Lilting

bjs · Post by **bjs** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 5:23 am

Where is Bloomfield? He started this one:

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... ht=lilting

Brian

CHIFF FIPPLE · Post by **CHIFF FIPPLE** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 10:40 am

Yes but had hoped to get some proper answers

msheldon · Post by **msheldon** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:17 pm

The best example I can give of lilting is the little Irish gentleman in "The Quiet Man" who's constantly lilting The Rakes of Mallow to himself.

Be careful, however, it's VERY infectious. You will find yourself with that tune stuck in your head for weeks.

Thomas-Hastay · Post by **Thomas-Hastay** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 4:05 pm

"Lilting" probably is related to the "lilt pipe", a simple single reed pipe popular in the Isles.

The "Scottish" version of The English "Lilting" is called Canntairreachd {pronounced; CANT-er-roct} 'the pipers sol-fa'. Gaelic dictionaries define as "chanting,singing,warbling".

To Quote from Francis Collinson's "The Bagpipe"{ISBN # 0-7100-7913-3}

"...and of John Cambell, the Lorn Piper, who taught me fifty years ago how to rouse men with strange words out of the isles-"

Hiodroho hodroho, haninen hiechin,
Hodraha hodroho, hodroho hachin,
Hiodroho hodroho, haninen hiechin,
Hodraha hodraha, hodraha hodraha,
Hodraha hodraha, hodraha hachin. etc. 

"The pipers sol-fa,the series of vocables which enable the piper to sing the music of the piobaireachd (bagpipe music) in order to teach his pupil"

"One version attributes it (mouth music/Canntaireachd/Lilting) to the Italian eleventh-century Benedictine monk and writer on music, Guido d'Arezzo, who is generally credited with being the originator of the solmization syllables, ut, re, mi, fa, so, la, for the notes of the hexachord. Guido took these symbols from the initial syllables of the phrases of a hymm to St John the Babtist. His Idea is said to have reached the monasteries in Ireland, from whence it passed to the Irish Bards and from them to the Irish Pipers."

The vocalized Mouth Music/Lilting/Cantairreachd is accredited with saving the Scottish bagpipe traditions after "The Disarming Act of 1747".

From "The Bagpipe" again

 ...The (English) Courts judgment was that 'No regiment ever marched without musical instruments such as drums, trumpets and the like: and that 'a Highland regiment never marched without a piper'; and that "therfore his bagpipe, in the eye of the law, was an instrument of war'. Hence the Scottish tradition of Canntaireachd.

I'm sure, in my opinion, that music teachers throughout eastern europe used similar techniques to "lilting". Has this been of help?

Thomas Hastay

Zubivka · Post by **Zubivka** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 6:09 pm

Thomas aptly coined his "Pipers' sol-fa".

When reading above about analogies of lilt, diddling (etc.) with jazz scat (zoobap, zeebelebop!), the other analogy with plain solfying and classical "vocalizing" sprung to my mind.

If you can lilt, you can pipe, just as,
if you can solfy, then you can sing,
or if you can whistle, you can tin...

Err... nevermind.

PS: don't they have contests in Scotland, where one judge lilts--or whatever verb you make out of "canntaireachd"--the tune, and the contestant is supposed to pick it up and play it on the fly?

This feat always impressed me. I mean, playing on the fly while wearing a kilt.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 6:24 pm

BTW, canntaireachd takes a number of forms depending on the "school". I believe that the Nether Lorn school is the most widespread in use. The general idea is that basically the vowel denotes the notes, and the consonants denote the type of gracing. Some say that it predates notation; in any case, proponents claim that it's easier to learn tunes by it once you get it down. I'll bet that a group of canntaireachd-savvy pipers hashing out tunes is something to witness.

CHIFF FIPPLE · Post by **CHIFF FIPPLE** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 3:44 am

Nanohedron wrote:BTW, canntaireachd takes a number of forms depending on the "school". I believe that the Nether Lorn school is the most widespread in use. The general idea is that basically the vowel denotes the notes, and the consonants denote the type of gracing. Some say that it predates notation; in any case, proponents claim that it's easier to learn tunes by it once you get it down. I'll bet that a group of canntaireachd-savvy pipers hashing out tunes is something to witness.

YesI'm sure it is