We're going to continue our path of learning new embellishments and immediately using them in traditional
tunes.
Bonnie Prince Charlie was defeated at Culloden on April 16, 1746. Following his escape
to France many hoped he would return. This song was written by Carolina Oliphant (Lady Nairne) to immortalize
those sentiments
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Will Ye No Come Back Again?
Bonnie Chairlie's noo awa',
Safely ower the friendly main;
Mony a heart will break in twa',
Should he ne'er come back again.
Chorus:
Will ye
no come back again?
Will ye no come back again?
Better lo'ed ye canna be,
Will ye no come
back again?
Ye trusted in your Hielan' men,
They trusted you dear Chairlie.
They kent
your hidin' in the glen,
Death or exile bravin'.
Chorus
We watched thee in the gloamin'
hour,
We watched thee in the mornin' grey.
Tho' thirty thousand pounds they gie,
O there
is nane that wad betray.
Chorus
Sweet the laverock' s note and lang,
Liltin' wildly up
the glen.
But aye tae me he sings ae sang,
Will ye no' come back again?
Chorus
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We need to learn a few new embellishment and talk about "tied" notes before we play the tune. We'll
also get to use that Heavy D Strike we learned earlier.
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Our first new embellishment is the F doubling. It can be played from any note up to and including the
F. Technically, it's pretty simple. It starts with a G gracenote on F followed by another G gracenote
on F.
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We're going to learn the half-doubling of F as well, which is played from High G and High A. Study
the picture to figure out how it is to be played. Now click on the treble clef to listen to the exercise
below which contains both new embellishments.
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Repetitions build accuracy and consistency. All the exercises we have presented here show each embellishment
played twice from each note. Compare each pair of embellishments to determine if one was better than
the other or if they are very close in terms of how they sound. Take on more and more "reps" as your
skill level grows.
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The Doubling of E is arguably the most beautiful of all embellishments. Technically it is a G gracenote
played on E followed by an F gracenote on the E melody note. Click on the treble clef to hear how it
is played technicall and then as it should within the exercise below.
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You will see notes "tied" together by means of an arc drawn from one to the other. These notes are
held over two or more beats, sometimes within a bar and other times from one bar to the next. Just be
mindful that there is a "pulse" on the second note within the "tie". Listen for this in the sound clip
of Will Ye No Come Back Again.
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And here it is - Will Ye No Come Back Again.
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Our next new embellishment is a bottom hand doubling. Oh what the heck! We might as well take on two
new doublings since they're so similar. I'm talking about doublings of B and C.
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Remember when I was saying that the GDE movement had a broad application across bagpipe music? Well,
here's an example. These doublings are created by playing G and D gracenotes on the melody note. Well
more technically stated, in the example of the B doubling, it's a G gracenote played on a B gracenote,
followed by a D gracenote played on the melody note which is a B.
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Here's what they should sound like. Note that the G gracenote is on the beat with the D gracenote sounding
almost like an echo. The Captain explains that the G gracenote is critical as it's the accent note.
You can get away with missing the odd D gracenote in your doublings but you'd better not be missing
that all-important lead-in gracenote!
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And here's the second part of Will Ye No Come Back Again. The first time we'll single time it and the
second time through we'll double-time it to get the eight note runs exactly where they belong. Listen
closely!
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We're going to learn another embellishment and apply it to an exercise rather than a tune. This is
the doubling of D which is accomplished by playing a G gracenote on a D gracenote followed by an E gracenote
on the D melody note. It's very easy to play this doubling incorrectly. Make your gracenotes distinct
and separate.
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The doublings of D, E, and F are most effective when practiced together. It is not uncommon for one
or more of these three doublings to differ dramatically in how they are played and in how they sound.
In reality they should be played to sound almost the same. I refer to the exercise above as "bells"
only because if these doublings are played correctly they should sound like a bell ringing away.
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O.K. I admit it! I'm old and out of practice. However here I demonstrate how to practice this exercise.
I'll probably spend some time practising now that I've embarassed myself and update this sound file
when I've got them sounding better. Until then, in the words of my grandfather, don't do as I do, do
as I say! (Thank's Gramp)
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When you're practising and you stumble on an embellishment or phrase.... STOP! Take it out of the
tune and work at it. Go back and practice these exercises if you need to. Then put it back into the
tune and apply "Ringo's Rule of Three". (Play it three times perfectly before you may continue!)
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You're doing great! If at any time you feel that you'd like more help, email me ron_bowen@hotmail.com
We can set up a distance learning program that will energize and accelerate your learning! Now, on
to lesson 10!
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