Lesson 7
Up to this point in time we've only been focusing on two embellishments; gracenotes
and strikes. It is extremely important that you continue to practice exercises that will build your
competence in both. Remember that these embellishments are to be played with some conviction. When
lifting your fingers off the chanter make sure they clear the chanter. In order to get a nice clean,
crisp gracenote of strike, place increased emphasis on returning the finger to the chanter. In other
words, lift your fingers and hammer in the gracenotes!
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O.K. enough of that! Let’s learn “Scot’s Wha Ha’e”. The full name of this tune is Scot’s Wha Ha’e
Wi’ Wallace which means “Scots who have with Wallace Bled” referring to the great Scottish patriot William
Wallace. His story was told in the movie Braveheart. The tune is also sometimes called Bruce’s Address
in reference to Robert the Bruce’s address to his troops at Bannockburn in 1314.
Scot’s Wha
Ha’e is a beautiful lament when played slowly and with feeling. Practice the tune one or two bars at
a time, repeating each measure until your fingers develop a “memory” for the tune. This is a great example
of a dot / cut rhythm.
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Before we get into the tune we have to learn a new embellishment! It's called a D Throw or a Throw
on D. There are different versions of this embellishments that are generally represented by the symbol
to the right.
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This is the symbol that you’ll see most often. It is generally referred to as a light throw on D.
By studying the individual notes you can determine the sequence of notes played prior to the D quarter
note. This version of the throw on D is most often played in piobaireachd which is the ancient and classical
music of the bagpipe.
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The version played most often is the heavy throw on D and is seen to the right. The note sequence produces
a very different and “heavy” sounding D throw which is played in all the music we will play. Oddly,
in what is called “light music” it has become accepted practice to play the heavy throw on D even when
we see the symbol for the light throw on D. Other controversy is avoided herein.
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Now study the symbol directly above (Heavy D Throw). Broken down it looks like this:
1) sound Low
G
2) make a D gracenote on Low G
3) sound Low G
4) open the chanter to C
5) open the chanter
to D
Now, in context with a tune this embellishment can be played from any note other than D and
can be played quite quickly.
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Later on where're going to examine embellishments and how to play them on-the-beat in greater detail.
Right now I want you to keep your D Throw fully expanded and play the D grace within the embellishment
on the beat! To make this easier, start with Low A and then play your D Throw. Like this.
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Practice the movement slowly and deliberately. Go over the exercise above until you start to feel comfortable.
Click on the treble clef to the left to get an idea of how it should sound.
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As with all the embellishments, there is a correct way to play them technically and a correct way to
play them musically. One should strive to achieve both! Click on the Treble Clef to the right to hear
the same exercise played at a typical marching tempo.
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Now that you understand how to play a D Throw let's try the first part of Scot's Wha Hae. Let's look
at the tune. We see that it's a 4/4 march. That's 4 beats per measure with each quarter note (or its
equivalent) getting a beat. Remember, the first note of coupled notes gets the beat.
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The best way to learn a new tune is to tackle it one bar at a time. Go over the first bar a few times
to get the feel of it. Then go on to the second bar. Again, go over it a few times to lay down the
"muscle memory". Now link them together and play the first two bars. Easy, eh?
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Click on the treble clef to the right to hear the first part.
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You'll notice that there are two endings to the first part. The second ending is 1/16th note shorter
than the first ending. This is because there's a pick-up note at the beginning of the second part.
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Before we can play the second part we need to learn another new embellishment. This is the double High
G. It can be played from any note other than High G. Simply open the chanter to High G and touch your
index finger briefly sounding an F gracenote. It's all done rather quickly and should sound something
like this.
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No matter what note you're playing the Double HG from you need to return all your fingers to the correct
position for HG. Then tap your index finger to create the double HG effect. This means that playing
this embellishment from certain notes will require smooth transitions. eg From C you'll have to return
your C & B fingers to the chanter while lifting your little finger and top hand fingers to play HG.
This all needs to be done simultaneously.
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Double Nugget! Crossing noised occur when fingers are raised and lowered on the chanter slightly out
of sequence. For instance, playing the Double HG from C I want to open my HG slightly before closing
my bottom hand and lifting my little finger. Otherwise, I'll get a "blip" in between the C and the HG.
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Here's what I'm talking about. This sound clips demonstrates the Double HG from C, first without crossing
noises, next with crossing noises, and finally without crossing noises again. Listen to your own playing.
If you're hearing crossing noises you need to go back, look at the mechanics of the movement, and eliminate
the crossing noises!
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O.K. let's apply what we've learned to the second part of Scot's Wha Hae.
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Click on the treble clef to the left for just the second part of the tune. Click on the treble clef
to the right for the entire tune!
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The second part of Scot’s Wha Ha’e begins with what we call a “pick-up note”. In this instance the
pick-up note is a semi-quaver or 1/16th note. In order maintain the proper total note value per bar
we needed to adjust the value of the Low A, in the second ending, at the end of the first part.
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