Donegal fiddle tradition

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The Donegal fiddle tradition is a kind of Irish traditional music, based on a tradition, or set of coexisting traditions, at least 200 years old, of playing the fiddle in County Donegal, Ireland. Donegal is a remote partly Irish-speaking highland-county in northwestern Ireland and one of the three counties of the northern Irish province of Ulster that are part of the Republic of Ireland. Donegal's tradition of fiddle playing has completely eclipsed other instrumental traditions in the county.

There is a so-called Donegal style of fiddling, though one also might plausibly identify several different, but related, styles within the county. To the extent to which there is one common style in the county, it is characterized by a rapid pace; a tendency to be more straight-ahead (unswung) in the playing of the fast dance tune types (reel and jigs); short (one-note-per-bowstroke), aggressive bowing; relatively sparse ornamentation; the use of bowed triplets (also known as trebles) more often than rolls (an ornament like a turn) as ornaments; the use of double stops and droning (playing on more than one string at once); and the occurrence of "playing the octave", with one player playing the melody and the other playing the melody an octave lower. None of these characteristics is universal, and there is some disagreement as to the extent to which there is a common style at all. But in general, aggressive and lively fiddling is very often heard in Donegal, which many listeners find exciting. Donegal styles have been influenced to a great extent by southern Irish styles and has influenced and been influenced by Scottish music, and by the sounds, ornaments, and repertoire of the Píob Mhór, the traditional bagpipes of Ireland and Scotland.

Another feature of Donegal fiddling that makes it distinctive among Irish musical traditions is the variety of rare tune types that are played. Highlands, a 4/4 type of tune with similarities to Scottish strathspeys, which are also played in Donegal, are one of the most commonly played types of tune in the county. Other tune types common in the county, but relatively uncommon elsewhere, include barndances, also called "Germans," and mazurkas.

[edit] History

Map showing the geography and some of the different regions of Donegal.

There are, of course, a number of different strands to the history of fiddle playing in County Donegal. Perhaps the best-known and, in the last half of the twentieth century, the most influential has been that of the Doherty family. Hugh Doherty is the first known musician of this family. Born in 1790, he headed an unbroken tradition of fiddlers and pipers in the Doherty family until the death, in 1980, of perhaps the best-known Donegal fiddler, John Doherty. John, a travelling tinsmith, was known for his extremely precise and fast finger- and bow-work and vast repertoire, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest Irish fiddlers ever recorded. John's older brother, Mickey, was also recorded and, though Mickey was another of the great Irish fiddlers, his reputation has been overshadowed by John's.

As said before, there has been no single Donegal style but several distinctive styles. These styles traditionally come from the geographical isolated regions of Donegal including Inishowen, East Donegal, The Rosses and Gweedore, Croaghs, Teelin, Kilcar, Glencolmcille, Ballyshannon and Bundoran. Even with improved communications and transport, these regions still have recognisably different ways of fiddle playing. Famous players, now dead, of the older Donegal styles include Neillidh ("Neilly") Boyle, Francie Byrne, Con Cassidy, and Frank Cassidy. A great fiddler from Donegal who bears mention, but who did not play in a traditional Donegal style, was Hugh Gillespie. Some great living Donegal fiddlers, include James Byrne, Vincent Campbell, John Gallagher, Paddy Glackin, Danny O'Donnell, and Tommy Peoples.

[edit] Modern Players

The current line-up of well known Donegal band Altan.

The popularity of fiddle playing continues in Donegal. Among the many younger players, the three fiddlers of the Donegal "supergroup" Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Paul O'Shaughnessy, Dinny McLaughlin, and Ciarán Tourish, are commonly regarded as brilliant, as are Mick Brown, Martin McGinley, Dermot McLaughlin, and others too numerous to mention by name. Finally, although he is not known as a fiddle player, Dermot Byrne, the button accordion player currently with Altan, has a style and repertoire that is firmly within the Donegal instrumental tradition; he is widely regarded as one of the finest button accordion players in Ireland. Liz Doherty is the youngest member of this tradition. Her album "Last Orders" appeared in 1999.

The fiddle, and traditional music in general, has remained popular in Donegal not just because of the international success of certain artists but because of local pride in the music. Traditional music Seisiúns are still common place both in pubs and in houses, even outside the tourist season. Music is still taught by the family members or by neighbours keeping regional styles alive and distinct. The Donegal fiddle music has been influenced by recorded music but this is thought by many players as having a positive effect on the music, varying the techniques used and broadening the repretoire of tunes.