Playing the Cape Breton fiddle | Natalie MacMaster

www.ted.com Natalie MacMaster and her musical partner Donnell Leahy play several tunes from the Cape Breton tradition -- a sprightly, soulful style of folk fiddling. It's an inspired collaboration that will have you clapping (and maybe dancing) along.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

[@danielhartman7891]

Least words spoken in a TED talk. Also my favorite TED TALK of all time.

[@emncaity]

absolute money.

[@xray9er]

We speak with music in Cape Breton:)

[@alicegetchell2293]

How many years ago was this performance? It's 2024 now and I'm still loving Natalie and Donnell just like I did in 2006 when my husband and I heard her in person in Glencoe Mills. This fiddling is timeless! Love, love, love it!!!!❤

[@darrellskinner5263]

She’s a national treasure. Thank goodness CB shared her with us as well.

[@roddiemacinnis7050]

I’ve been back and forth in my whole life and I know that I am incredibly talented at the fiddle, and Ik now I’m not gonna stop till I’m this big one day Natalie.... one day

[@pealovesq]

She is astounding. That sound...so pure and perfect...it builds and builds till you can no longer stay seated! Pure rapture.

[@loisdaughenbaugh3864]

This woman is so talented. And raising her children with the same kind of talent....hats off to her

[@warrenwilson4818]

She is totally captivating, sort of a hyper performer. A wonderful contributor to Eastern Canada's culture and to the rest of the world too.

[@TheHeidzmeister]

Thus made me cry happy tears 🤣😭🥰 Gotta love when music sings for the soul.

[@calenkinney109]

Donnell is one of the best fiddlers to ever play. Un-fricken-believable.

[@mimaroo1431]

I remember being in Cuba around the 1st of May, which is a special holiday in the area where we were. I suddenly heard East Coast fiddle music being played. Turned out there was an international middle school music competition going on and a group from Nova Scotia was competing.

[@susanvannorden6845]

Her music enters my ears and flows to every organ and it ends up on my smiling face and tapping toes

[@bronnythebard5459]

That is the essence of fiddle music it is a toe tapping good time well unless it is a lament lol those are usually sad.

[@cagedlemp5184]

A cape bretoner needs to hear the fiddle now and again when away from home.

[@Retired_Gentleman]

True words my friend, true words.

[@RavMan40]

I'm in Vancouver....you are right...makes me miss the soul of the place...

[@jordangaudet409]

In Edmonton Thinking about my cape Breton home

[@Jazz2234]

Even if you're a mainlander you need to hear it too 💙

[@lanesutherland]

Aye they do!.. A mainlander away should surely be afforded the same luxury 😊

[@rohenhayne7158]

Proud to be from Nova Scotia

[@williamboyle5041]

We had the oppertunity of attending a concert provided by her Uncle, the renouned Cape Briton fiddler Buddy McMaster in Massachusetts back in the 1990's. The apple does not fall far from the tree! :-)

[@shirelan-voiceofthetrees4492]

William Boyle around the same time i produced a concert with Natalie and The Green Fields of America atcthe Troy (NY) Music Hall. She was something special at 16...even moreso today!

[@dantco]

Music straight from the soul to the instrument!

[@davidpickup143]

You are not alone Dave D, it is pure soul music, stirs the blood, gets the feet tappin'

[@dkd24]

I love what they bring out in each other. They act so humble and new at this even when they are true artistic geniuses!

[@BuckTravis]

We saw her perform at the Canada 150 in Halifax five years ago. She and her fiddle stole our hearts. Since then we have seen he and the family perform in our home town of Park City Utah. Devine. A gift from God she is. ❤️

[@smgregerson]

Love them! Preformed on stage with her when I was younger (Step Dancing) and Im still proud of that accomplishment. They are both truely amazing and proud to have come from Cape Breton :) !

[@rebeccamari]

Oh my gosh they're so awesome. I love Natalie, and they're even better together. I saw them live and it was amazing.

[@edhaag7890]

I saw these people at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights a few years ago. You HAVE to smile and clap. It seems that in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia fiddling and Clogging are almost a religion and the annual competition is fierce.

[@garycamera]

Just incredible. Saw her in Carbodale, Illinois. Absolutely blew us away that night.

[@gaetanserre]

You both are wonderful and a great inspiration for all novice fiddlers like me

[@Highlander031]

Just as lovely as can be. I first saw her when she was 12 yrs old in Sydney. Another Cape Breton treasure.

[@suea.swlondon7799]

Just so amazingly talented ! With parents like this, no wonder the children are just brilliant too... Thank you guys for the music..

[@quentincooper1529]

I wish i had learned to play the fiddle properly like these people obviously did, great stuff.

[@sgtcrab1]

Rachel Hay...Jenny Dang the Weaver I believe followed by Skinners Fairy Dance. I once played these two tunes at the General Hindmarsh Hotel on the road from Adelaide to Port in 2004 or so when I was in SA. I studied at AMC / U Tas in Lauie back then and used to sit in at the Sunday sessions at Irish Murphy;s in the Salamanca Place Hobart. The guy who headed it up was perhaps the best Ulieen Piper I ever heard!

[@dorotwhy]

I knew it had to get people going!!! This music is too lively and spirit filled to sit still and listen politely like ladies and gentlemen.

[@sobeys1000]

My Family grew up in Inverness Cape Breton Island, This kind of music brings back a lot of great memerios of my family.

[@MARITIMEMUSICANDMORE]

Talent that blows the mind. Just simply incredible.

[@1968lori]

She is so amazing!

[@dkd24]

You know what I absolutely love about this...if you didn't know who she was you would think that she is new to this - not playing - but performing. What I mean by that is - watch the beginning and the end, she acts so "like ok I'm going to try and do this". Her actions are still so humble after all her years of performing and success. A very admirable trait.

[@teaeff8898]

Let’s go Nat! God love a great fiddler from Cape Breton! PEI. And Nova Scotia. Newfoundland oh my. New Brunswick. Quebec has their own great sound. Ontario, especially up north. And on and on across Canada 🇨🇦

[@danielzarwell9318]

Thank you Natalie. You and your fiddle are wounderful

[@PreetingPaws]

so great. my family is from cape breton, hearing natalie play makes me remeniss.

[@6663000]

Brought a tear to my eye by 0:50 This is the kind of music that makes you proud to be Nova Scotian.

[@christolynhigginbotham11]

Great performance, Coordination ! PERFECT- BOTH OF YOU!

[@Hoosierfiddler]

Natalie has been a fan of mine for many years. Such NICE family and talent all around - met her n Ogden, Utah at a concert and still have the 25 lessons video, which my husband turned into a CD. Don't wait too long to try to fiddle - it's a whole new world! I am having difficulty after READING my whole life and being a classical musician. Look up Mark O'Connor - I now teach my students HIS FIDDLE METHOD. Natalie got me interested first, though. She dances while playing, too!

[@nskimharris]

I finally know some of these song titles! Just think...in ten more years I might be able to play some of them well too! Thank you for always being an inspiration!

[@AZTurnkey]

How could you "not" like this. Beautiful and talented.

[@mrsfiddlegirl]

I have had the pleasure of seeing Natalie M many times, but I had NO idea what a great Cape Breton pianist she is! She has been fiddling, and singing and dancing when I got to see her.. WOW I am SO impressed! The last few minutes of this video are absolutely breathtaking!

[@cliffsandifer3877]

I had the "chance" of being judged by Natalie in longs peak highland games fiddle contest some decades ago ...I did not place. The lady contestants placed. her whole family ...what a bunch. I still play

[@jamesbockenstette4332]

Thank God for these two. The world is blest.

[@BrianWHurlburt]

Thanks for having this here! I'm from Nova Scotia and miss it, so as I sit here in my Home Office in Moncton working on our Watkins Products Business it's nice to be able to listen to some good tunes from Nova Scotia.

[@baileymae11]

My mouth is on the floor! Both are awesome!!!

[@nojegr]

I first saw [it's truly a visual as well as auditory experience] Natalie when she was still a teenager and was introduced by John McDermott. Her ability to fiddle & step dance simultaneously was amazing.

[@farnorthpicker56]

Makes me remember my time in Cheticamp visiting family. The local channel had so much great traditional music on it. And twice we were lucky enough to sit and watch Colin Grant with Jason Roach.

[@spookth]

18 minutes and 47 seconds of pure beauty...Natalie ( Buddys neice) and Donnell are as close as it comes to perfection!!!!

[@aranmexican]

Superb. The last tune in Natalie's first set is known, in Ireland, as "The Fairy Reel". It is said - if I recall correctly - that Mickey Doherty got it from the fairies... but my memory of the music-filled night on which I heard that bit of tune folklore is a little fuzzy. In their last set together, the first tune (only once through) is Cape Breton and the second tune is a version of "The Mason's Apron", which probably occurs in Scotland as well as Canada and Ireland.

[@Watermelon_cat-ro6qc]

The only tune I know in here is "Jenny Dang the Weaver". Second tune in the first set

[@AndreGuimond]

Thats a pretty lovely video. Great showcase of East Coast talent and humble musicians. Great Job!

[@cariboubill1]

Just amazing! And such appealing performers! ....Bill

[@Tech875O]

Simply amazing. The music brings out so many emotions. Thank You for sharing.

[@lanesutherland]

Is enjoyed weekly in South Australia!

[@EleRocks]

I'm a bit intoxicated and right now I feel like I'm in somewhere 17th century (sorry if my history of violin music is a bit off, haha) tavern of awesome. Such festive moods! What a great amount of work done there to learn to play like that... and such feel of true enjoyment for music.

[@laurieheartsdcx]

Love the King George Medley between them at the end. I have Natalie's version of that on CD.

[@TheDaringSpoon]

Both so amazingly talented, a true inspiration.

[@WilliamCerf]

OMG!!! What a wonderful set. I just can't get over how beautiful this really is. Thank you TEDX.

[@jazzmaneast]

Great playing. Love it!

[@James73890]

Donald is a creative genius on the violin.

[@koolkat104]

Gotta love Cape Breton!! Fantastic music~

[@bglennan1]

Amazing...one of the best traditional styles on the fiddle.

[@jordancrago5129]

Remarkable music!

[@shesaidhellogoodbye]

Excellent! Absolutely brilliant! I caught myself almost clapping at one point!

[@willtro879]

Thats just simply awesome.

[@ericbrucewalker2601]

JUST THE GREATEST SOUND AROUND. PRAISE GOD..

[@TheWanderer22]

More like praise Natalie!

[@BucketOfAndrew]

You're right it makes me want to dance and praise my Lord Jesus!

[@alemar1122]

gotta love that Maritimer accent, i heard it and it brought a smile to my face immediately. she represents everything i love about our east coast

[@christopherrobinson767]

What is it about this video that 73 people would dislike? Great job guys! I love music from back home. Sitting here in Alberta missing home 🤔

[@paynectygardener2033]

Those 73 people do not have the Celtic ancestry required to properly understand and enjoy this fiddle music. The gentleman and lady performing the music here do have the ancestry to make sounds for us Celts to truly enjoy.

[@hughmacdonald9568]

Where are you from Chris? Hughie Johnny Archie MacDonald....Judique & Detroit

[@maidenrulz73]

PayneCty Gardener it’s all a matter of taste really....I’m as scot as they get and a lover of cape breton fiddle style (I live here) and I don’t like this video....I’m not a fan of Natalie’s playing style (although extremely talented) and certainly not a fan of his....if you listen to the old style of playing with the real Gaelic flair you’d know why people dislike it.....some like this style but certainly not a cape breton style

[@rossmacintosh5652]

No they clicked the "Dis I Like!" button. Everybody liked this. 😁

[@stardust1007]

It's like two violins playing at the same time!!! amazing!

[@fredagoulet7350]

YES!! The best music ever!

[@deansutherland3570]

She laid her hand on my shoulder yesterday in shoppers .she didn know it was me ....Patirarc ..Thats the golden haired angel !.. Solid! 100%

[@iraqidolphin]

I'm going to see her next weekend. Can't wait..

[@paulinejulien9191]

I looove folk fiddling sooo muuuch !

[@James73890]

My favourite tune!

[@sentimentaloldme]

Love your music and playing.

[@poshpol]

breathtaking performance!!!

[@SteelinDan]

Natalie is one of the best!

[@Culexable]

One of the things I love most about seeing this kind of music preformed is the lack of sheet music.

[@tonydong96]

this is so fun, love you guys!!!

[@daved8161]

Why does this music make me weep?

[@iskandertime747]

me too..

[@NJA1039]

thats called fiddle brother!

[@justinsteele2304]

Because she sounds fuckin beautiful buddy.

[@stayalivesweetheart]

Because it comes from the heart :)

[@johnhawley6799]

Anything from the island always touches the heart. It's always been like that, it always will.

[@dennismcclune9167]

Yes Rebecca they're wonderful....

[@rubiasherry9500]

Awesome! Love this wonderful music and this adorable couple :)

[@killiekentman]

loved this, gets the feet tapping . thanks for sharing

[@BigUndertaker]

They played it like a damn fiddle!!!

[@dynamiteproduction12]

it is a fiddle

[@1likestoplaymusic]

Sure did!! Awesome!

[@nathansinnott1784]

Slooged MacTrout whoosh

[@zarithevill]

The inspections were nothing but smokescreens

[@davesiler4064]

absolutely unbelievable!!!!!

[@jamesbockenstette4332]

Pure entertainment. The best ever.

[@Riverdale270]

This is really great! Especially the last song...

[@Jethromcsheepherder]

Its her other half, Donnell Leahy, also from Cape Breton and part of the group Leahy with all his siblings. You should check out the video Call to the Dance by Leahy on here..their live version is amazing.

[@albertettinger9436]

both MacMaster and Leahy are wonderful.

[@AndrewHennessey]

first reel is scottish called Jenny dang the weaver

[@LOOMIS1638]

Made my day!!! Love it!!

[@filthyphil_anitsocialcorner]

17:54-18:09 is just so good! Man i wish i could play like that

[@zacharymacnamara5363]

Tears to my eyes

[@moneymakerbanditsports8423]

Now this is Talent!

[@gracehetheringtonmusic]

YAY Big John Macneil at the end :) Love it!!!

[@Chrismacleod777]

She is brilliant!

[@MagnumPEI1]

and very nice standing ovation!

[@whoseyourmaddie]

I LOVE them!!!!!!!

[@lgcrooks]

This is great. But, it seems like it is harder work for Natalie to play the piano than the fiddle! Look at the intensity of her trying to hit the right chords! Priceless.

[@moonlitday1614]

@Rachel Hay - The song at 2;10 is Jenny Dang The Weaver.

[@jacobsgranddaughter]

Beautiful!!!

[@teletizzle]

amazing talent!