Teach Yourself Bagpipes by Lindsay Davidson

bringing quality 'piping instruction to you for free

Main Index

Back to Welcome page
How to Practice
Order of Study
Rhythm and Reading Music
Exercises
Tunes

Bagpipes:
Transition to Bagpipes
Tuning a Bagpipe

Getting Better:
Using Midi files
Intermediate exercises
Advanced

Band repertoire

Links:
Where to buy equipment
Links to teachers
Links to Organisations
Links to pipe bands
Links (other)

HIGH ‘G’ GRACENOTES

A high ‘G’ gracenote is a very short chirpy movement and is the most fundamental of all exercises. It is made by moving your high ‘G’ finger up and down very quickly. Gracenotes have two functions - to cut a note into smaller pieces and to emphasise a change from one note to another. The correct order of events for doing this is as follows:

1.        Starting note - Low ‘G’ in example 1.
2.        Lift ‘G’ finger (open gracenote).
3.        Change note - go to Low ‘A’ in example 1 (remember changing notes sometimes requires several extra actions).
4.         Put down ‘G’ finger ( close gracenote).

There is one exception. When going to or coming from High ‘G’, use your thumb instead of the G finger. This is then called a “Thumb Gracenote” or “Back Gracenote” or “High ‘A’ Gracenote”.

Example 2.

1.         ‘C’ (starting note).
2.         Lift thumb (open gracenote).
3.         Make High ‘G’ (don’t forget to put down your ‘C’)
4.         Put down thumb (close gracenote).