Teach Yourself Bagpipes by Lindsay Davidson
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Famous Ballymote
Five discussion points
1 Bar 1
tachum - the C is three times the length of the D gracenote, as has
been
chosen in the majority of cases in the rest of the MAP tunes (the
writer himself usually does something different)
2 Bar 1 strike - this is a heavy strike, taking up a full 32nd note and opening on the beat. Listen carefully to the midi files to get a feel for this.
3 Bar 4 high G gracenote in the repeat this is very short - whereas at the very beginning the initial G gracenote was big.
4 Bar 5 High A doubling is in the form of a 'light' doubling, where the strike is shorter than the initial high A. This is not the case in all the MAP tunes.
5 Bar 11 strike on E is as in bar 1, heavy.
2 Bar 1 strike - this is a heavy strike, taking up a full 32nd note and opening on the beat. Listen carefully to the midi files to get a feel for this.
3 Bar 4 high G gracenote in the repeat this is very short - whereas at the very beginning the initial G gracenote was big.
4 Bar 5 High A doubling is in the form of a 'light' doubling, where the strike is shorter than the initial high A. This is not the case in all the MAP tunes.
5 Bar 11 strike on E is as in bar 1, heavy.
This section of the website has tunes taken from the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Asociation (RSPBA) prescribed tune list.
If you learn these tunes, there will be a large number of people you can be sure to find tunes in common with.
The RSPBA update their list from time to time and the versions here followed their original published versions, pending updates in due course.
These videos show the music and you can hear midi generated tracks where the rhythm of the gracenotes and embellishments is maintained in proper interprative proportion. You should try to feel the rhythm and also count it out exactly. Start with the fastest files and as you get better, go to the slower files, as this is a true measure of your security of technique.
Each file is given at two pitches, A and B flat. This reflects the different practice chanter tunings commonly found. Please scroll down to what you need (site updated for smart phone and tablets)
The exercises below are chosen to help with some particular trickiness in each tune.
If you learn these tunes, there will be a large number of people you can be sure to find tunes in common with.
The RSPBA update their list from time to time and the versions here followed their original published versions, pending updates in due course.
These videos show the music and you can hear midi generated tracks where the rhythm of the gracenotes and embellishments is maintained in proper interprative proportion. You should try to feel the rhythm and also count it out exactly. Start with the fastest files and as you get better, go to the slower files, as this is a true measure of your security of technique.
Each file is given at two pitches, A and B flat. This reflects the different practice chanter tunings commonly found. Please scroll down to what you need (site updated for smart phone and tablets)
The exercises below are chosen to help with some particular trickiness in each tune.
Videos to play along with
| Low Pitch normal speed |
| Low Pitch half speed |
| Low Pitch quarter speed |
| High pitch normal speed |
| High pitch half speed |
| High pitch quarter speed |
To get more information and videos to play along with please follow the links for these exercises
Five exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
howtodothings.com
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