Natalie McMaster carries on the tradition.
Photo by Mark Silver.
Cape Breton Fiddler Natalie MacMaster
In the last few decades, as Celtic music has gained mainstream popularity,
people have learned that there are many different Celtic fiddle traditions.
Cape Breton, a tiny island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, is
known for its own style of fiddling, an amalgam of Scottish fiddle and
other Celtic styles—and Natalie MacMaster is the region’s most famous
export.
The 28-year-old MacMaster first began playing fiddle
at the age of nine, inspired in part by her uncle Buddy MacMaster,
another popular Cape Breton fiddler. Other early influences included
Winston Fitzgerald and Arthur Muise. MacMaster took several years
of lessons and was performing as early as age ten, playing local dances
as well as at weddings and funerals. She played her first stateside
concert when she was 12, at a square dance in Boston. She also entered
a few fiddle contests on the sly. "Fiddle contests were not part
of the Cape Breton style. I entered a couple, but I had to go away
for them and I didn’t tell anyone in the area. It wasn’t cool,"
she laughs.
As MacMaster explains the Cape Breton style, "One
of the most obvious differences is in the rhythm of the music. It
is derived from years of playing for dancers. The rhythms are strongly
reflected in the footwork. It is hard to describe unless you hear
it. And the bowing is a little different as well. Cape Breton fiddling
sometimes has less slurring, there is almost no sliding, and it is
also very rare that you hear a roll." Another strong element
is the use of the foot to keep time. On many recordings, a Cape Breton
fiddler’s foot can be heard very clearly tapping the rhythm. In MacMaster’s
video A Fiddle Lesson, Intermediate Level, she spends several
minutes showing how to tap out the various time signatures to help
keep the music lively.
"My teacher showed me how to hold the instrument
correctly, but I didn’t hold it correctly for years. There wasn’t
a ‘You have to play this way’ approach to my studies. I’ve never had
classical training, so I don’t know how intense it is, but I think
Celtic fiddle training is much more casual."
MacMaster’s playing style reflects this relaxed approach.
Fiddlers who watch her play in hopes of picking up on her style notice
that she holds the bow differently on different tunes, and the bowing
is very dynamic yet never the same. "People often notice that
about my bowing and I don’t know why," she confesses. "To
me, there is no one correct way to do anything. I don’t think you
have to hold the bow where everyone says you do necessarily. I sometimes
hold it at the frog, and other times move the grip up the bow. Most
of the fiddlers I know and admire do not hold the bow correctly, at
least according to what popular wisdom says about holding the bow.
You should know the way that it is done, but there should be flexibility
with your technique as well."
MacMaster recorded her first CD as a teenager, an
independent release entitled Four on the Floor. The style was
very sparse; with almost no backing instruments, her fiddle talent
shone through. When she was finally signed by a major label in 1996,
she added a backing band that includes keyboardists Mac Morin and
Steve O’Connor, guitarist Brad Davidge, bassist John Chiasson, and
drummer Tom Roach.
MacMaster has been gaining increasing fame and accolades
for her playing ever since. Her 1998 record "My Roots are Showing,"
a tribute to the music she grew up listening to, won a Juno award,
the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy. Her most recent record, In
My Hands, garnered her another Juno in March 2000. And her partnership
with Alison Krause on the CD Get Me Through December won them
Duo of the Year at the recent Canadian Country Music Awards—where
MacMaster was also named Fiddler of the Year for the fourth consecutive
year.
Although she has been playing for almost 20 years,
MacMaster has never bought a violin—they have all been given to her.
Her current instrument is a 1927 Marc Lebert given to her by a fan
in Ontario, Bill Burnett. She uses a Hill bow and an L.R. Baggs bridge
pickup run into a Shure wireless unit.
In concert, MacMaster is a very dynamic performer,
her curly blond hair bouncing around as she whirls around the stage.
She loves to have fun with her shows and talks to the audience often;
at a recent Denver show, she stopped to beg anyone in the audience
for a bobby pin. She also does the occasional energetic step dance
with Morin. Celtic music evolved as dance music, and in Cape Breton,
the dance tradition is still very strong. "I’ve never really
studied the different dances," MacMaster admits. "My mom
taught me a few things when I was younger; when I was five she showed
me some of the steps. In recent years, I’ve taught at different camps,
and I go to the step-dancing workshops on my free time and pick things
up there."
MacMaster will be in the studio in early
2001 recording a new CD, then plans to start touring again, playing
the music she loves. "I like playing in the many different places
we go," she declares. "My ultimate priority is performing."
—Candace Horgan
