This is the real Cape Breton fiddle-playing, the old school mastery of an era before rock star mannerisms came into the world of Celtic music. Buddy MacMaster- uncle of Natalie MacMaster, an even more famous Cape Breton fiddler- plays in the genuine old Gaelic style, fast enough to be lively and interesting but never too fast for the dancers to follow.

This kind of fiddling was always intended for social events such such as ceilidhs and barn dances, which is exactly what makes it “folk” music. People usually treat that word as if it was just a genre of music, but strictly speaking it's not a genre at all. Folk music is a context, a way that music is used and experienced in people's lives. If you learn a song from your mother or a fiddle tune from your uncle and then you share it later at a house visit or a dance, then that song or that tune is functioning as folk music- even if it was originally Top 40.

On the other hand, if you listen to a song on a CD or in a formal concert, then the song isn't folk music in the functional sense- even if it's an anonymous ancient ballad.

Such a strict use of the term is probably no longer relevant, and even old masters like Buddy probably play for concerts a lot more often than barn dances these days. Despite that fact, Buddy MacMaster is a living link to genuine Gaelic folk music, and if you happen to know the words most of his tunes can be sung in Gaelic just as easily as they can be played on the fiddle. So listen to the real thing- and enjoy!