Studying Scottish and French-Canadian Culture Through Music

An integral part of French-Canadian folk music, Québécois fiddle tunes are known for the distinctive, almost Celtic-like, lilt of their melodies. Not surprisingly, there is a Celtic link, and California native and Vanier scholar Laura Risk is examining that connection—the transformation of Scottish fiddle tunes in Québec.

“I started playing classical violin when I was 7. When I was 13, I met Alasdair Fraser, a master Scottish fiddler who had moved to the San Francisco Bay Area,” says Risk, who began playing professionally after her undergraduate studies, and is now pursuing a PhD in musicology at McGill University.

Risk became interested in Québécois fiddling after moving to Montreal in 2001.

“I started going out to listen to it, and then began playing the tunes myself, and the similarities between Québécois and Scottish fiddling intrigued me. Certain Scottish tunes are commonly played in Quebec, where the Québécois versions are radically different.”

Many of the fiddling styles we recognize today originated in the late 18th century. Fiddlers developed local repertoires and playing styles, but also participated in an ongoing process of musical exchange via travelling musicians, print music, and later radio and television.

However, Scottish fiddle repertoire is unique because—even in the 18th century—much of it was written down, something rarely done in other fiddling traditions.

“North Atlantic fiddling styles—Scottish, Irish, New England, Québécois, Appalachian—are all related, and it’s not always obvious where to draw the lines that distinguish one from the other,” explains Risk. “When does a particular tune stop being Scottish and become Québécois? I’m interested in defining these different styles and understanding the social, cultural and artistic reasons for these differences. Local traditional music is one way of claiming a local cultural identity, which can then feed into a sense of national identity.”

The Vanier scholarship provides a rare funding opportunity for a non-Canadian like Risk to study an important aspect of Canadian culture close-up. “It will allow me to travel to Scotland and throughout Quebec, particularly to the Gaspé, to study fiddle music. It has also made it possible for me to present papers on my research at a number of conferences, including those of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music, the American Musicological Society and the Society for Ethnomusicology.”

Risk says the scholarship has also given her freedom in balancing her studies with her family life. As a mother of two and a member of the McGill Post Graduate Student Society’s Family Care Committee, a group that helps graduate students and postdoctoral researchers with the family/studies balance, Risk knows how different it could be.

“I’m in a very lucky position compared to most.”