Since the 1990s there has been a significant increase in the creation of larger-scale and innovative compositions by traditional musicians in Scotland. The composers of these musical works experiment with forms beyond the common 32-bar dance tune, draw on a wide range of influences, and engage in opportunity-based professional development in this unique community of practice: the New Traditional School (Watson, 2013). I am mapping the compositions of the New Traditional School in a database and planning for the first national collection/archive of beyond-tune compositions. Our current criteria for a ‘beyond-tune’ composition are listed below. If your music can be described this way, please register your compositions here or get in touch for further information.
This form will collect data related to your composition(s). If you would like to submit scores and/or recordings, you can indicate this in one of the questions and I will contact you directly to discuss.
Permissions and data collection
Please read and keep the attached Participant Information Sheet about how your data will be collected and used.
Submission of data via this form will be taken as permission to store and use your data as per the attached information sheet.
A beyond-tune composition is:
- Created by a traditional musician living in Scotland [for the purposes of this research]
- Composed for music performance or listening (e.g. not scores for radio, tv, film or theatre)
- Composed for any instrumentation (or voice) but often with a traditional/folk element
- Approximately 8 minutes or longer OR, if shorter in length, innovates significantly from the conventions of traditional music (this could include free improvisation or technology-enhanced music).
- NOT a conventional set of tunes or traditional/folk song
Thank you for your contribution to this research. I will send you a notification when the database is available for access.
Traditional Music Research 