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Now that we've gotten our fingers around the nine notes that make up the GHB scale let's take on something
just a bit more challenging. The following exercise is a great way to build finger coordination. It
may seem difficult at first. Set your metronome at about 40 beats-per-minute. Work on this exercise
one measure at a time. Go over and over each measure until it becomes "natural". Then link all the
measures together to play the entire exercise.
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Here's what it's supposed to sound like at various tempos. Remember, speed is not a substitute for
accuracy or correctness. Push yourself to play the exercise at faster tempos however not to the point
where execution starts to fail. If you feel your fingers starting to fall off, hold the line at that
speed for a few days before trying a faster tempo.
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The music of the Great Highland Bagpipe is comprised of a melody played on a chanter against a background
of harmony provided by three drones. Since there are only nine notes and not key changes, we embellish
notes to provide additional "color" and interest to the music. Embellishments range from a single gracenote
to strings of gracenotes played as a single movement.
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Embellishments are played distinctly and with considerable conviction. They should be consistently
perfect, both technically and musically. The finished product should be exciting to witness. Embellishments
should always be played in context with the music and should never receive attention at the expense of
the sound of our instrument or the melody and consistent tempo of the music being played. We'll take
a magnifying glass to these words later.
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Let's look at the exercise below. Look familiar? It's the same as the exercise above with some gracenotes
added. You will see G, D, & E gracenotes associated with specific melody notes. Aha! This is a great
time to mention that all embellishments are associated with the melody note immediately following the
embellishment!
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A gracenote is played by simply lifting one finger briefly and returning it to the chanter! For
instance, a G gracenote is played by lifting the index finger of your top hand for a fraction of a second
and placing it back on the chanter. An E gracenote is played by doing the same with your ring finger
on the top hand. And a D gracenote is played using only the index finger of your bottom hand. When
we use only one finger to sound a note, we call this a "natural".
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So, where we were playing the exercise above with each melody note landing on the beat, we will now
play the same exercise with each of the gracenotes landing on the beat! Practice this slowly and strive
for accuracy.
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Again, here's a sound file of the exercise being played properly.
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This is a great time to talk about the G, D, & E gracenotes. You will encounter these three very important
gracenotes countless times in bagpipe music. You'll see them as single gracenotes, as GDE triplets,
and incorporated into other embellishments (in whole and in part). Simply stated, you can't practice
GDE exercises too much! Having said that, let's tackle the exercise below.
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This is a little busier that we're used to. The time signature here is 6/8.....which means that there
are 6 beats to a measure and that each 1/8th note gets a beat. So, if we set our metronome at about
120 beats-per-minute and play each note on the beat, it will sound something like this.
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So we practice the first line twice over and then the second line twice over. Practice them over and
over until you're nailing each note on the beat. Now we're going to try something a bit different.
In bagpipe music, in 6/8 tunes, we group the 1/8 notes into two groups equaling 3/8 note value.
When we march to these tunes we start the first group of notes (in each measure) on the left foot and
the second group of notes on the right foot.
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Now let's set the metronome at about 50 beats-per-minute. Start the first GDE grouping on the first
beat (left foot) and the second GDE grouping on the second beat (right foot). It should sound something
like this.
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How fast can you go? Well that depends on you! Never go so fast that your execution breaks down and
you're practising the movement incorrectly. Push yourself, but push correctly. If you get into trouble,
back off the tempo just a bit. It's all about discipline.
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The G, D, and E gracenotes are extremely important in bagpipe music. Not only are they used individually
to enhance melody notes, they are also combined to create powerful rhythms and embellishments.
Many pipers do not understand or play GDE movements correctly, primarily because they've never been taught
how to! In one simple explanation, each note is distinct, they are played in the correct sequence of
GDE, and the emphasis is in placing the finger onto the chanter, not in lifting the finger from the chanter.
I'll try to demonstrate just what I mean in the following two sound clips. Pay close attention.
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Here is an example of weak and a loosely played GDE movement. Notice how the notes run together and
sometimes overlap. Also listen to the texture of the note, being somewhat sloppy, floppy, or however
one cares to describe it.
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Now listen to the same GDE movement played with a bit more conviction. Listen to how the individual
notes are more precise played with both separation and strength. Learning to play the GDE movement like
this will improve gracenoting, doublings, toarluths, and general technique.
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The bar of music above is from Banjo Breakdown, which is an exceptional jig. The 3rd part is great
for practicing rhymic GDE movements and the 4th part is great for practicing E and F strikes. Great
tune for building great hands! Another jig that is very useful is Paddy's Leather Breeches. Again,
it's a great "exercise" tune and dancers love it! Here's the 3rd part.
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O.K. We're done with lesson 2 and ready to start our first tune! What? That's right. Let's bring it
on! Proceed to lesson 3!
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