Scottish Dances

Scottish Dances

These are danced to more often at Ceilidhs in Scotland and around the world. They are good fun to dance to and anyone can join in.

Attention all Students/Learners

It is important to be able to tell the difference between the Scottish dances.

The reason for this is to show that you can identify a dance through knowing certain features about that style of dance.

Waltz, in 3-4 tme, slow dance

Jig, quavers grouped in threes “straw-ber-ry”, fast dance. in 6-8 time.

Strathspey, in 4-4 time, featuring the Scotch-Snap. This is the only dance that has this feature. It is usually in the melody line.

Reel, in 4-4 time grouped in twos “Coff-ee” moderately fast dance.

In order to learn this well, you should listen to all of the sound files and the additional ones. You will begin to hear the similarity of the sound files connected to each dance. This will help you.

Test Yourself here and by clicking the Access 3 intermediate level.

World Music

Today I have added some new things to the site.I am concentrating on some world music at the moment.

• Steel Panning-where you can learn how to make your own and to hear their sound.It is amazing what you can do with an oil drum. The story of steel panning is amazing.
• Gamelan- a really good video showing a varied performance where you can engage with the sound.
• Samba-A link to a great website, Sambasquad, and some videos showing workshops close up. On the website you can see and hear top quality performances.

Enjoy!

Next I will be adding Scottish music before I move on to Popular Music, beginning with Blues and Jazz. I am aiming to have all the resources needed to revise music listening at Higher and Advanced Higher level, which are the exams Scottish domiciled high school students sit.