Far north musician strikes the right note in new book of fiddle tunes
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A well-known musician has published a book that includes a number of fiddle tunes written during lockdown.
The publication – Karen Steven's New Scottish Fiddle Tunes – is awaiting return from the printers and should be delivered in the coming days.
Included in the book are two pipe marches, shown in the video – Miss Elizabeth Christine Dickson's March, written for Karen's mum, and The Hills of Reay, a Highland Council commission composed in 2000. She is accompanied on the keyboard by Anne Taylor, of Midmar in Aberdeenshire.
Although the musician has lived in Aberdeen for the past eight years the project has a strong Caithness connection.
"I have over 4000 words in the book, and am hoping that it is something that will be of interest not only to musicians but to people generally interested in Scottish music and/or Caithness," Karen said.
"A lot of the inspiration behind the tunes comes from people and places in Caithness as well as other parts of Scotland."
One section of the book is devoted to the Tanya Horne School of Highland Dancing, a group Karen has been working closely with in the past couple of years.
"I recorded some music for the dancers' summer performance at Halkirk Gala three years ago," she said. "Last summer four dancers from the school performed at my ceilidh in Skerray Village Hall."
Three of Tanya's dancers also joined Karen for a photo session with Duncan McLachlan to take some pictures for her new website, which is in the process of being built.
During lockdown the Halkirk-based dance school had to cancel its festival and instead Karen was asked to compose a piece of music for the dancers to choreograph their own routine to.
She was accompanied on keyboard by Anne Taylor and Canadian-based Alastair Macdonald, of the Brandon McPhee Band, added accordion and synthesizer as well as mixing the sound.
As a result a video featuring 43 Highland dancers from all over the north of Scotland was created by Tanya and shared on social media on May 30, which would have been the date or her competition.
The new book includes six tunes that the musician wrote in celebration of the millennium year, commissioned by Highland Council.
On that occasion, Karen was joined by James Ross, from Wick, on piano, and Niall Laybourne, of Halkirk, on cello, with Wick dance teacher Elise Lyall also choreographing a dance for four of her students.
She explained: "While furloughed from mid April, I decided to work on writing some music. I've written quite a lot of music over the years, with some tunes published in the Nineties Collection and others in the Elphinstone Collection, which is more recent.
"It was really only at the end of May that I got to thinking it might be a good idea to put together a book of my music."
The work comprises of pieces of music from her dance background, as well as her experiences teaching, along with commissions to write tunes.
Of the 50 tunes included, 22 were written during lockdown and the other 28 were written from 2000 onwards.
Karen herself started Highland dancing at the age of three and grew up in a household full of music.
"When we weren't listening to my dad [Eion Steven] on his accordion, we would usually have LPs or cassettes playing at home, always Scottish music," she recalled.
"So, between that and the bagpipes, that's the instrument that traditionally accompanied dancing, I felt like I had a repertoire of music in my head, before I started on fiddle."
A trip to Cape Breton Island in 1986 with the Caithness Junior Fiddlers strongly influenced her playing style and she also benefited from attending summer fiddle schools in California with Alasdair Fraser.
Composing seemed a natural progression for Karen after attending numerous courses and teaching fiddle alongside Alasdair, as well as playing fiddle for step-dancing classes.
"After taking a break from music for a few years, I decided it might be a good idea to pick up from where I left off," Karen said.
"Feeling that teaching was something I was good at, I agreed to teach some fiddle workshops for Aberdeen-based music charity Scottish Culture and Traditions."
She also received a grant to take her fiddling into care homes and these performances have gone down very well.
Initially the book can be ordered directly from Karen (£15 with free postage and packing), cheque payable to Karen Steven, 22 Hollybank Place, Aberdeen AB11 6XS, or by bank transfer (email K.L.STEVEN@BTINTERNET.COM for details). The book will be available in the near future from Pentland Music Shop in Thurso, Mackays Hotel in Wick and anywhere displaying a poster advertising it for sale.
