Eastern Lithuanian drone fiddling solo: voice or other instruments

ENPursuing my previous investigations into Lithuanian drone folk fiddling, in this article I concentrate on the continuous eastern Lithuanian drone fiddling solo, with voice or in ensembles with other instruments. The research combines methods of structural analysis and qualitative research in order to reveal how the drone fiddling is perceived and evaluated by the musicians themselves and their community members, and why it is played in this particular way. Fiddling incorporating all types of drones, as defined and discussed in this article (open-string drones below and sometimes above the melody, or stopped strings) is often linked with other archaic features of music. As late as the end of the 20th century and sometimes until recently, the characteristics of continuous drone fiddling styles were preserved when performing with vocals or in an instrumental ensemble. In eastern Aukštaitija, fiddling was especially appreciated for the sound colour of the fiddle’s high pitches, traditionally related to crying or ritual lamenting. Little attention was paid to the drones and various chords. In Dzūkija, even some of the most venerated fiddlers of the younger generation played with continuous drones when performing not only solo, but also as leaders of an ensemble. Fiddles were usually tuned to the range of the voice or to other instruments (mostly up to a fifth lower) in order to use openstring drones. The multipart texture featured by such ensembles, vocal-instrumental or instrumental, is usually combined, encompassing drones, heterophony, parallel thirds, fifths or sixths and/or homophony. [From the publication]

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