G C S E
E D E X C E L
M U S I C
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S E T
W O R K
S U M M A R I E S
S W R A 1
SET WORK SUMMARY
Skye Waulking Song from the album Nàdurra - Capercaillie
PART 1 - Placing the Set Work in its Musical, Social and Historical Context
“Waulking” is an ancient Scottish process used for making tweed fabric more flexible and windproof. A
“Waulking” song refers to a song used to make this process into a more sociable occasion. To keep everyone IN TIME, the work was accompanied by song. There would be one person leading with lyrics,
based on a well-known story and others would join in after each line with some NONSENSE SYLLABLES,
called VOCABLES. It was considered unlucky to repeat a whole verse, so the songs often had many
verses. Technology has now replaced the need of manual “Waulking” by the hands or feet, but the tradition
still continues in some parts of Scotland and “Walking songs” are still sung by these societies and collections of “Waulking” songs have been produced in notation and recordings. About the Set Work – Placing the Set Work in a Musical Context
Capercaillie were formed in the early 1980’s by Donald Shaw and a few friends. Singer, Karen Matheson joined the band in 1984. The band preserve Scottish Folk Music often singing in SCOTS
GAELIC dialect. “Skye Waulking Song” - taken from the album “Nadurra” released in September 2000.
The band is made of up 7 members, each with their INDIVIDUAL VIRTUOSITY on their own instruments
and their ability to blend together so well in an ensemble
The song lyrics tell the tale of Seathan, son of the King of Ireland. The original song (nearly 200 lines
long) was a LAMENT sung by Seathan’s wife, telling of his deeds and recollections and is a way of grieving and sharing her feelings of loss. Only a few lines are used in this set work interspersed with
VOCABLES (nonsense syllables like “Fa-la-la”) in a CALL AND RESPONSE pattern.
The full title for the song, as recorded by Capercaillie, is 'Chuir M'Athair Mise Dhan Taigh Charraideach'
(My father sent me to a house of sorrow).
“Skye Waulking Song” is an example of FUSION FOLK MUSIC – features of FOLK MUSIC include:
“Music of the People” – performed by lower classes of a society expressing something about their way of
life, how they used to live, or about local mythology
Passed on by the ORAL TRADITION and rarely notated, often performed at INFORMAL occasions such
as jam sessions at pubs of social gatherings. Folk Music is about everyone taking part, enjoying the
music and passing on tales of life, legend and heritage. Folk Music also popular in the US where BOB
DYLAN wrote songs in a folk style but with political lyrics – PROTEST SONGS
Folk Music is traditionally played on ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS – accordion, bagpipes, banjo, bodhran,
bouzouki, concertina, double bass, fiddle, guitar, harmonica, hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, piano, tin/penny
whistle, uileann pipes. Electric Instruments such as the bass, keyboard and electric guitar have been used in folk music but some
purists feel this isn’t traditional. FUSION is a combining of more than one musical style or culture. Capercaillie are an example of a
band that FUSE CELTIC FOLK MUSIC with the instruments and production values of WESTERN POPULAR MUSIC
PART 2 – Musical Elements, Instrumentation & Musical Features
Time Signature
Tempo
Slow and calm
Tonality
The vocal part is sung using
the scale of E MINOR
PENTATONIC (or G major
pentatonic) throughout
Harmony
Rhythm
The harmony is very SIMPLE using only
FOUR CHORDS in the whole song. The
changes in CHORD SEQUENCE highlight
a change of section or mood.
The intro established the chord sequence
Em-G
This changes to C-G-Em-G in Verse 4
adding some harmonic interest
In verse 7, the chord sequence changes to
Am7-Em-Em-G for one verse only
returning to C-G-Em-C in verse 8 and
alternating C-G chords in the outro
The shaker and hi-hat
play every two beats
giving the rhythm a
TRIPLE feel.
The vocal part has a
characteristic LILTING
rhythm
The second and fifth
beats of the bar are
emphasised by the
accordion in the
instrumental section
Dynamics
The dynamics
build with the
texture of the
song, dropping
considerably in
verse 7 leaving
room for the
intimate vocal
sounds
A long FADE
OUT brings the
song to an end
Pitch & Melody
Melodic lines are
played in the FOLK
STYLE – instruments
IMPROVISE AROUND
A MELODY
The “Waulking” song tradition can be heard
in the use of
VOCABLES between
each sung line and the
repetition of each line of
verse
Texture
HETEROPHONIC TEXTURE is created when instruments perform a very similar melodic line together, but in slightly different ways (Uilleann pipes
solo along with the fiddle in the Instrumental) . There are also examples of instruments weaving a complex improvised COUNTERPOINT around
the melody and scale (G major) and the vocals improvise in COUTERPOINT during the outro. Backing vocals thicken the texture when they join in
vocalising the nonsense syllables in between each line of lyrics (starting in verse 4). Contrasts in texture, such as the UNACCOMPANIED last line
of verse 3 serve as a link between sections and all instruments drop out of the last line of verse 7 similarly. The instruments tend to provide an
ACCOMPANIMENT TEXTURE to the vocal parts but instruments (such as the accordion in verse 4) provide a COUNTER MELODY to the vocals
Form & Structure
INTRO
VERSE 5
VERSE 1
VERSE 6
BREAK
INSTRUMENTAL
VERSE 2
VERSE 7
VERSE 3
VERSE 8
VERSE 4
OUTRO
Instrumentation
Donald Shaw: accordion, piano, synth; Michael McGoldrick: flutes, whistle, uilleann pipes; Karen Matheson: vocals; Ewen Vernal: acoustic and
electric bass; Charlie McKerron: fiddle; Manus Lunny: bouzouki, guitar, bodhran, vocals; James MacKintosh: drums and percussion
W W W . M U S I C A L C O N T E X T S , C O . U K