Teach Yourself Bagpipes by Lindsay Davidson

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 HARA

There is one more type of doubling which appears in simple tunes, but for some inexplicable reason, traditionally is rarely taught with basic technique. Equally inexplicable is that is doesn’t have an established name, yet is universally played and recognised.  I call this movement “HARA”, as this is the ‘canntaireachd’ description of the embellishment. (Canntaireachd is an old system of notating pipe music by using words instead of writing on the five lines of the stave, and is still used for ‘piobaireachd’, the classical, or art music of the ‘pipes.  

Order of Events:
1.         Starting note - ‘E’ in example 35.
2.         Open High ‘G’ gracenote.
3.         Change to ‘D’.
4.         Put down High ‘G’ gracenote.
5.         Double ‘D’ with a strike.
6.         End on ‘D’.
  When coming from High ‘G’ remember to use the Thumb Gracenote (example 36):
1.         High ‘G’.
2.         Lift thumb.
3.         Lift ‘D’.
4.         Put down High ‘G’ (keep thumb off!).
5.         Put down thumb.
6.         Double  ‘D’ with a strike.
7.         End on ‘D’.
HARA FROM ‘E’.


XX XO XO XX XX XX
X X X X X X
O O X X X X
           
X X O O X O
X X O O O O
X X O O O O
O O X X X X
           
E Open G gracenote Change to D Close gracenote Double D with a strike End on D

HARA FROM HIGH ‘G’.

XO OO OX XX XX XX
O O X X X X
O O X X X X
           
X X O O X O
X X O O O O
X X O O O O
O O X X X X
           
High G Open Thumb Gracenote Change to D Close Gracenote
(sound D) 		Double with a strike End on D

Examples 35 and 36



Please go to the exercises 2 page for 'hara' exercises and examples you can hear.

 
Rudiments Index

Hand Position and the Scale
Crossing sounds
G Gracenotes
D Gracenotes
E Gracenotes
G,D,E Gracenotes exercise
Strikes
Throws
Doublings - general principles
Low G Doublings
Low A Doublings
B Doublings
C Doublings
D Doublings
E Doublings
F Doublings
High G Doublings
High A Doublings
Grips
Taorluath
Birl
Tachum
Hara


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Lindsay Davidson
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