It has been observed that the lower competitive grades appear to be required to learn standard settings and interpretations in order to advance. The principle is perhaps best described as an insistance that a “foundation” must be laid before venturing into the more complex musical arenas reflected in the primary sources.
A different perspective may be offered: that by exposing the young student to these manuscripts, demands are made upon her/him with respect to musicianship, interpretation and taking muscial responsibility for choices that would otherwise not be learned until much later, if at all, in her/his competitive career.
As long as we insist upon “foundationalism” based upon canonical performance and scores, anything else takes on a quality of “revisionism” and is put into a position of having to be defended. The deep irony is, the primary source material exposes “traditionalism” as a late modern construct, and shows that orthodoxy of interpretation is an exception to the historical rule of individual expression and interpretation.
This may be due to the interesting fact that musical transmission of pibroch was conflated with interpretive tradition: rather than seeing the purpose of instruction as a handing on of music to future generations, it was viewed instead as securing specific interpretive approaches to tunes. Apostolic succession, arguments from authority, performing pedigree became the norm. Given the constraints of the competition environment, this meant that one interpretive tradition came into conflict with another, until eventually a particular, limited approach became canonized.
This is a natural trajectory, a succession of historical events and forces premised upon a limited concept of musical transmission.
But if we take a step back and view pibroch history against the background of the broader musical universe, we may consider alternative perspectives: no musical tradition survives if interpretive orthodoxy is imposed. A thriving musical scene arises from grounding in living communities of unbounded musical performances and inspired/inspiring creativity.
Here’s an example that immediately comes to mind, one with roots in Scottish culture and history: Bluegrass [It was pointed out to me that perhaps a better term here would be “old time music”, which informed everything from early gospel to folk, country and bluegrass by the early 20th century - ed.] in America nearly disappeared into irrelevance by its association with cultural conservatism and an inability to grow beyond its limited communities and “acceptability”. A musical form that took root in working-class communities, it became a form that would not grow out of its very limited experience and perspective of particular (and sometimes very isolated) regions and peoples.
But then, something happened: talented urban musicians came to appreciate the musical orchestration of banjo, mandolin, dobro, fiddle and acoustic guitar, and the Alternative Bluegrass movement took hold and exploded in America. This musical form is alive and well, and extends to international audiences (think of Mumford and Sons, Sarah Jarosz and The Punch Brothers, whose lead mandolin player won a coveted MacArthur Foundation Fellowship) without losing its musical authenticity and origins. Bluegrass’s musical transmission is no longer constrained by interpretive tradition and limited community perspectives/experiences. It has found a new home, because new performers went back to its roots, found something enlivening and authentic, and brought what they learned to new audiences, and they are creating new music.
Pibroch’s future is full of such potential: if we can overcome the limited community boundaries, the orthodox interpretive constraints, and instead celebrate and encourage new interpretation and new music, we may find ourselves once again in a thriving musical scene.
But even if this does not sound like the kind of direction appropriate for competition, if this sounds too far afield and outside of pibroch performance and learning, nevertheless our future must be grounded in the sure and certain fact of the breadth of our historical foundations. It must grow to include environments that reward creative interpretations, and require from the performer (whether amateur or professional, whether at recitals or competitions) a responsibility to live up to the demands of musicianship and creativity that were are the heart of our tradition, at its very roots.
And all this must start early in our pedagogy, so that even the very least experienced among us come to know of the richness of our history and the opportunities for our creative future.
And for that reason, we can, and should, learn from our ancient elders.
You assume that competitions are, or will remain, central to the pibroch scene.
I can’t think of any new venue for lower grade players that will present itself on a universal scale like competition currently does. Inexperienced players show up to competitions and have no valid choice but to play from PS or KB in a manner that imitates a known “authoritative” source. Straying has a tendency for immediate dismissal, although not in the manner of waving them off the boards, but it can almost be as cruel. Seeing how much older MSS or even century-old collections deviate from current styles only makes the insistance of dogmatic adherance to modern style ludicrous at best. It is so encouraging to hear the fresh openess of the PS representatives, and can only hope it will trickle down to the lower grades within my lifetime.
For now, I am assuming it will remain integral, yes.
It’s my concern than if and when this is no longer true, competitions will become so different as to become an anachronism. I don’t want that to happen. I would like to see competitors expand the idiom, and judges to adopt to the historical breadth. In that way, some of our best players and most prestigious events will continue to remain within our world of performative exploration.
This doesn’t just apply to Piob music but rather almost every idiom we play and teach. A simple example is the difference between the trad band approach to Flett from Flotta compared to what you can hear from the accordion of Phil Cunningham…who is more “authentic”.???…kids need to hear this sort of comparison early on …
I learned one way only to play strathspeys and then I had the chance to get to know and play in a band with George Shears from Nova Scotia and heard for the first time a whole new(old) way of playing strathspeys
I’m all for a foundational approach when it comes to technique and execution and sound but when it comes to phrasing and structure flow and interpretation we have to expose our kids to as many voices as possible if we want them to become lifetime learners and performers and tradition bearers…and if we want them to develop there own voice as musicians.
I was lucky enough to be taught in this way…
I just returned to the competitive forum after an absence of 20 years….not much has changed…other than an slightly more open and receptive judging pool from what i can see. Having spent the last 15 years in the world of kids minor sports it is even more clear to me that our formats are much closer to competitive sports. And having said that some of the comparisons between the two are revealing…
Very early on kids are expected to be able to play an adult game of hockey, lacrosse, and or soccer…and coaches are introducing systems and a whole gamut of controlled and structured ways of playing the “game”
Same with piping ( at least in solos) we expect them to play the competitive repotoire….and piobbreached isn’t even introduced to a kid unless he or she is “serious”
The kid who plays amazing 4/4’s, 3/4’s..2 part strathspeys in his or her band has no venue to gain the respect of their peers and the one who is eager to move on and show off quickly leave these tunes behind ( and often their bandmates) in their eagerness to to compete and win and yet they are the foundational tunes of all our idioms..
Anyways sorry for the rant but it seems to me that some of these early sources and tunes are exactly what we should be introducing early to the kids….and THEN as they develop show them the standards if they choose to go forward in the limited forum of competition….
Maybe even do a mind bending thing and ask a kid to develop her own variations on the theme expressed in….The Battle is Over…or Castle Dangerous….
If I was teaching a band again and a games offered 3/4′ and 4/4 contests you could be sure every kid i had under my wing would be entered…..and you would have a LOT of adult learners jump in too….what about offering up more chances to play just urlars and variations …… again more kids and adults would enter…
Good thoughts. I appreciate the encouragement for grassroots musical adventuring done by amateur players, as well as top-down creativity led by professionals.
I’m going to pick on one reference, because it’s something I see in some current “Scottish” music. I’m not sure Mumford & Sons has much connection to bluegrass. They sound to my ears more like normal commercial pop music which has appropriated a bluegrass veneer, without any real cultural roots. Similar to a band like Drop Kick Murphy’s - co-opting a “Celtic” timbre to paint over their very standard punk rock - or pretty much any pop/nu-country act, for that matter.
Pop music is the new folk music; music of the people. Unfortunately it’s not generally music by the people, like a traditional folk music, but rather a commodity solely for the people.
I think this has some pertinence to what we do, what is happening in Scotland currently. It seems that some up-and-coming Scottish bands aim for a quick “Scotish-ness” by adding traditional instruments like the bagpipe, without a cultural understanding of traditional Scottish music. The roots don’t seem to go very deep. The best current Scottish groups/bands are those that in addition to using traditional Scottish instrumentation are also deeply connected to the place and people of the culture, both past and present. Easier said than done, of course! The upside is more and more people are picking up traditional instruments in Scotland, ensuring it remains music played by the people.
It’s great that performers and composers can make a healthy living these days doing more than just teaching. I just hope the commercialization of the music which has happened doesn’t lead to a commodified nu-Scottish music made and received with cultural blinders. Thankfully there is still a lot of new music coming out of Scotland that has deep roots while also growing out in new directions.
Very good article.