Transcript

File: macdonaldpaul-oh-gettingstarted_M.mp3

Speakers:

PM – Paul MacDonald

KP – Curator Ken Perlman

PM I played classical music for probably three years I guess it was, I quit when I was 12. I told my parents, "OK, no more classical violin. But I think I want to play fiddle music.” Six months later I was at a house party at my Uncle's place in Souris...

KP And your uncle is Kenny?

PM My uncle is Kenny Chaisson, but he's my mother's brother, not the same Chaisson that plays the fiddle.

KP Oh, I see.

PM This is kind of strange, this is J.J.'s father. Anyway, it was the first time I had ever heard Scottish fiddle music, really the first time I'd heard it in real life. I went to this party, and I had learnt one medley of tunes off Jerry Holland. And I had a recording of Jerry Holland home, it was the only Scottish music I'd heard and I just was insane over it. And I had learnt one medley off it and I played it and they all listened to me; I had listened to them. And when the night was over, Peter Chaisson came up to me and he said --

KP Peter the younger?

PM The younger Peter, yes, he come up to me and he said, "Well, young fella, from now on all you're gonna be playing is Scottish fiddle music!" So anyway, after that point, I kept at it. And I'm lucky that I met up with those fellas ‘cause I would have dropped this [points to fiddle] altogether. And they gave me my start and they helped me along with a lot of things. But I did most of it on my own by listening to tapes, the majority of it actually. Whenever I'd listen to something on a tape and I wouldn't know what it was, I'd go ask those fellas and I'd say, "What is it that I'm hearing on this recording?" And they'd usually explain it to me if they knew what I was talking about. (laughs)

KP You mean like a technique?

PM A technique, any type of bowing technique or ornamentation, syncopation with bowing during strathspeys, those types of things. It was all – I had a lot of questions about that at first. And sometimes because I was so into classical music I was using the terms that I had learnt in classical music and they didn't know what I was talking about.