Strathspey · A major
The Braes of Mar
A classic North-East strathspey with the dotted “Scots snap” rhythm, kept alive on both sides of the Atlantic — nowhere more fiercely than in Cape Breton kitchens.
Sheet music session skeleton
Press play and the notes light up as they sound. Chord names above the staff are coloured by their root letter (the same colours as the song sheets). “Standard” and “Richer” are General-MIDI stand-ins hosted elsewhere; “Scruffy” is our own bank rendered from open sample sets (credits at /soundfont/scruffy-v1/CREDITS.md). Tempo slider is the “warp” control in the player.
ABC notation — copy into any ABC tool
X:2 T:The Braes of Mar R:strathspey M:4/4 L:1/8 Q:1/4=132 K:A |:"A"E<A A>B c>A e>c|"D"d>B "E"c>A B>G E2|"A"E<A A>B c>A e>c|"D"d>B "E"G>B "A"A2 A2:| |:"A"a>e c>e a>e c>e|"D"f>d B>d f>d B2|"A"a>e c>e a>e c>e|"D"d>B "E"G>B "A"A2 A2:|
Listen
Where it came from, where it went
Strathspeys take their name from the valley of the River Spey; the form is Scotland’s most distinctive contribution to the dance-tune family, defined by the snap — a short note followed by a long one.
Cape Breton fiddlers, descendants of Highland emigrants, preserved older bowing and tempo habits that had softened in Scotland itself, which is why Scottish players now travel west to relearn them.
Related
- Calum's Road — Strathspey, D major