Demonstration of Style Variations Within French-Canadian Fiddling

My C. Farell Scholarship project was studying the development and practice of traditional French-Canadian fiddling and foot-percussion, and teaching it to others. I will show that talking about French-Canadian fiddling in a generalized sense is problematic due to its extensive variety. There are not only regional variations, but also variations influenced by the course of time and other factors. Learning these different styles showed me that the key areas of distinction are bowing technique, dance type/form (in many cases, this can be thought of in terms of Native versus Scottish influence on formal structure), and overall performance context of the music. I will use examples played in the style of well-known Québecois fiddlers André Brunet, Louis “Pitou” Boudreault, Aimé Gagnon, and Jules Verret, accompanied by French-Canadian foot-percussion