrument, the musicians understand each other so well.

9. Story and lyrics • 'Skye Waulking Song' is a waulking song telling the tale of Seathan, son of the king of Ireland, from a collection of Gaelic folk songs by Alexander Carmichael. • The original song was nearly 200 lines long and would have taken over an hour to perform, but the Capercaillie version uses just an extract from the Alexander Carmichael collection. • The original song was a lament sung by Seathan's wife, telling of his deeds, his character, her recollections of times spent with him and his demise. • The long lament is a way of grieving, of sharing her feelings and as a sort of therapeutic way of dealing with her loss. • The full title for the song, as recorded by Capercaillie, is 'ChuirM'AthairMiseDhanTaighCharraideach' (My father sent me to a house of sorrow).

10. The full lyrics are as follows (nonsense syllables are shown in italics): M'an do bhrist mo lamh an t-arandhomh Hi rihuraibhi o ho M'and'rinn mo sgianbiadh a ghearradhdhomh O hi a bhorohu o ho M'and'rinn mo sgianbiadh a ghearradhdhomh Hi rihuraibhi o ho Sheathainchridhenansulsocair O hi a bhorohu o ho Hi ro ho Tha do bhatanochd 's naportaibh Hi rihuraibhi o ho Och, ma tha, chaneilisociar O hi a bhorohu o ho Och, ma tha, chaneilisociar Hi rihuraibhi o ho O nachrochthu, ghaoil, natoiseach O hi a bhorohu o ho Hi ro ho Hi rihuraibhi o ho Hi ro ho Hi rihuraibhi o ho Chuirm'athairmisedha'ntaighcharraideach O hi a bhorohu o hoHi ro ho Chuirm'athairmisedha'ntaighcharraideach Hi rihuraibhi o ho 'N oidhche sin a rinn e bhanaisdhomh O hi a bhorohu o ho 'N oidhche sin a rinn e bhanaisdhomh Hi rihuraibhi o ho Gurtruagh a Righnachb'em'fhalairidh O hi a bhorohu o ho Gurtruagh a Righnachb'em'fhalairidh Hi rihuraibhi o ho M'an do bhrist mo lamh an t-arandhomh O hi a bhorohu o ho

15. Important points to note • Harmony in this style of music is less important than melody and rhythm. • The harmony is very simple throughout the song (there are only four chords in the whole song), but the changes in chord sequence, while infrequent, are very noticeable when they happen, highlighting a change of section and mood. • The melodic lines are played in the folk style - the instruments improvise around the melody simultaneously, sometimes playing a very similar melody in slightly different ways (creating a heterophonic texture) and sometimes weaving a complex, improvised counterpoint around the melody and scale (G major). • The vocal part is sung using the scale of E minor pentatonic (or G major pentatonic) throughout. • The traditions of waulking song can be heard in the use of the nonsense syllables between each sung line and the repetition of each line of the verse. • Also, the backing vocals join in for the vocalising of the nonsense syllables in between each line of lyrics.

16. Glossary • oral tradition a tradition which is passed on by word of mouth or imitation rather than by written means • protest songs folk songs with political lyrics • fusion a mingling, or blending together, of more than one musical style or culture to create a new 'fused' sound • heterophonic texture two or more parts playing the same melodic line simultaneously with small variations between the parts

17. Text taken from Edexcel GCSE Music – John Arkell, Jonny Martin Pearson Education Ltd. 2009