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Paul felt that there were definitely different styles of playing in Scotland according to geographical area. He said: "Aa the different areas, there's a definite style, and you can almost put it hand in hand wi the accent that folk speak wi. The West Coast, they've got mair o' a lilt. It's a kinna harder dialect in the North East, wi the Doric, and to me it's a bit like that." Paul said that in terms of Scottish fiddle playing:
A lot of the character and the accents and the drive comes fae the bowing technique and a lot of the things you'd class as being typically Scottish style of playing are probably at the maist extreme in the North East. Things like your up-driven bow, and a lot of double stopping and things like that – snap bowing – are probably taen to their highest point in the North-East ... style.
North-East fiddle playing, according to Paul, has "real drive and it's powerful. But as weel as haeing that elements, it's got an elegancy, it's got a lilt. But it's mair of a driving, kinna powerful style."
Paul never uses music when he is performing. He believes that it does not look good if fiddle players are "staring" at the page, and additionally: "you're nae following notes on the page. You're actually thinking mair aboot fit you're pitting into the music, expression wise … I dinna think you'll ever pit the emotion into it if you're sitting following the notes." He prefers to learn tunes through getting the sheet music to start off with and then committing them to memory, but he can also pick up tunes by ear from other players. He said that this is easier in some cases than in others, and that reels can be difficult as they are fast. He occasionally learns tunes from tapes or compact discs if he cannot get the sheet music for particular tunes, and he does so by firstly listening to the tune over and over again on the recording. Paul enjoys playing tunes by the composer, Peter Milne, from Tarland. Watch a video clip using RealPlayer of Paul playing the slow strathspey, "J. O. Forbes Esq. of Corse" by Milne (on low bandwidth or high bandwidth, or on audio).
Paul has composed about sixty tunes, mainly in the last year and a half, and he brought out an album in September 2001 consisting entirely of his own tunes. He described how he composed these: "It wasna like a big push – I must write tunes, but I've just kinda been conscious of, like, if I've been places or done things, ken, I've tried to fasten on to the emotions to that situation and turn it into music." He felt that it was rather daunting to let anyone hear his first compositions as "you're exposing yourself … It's quite a terrifying prospect that folk are going to criticise it, cause it's … mair than just criticising the tune, it's like, it's almost a big criticism on, ken, you yoursel." Paul said that he has now got over his initial apprehensions, but that it was difficult not to make new compositions sound like other tunes that have already been written. Some tunes he has written in as little as ten to fifteen minutes, whereas others have taken months to finish. In composing new tunes, Paul felt that his goal was to try to let emotions and feelings come out into the piece. Watch a video clip using RealPlayer of Paul playing four of his own compositions: "Balvenie", "Alastrean House", "Douglas Lawrence" and "The Tarland Curlers" (on low bandwidth or high bandwidth, or on audio).
Find out more about Paul Anderson: Paul Anderson homepage - Competitions and performing - Fiddle teachers
About the author - Acknowledgements - Bibliography - Celtic and Scottish Studies homepage - Conclusion - Homepage - Peter Milne - Tarland homepage
Published by the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh
© University of Edinburgh 2001
Last modified Wednesday, 26-Aug-2009 13:33:05 BST by Katherine Campbell