As the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame starts to move into gear for 2013 it’s important that we still continue to stress that the tradition still needs to be passed on to the next generation. We can all look at YouTube, iTunes, Spotify etc and see many of our great singers and musicians playing however when it comes down to it there is nothing better than face to face meetings between people.
Tickets on sale now for Hall of Fame Dinner 11th October, Glasgow – £30
Is this happening at the moment? Hands Up for Trad’s Paths to Songs project has been successful so far bringing young and older singers together so young singers can learn how to communicate songs. Basically the young singers travel to meet the experienced singers in a place that suits the mentor.
Older bagpipers seem to be venerated by younger players and there seems to be a structure in place where players will go and meet these guys. Feis Rois also ran a school where younger musicians got to work with older players for a week
Outside this I think more can happen. I found with Paths for Songs that it wasn’t that young singers didn’t want to work with these guys but either they didn’t know how to contact the singers or they were afraid to ask. It was never that they felt that older musicians had nothing to offer them.
So maybe the answer is that musicians young and old have to offer their services (maybe free maybe paid). We shouldn’t be afraid to ask though – most people will say yes if asked nicely. If people have free time outside work or they are retired why not spend it passing on the tradition to the next generation. Do you know someone that you could help?
The Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame Dinner is on the 11th October in Glasgow’s Oran Mor. Why not come along and meet some of Scotland’s traditional heroes.