A Celtic Music Primer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Denmark

Although Denmark did influence the culture of Scotland's Shetland Isles quite a bit, it is not really a Celtic region itself, whereas Scotland, Wales, and Northern England are. I can imagine you raising eyebrows in surprise at that last one, but the northern counties of England are rather Celtic, presumably because of their closeness to their more Celtic neighbour.

Answer: All of these

Bagpipes are the famous Celtic instrument, but guitar and violin are also very important to most Celtic tunes. Guitar creates a vital backup with rhythmic chords, and can also sometimes go solo. Violin or fiddle is my main instrument, so I am very attached to its excellent ability to do pretty much anything Celtic, from Irish to Appalachian.

Answer: The Chieftains

Natalie MacMaster is from Cape Breton, Canada, and performs traditional music from that area, often with a more modern, electrified twist. (I never believed you could have electric bagpipes until I saw her and her band in concert.) Ewan MacColl is a singer of traditional Scottish music, who dates from the British folk revival of the 1960s and 70s.

He is often accompanied on his albums by Peggy Seeger, sister of American folk musician Pete Seeger. Pentangle is another group of the British folk revival that plays traditional music from the "wrong" side of the border (i.e. England). And, naturally, the only group remaining is the Chieftains, a band of world-famous Irish musicians who have been performing for many years.

Answer: Minuet

The jig, reel, and hornpipe are all Celtic dances which have separate styles of music identified with them, which differ in meter, speed, and length. The minuet is a more classical, Baroque dance that would have been seen in European palaces, not rural barns! It is often identified with the famous Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Answer: Robert Burns

Robert Burns wrote many poems such as "Auld Lang Syne" and "O'er the Water To Charlie," songs we still sing today. Often, he just updated existing lyrics, but his versions are almost invariably the ones we sing today.

Answer: False

Though the word "fiddle" tends to be associated with traditional music in comparison to the classical violin, the two are exactly the same instrument. I like to tell inquisitive people that the violin and fiddle are the same hardware, just different software.

Answer: Northern pipes

As you may have guessed, Highland pipes are from the Highlands of Scotland and border pipes are from the border regions. Uillean pipes are a type of Irish pipes. Highland pipes are the only pipes of these that you actually blow into: uillean and border pipes feature bellows, which must be a lot easier on the lungs. As far as I know, "northern pipes" are nonexistent.

Answer: Appalachians

Though there are certainly Celtic musicians in the Southwest near the Mexican border, and also in the Pacific Northwest and Deep South, the Appalachian style of folk music is directly descended from the Scottish style, due to the fact that many Scots settled there during the large immigration wave from Scotland.

Answer: Cape Breton

Cape Breton is, of everywhere in North America, probably the place of the most Scottish influence. Cape Breton fiddle style is virtually indistinguishable from that of Scotland, and is home to such noted fiddlers as Natalie MacMaster and Ashley MacIsaac (and Ashley's brother Matt is a piper in Natalie's band and plays pipes for the 78th Highlander historical reenactors of the Citadel, Halifax, Nova Scotia -- small world, Cape Breton is).

Answer: Yes

This is a most vehement yes! The Celtic tradition is very much active in the Celtic regions themselves, and has become popular with many more modern-minded people due to the addition of electric instruments and other non-traditional elements. Other Celtic music centres include American cities like Boston and New York, both big immigrant cities, and, of course, Cape Breton Island. Even in places on the West Coast, there are still at least a few Celtic musicians.

It's an active tradition that's still growing and changing.