Hal Leonard Tune Book

Ron Bowen:
I was initially exposed to the Great Highland Bagpipe and its music through my father’s participation in The Bridgeport Pipe Band in the mid-1950s (Bridgeport CT. USA). One Christmas, brother Will and I found child-size practice chanters under the tree. Lessons were torture. At age six, I found reading staff notation too difficult and learned my first tunes by ear. I was a very good mimic. Circumstances changed a short while later and I would not pick up another practice chanter until I was almost twenty-one. This time I was ready. One year later, in September 1973, Will and I both joined the Grade 1 Waterloo Regional Police Pipe Band.

This story is far from typical and would not have occurred had circumstances been different. We were surrounded by a multitude of talented pipers and outstanding pipe bands. We were hungry to learn, and many were generous with their time and talent. PM Alex Robertson in Woodstock, who was a legendary teacher and leader, gave me sage advice. “Ringo, you can learn something from the worst piper by listening to what he’s doing incorrectly and avoiding those shortcomings.”

Over the following decades I played in several top Grade 1 and Grade 2 bands. I taught constantly and I built very successful programs along the way. My evolving experiences impacted my perspective greatly. I came to realize that unless you begin this journey at a very early age, you are not likely to reach the elevated performance levels of competition pipers (Open Solo or Grade 1 and 2 band pipers). Accordingly, I developed specific non-conforming theories and methodology for “The Average Piper”. What or who is The Average Piper? Sarajane’s story, below, resonates.

Sarajane Trier:
“The highland bagpipe was not my primary instrument. I was a flute major and through years of hard work and advanced musical education I became proficient at many instruments. I “discovered” the Highland Bagpipe and its music at a Master Class in college. Everything seemed wrong. The instrument was complicated and seemingly unsophisticated. The dramatic and subtle differences in its music was confusing to me. Still, inexplicably, I was drawn. I put it on my bucket list.
At age forty I began learning the bagpipe. I was surprised at how little my formal education and musical proficiency had prepared me for this experience. At times it seemed to be a handicap. Even more frustrating was the lack of appropriate resources. For people who were not associated with the music through family or culture, there was very little at a beginner or even intermediate level that was readily available. I had an instructor and a lesson book, however there were only a few tunes, and they went from rather easy to incredibly difficult in just a few pages.”

Ron Bowen:
These words hit like a hammer on an anvil. Without strong cultural ties and an early association, many are destined for a life-long experience of frustration. The instrument, although logical, is extremely complicated and a major source of frustration for many. Equally so is its music. Most of the music, both historically and in more recent times, is composed by exceptional pipers for exceptional pipers. There is limited material that lies within the abilities of The Average Piper.

Teaching both young and mature individuals and building bands brought this reality into acute focus. Out of need, I started composing tunes that I felt were appropriate for those who may have started later in life, without the mechanical dexterity of someone pre-teen or in their early teens. In 2006 I built a highly successful program at a military school and found my methods and tune selections accelerated learning and proficiency without negatively impacting those with greater ambition.

Sarajane Trier:
I researched other instructional materials and found pretty much the same everywhere. There was significant emphasis placed on embellishments before the learner was vaulted into seemingly impossible tunes. The lack of level-appropriate tune books made understanding the unique musical concepts difficult. Learning was slow and unpleasant. Everything I could find was well beyond my ability and worse yet, I had no idea how the music should sound. Although I am a very good sight-reader, I had few points of reference with bagpipe music. I found it greatly different from my formal training. I had lots of questions. What are the nuances of the phrasing? Where do the embellishments land relevant to the beat? And then for the absolute strangest question-how long is a dot, because it wasn’t lining up with the musical math I had learned.

My life changed while attending my first summer workshop. I found that top-notch instructors from around the world were real people and incredibly willing to answer all these questions. They were beginning to see their own music through a slightly different lens. Through hours of conversation, we were able to create relevant connections between bagpipe music and traditional music theory. Everything became incredibly clear, and, over time, my playing improved significantly. Still there was a lack of material within my growing abilities and it seemed that every new music book I purchased contained but one or two tunes that I could get my hands around.

The instructional approach to our first book, The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Method, is the tangible result of many hours of collaboration (arguments) with Ron (Ringo). He was the newly appointed bagpipe instructor at SJNMA and was also helping several bands and individuals in southern Wisconsin. Ringo had been playing bagpipes, as his only instrument, since 1971 and had achieved success with several excellent bands in Ontario. With the school, his challenge was to advance young boys onto the pipes and playing tunes for parades and performances within an incredibly short period of time (roughly ten weeks). With the bands and adults in the area, he was challenged to expand their repertoires beyond the few tunes that everyone seemed to play. In 2009 I joined Ringo as an instructor, and we further refined our teaching methods.

Through long periods of discussion and through trial and error we discovered critical “missing links” between bagpipe teaching methods and the way other musicians are taught. Following long hours of research, discussions with other accomplished pipers, and testing ideas, we created The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Method.

The music of the Highland Bagpipe is most often performed without sheet music as a guide. In learning new tunes, I found that hearing the melody of the tune first was incredibly helpful. I would play a recording in a loop until I could sing it. (I did this while driving, cooking, cleaning – you name it!) I could also play my practice chanter with the sound file, at first with the printed music, and then eventually without.

Ron Bowen:
You will find both traditional and original compositions in this collection, most of which will fall within the abilities of The Average Piper. Many of the traditional tunes began as folk songs, handed down from generation to generation. At some point they were repurposed for the fiddle and the bagpipe and started their lives anew. Over the years there has been some success in standardizing the settings however multiple variations can still be found today, some complicated and some less so. You may also encounter extended versions, harmonies, and countermelodies, all intended to add variety and additional interest for the audience. As in all musical idioms, the staff notation is a guide. The musician must bring forward the emotion and feeling within the music.

The essence of the music is within the melody. Embellishments are intended to enhance the melody however, they should not be played to the detriment of the melody, technique, timing, or tempo. As your abilities allow, embellishments should be included to the highest degree possible without doing damage to the aforementioned. There are some who disagree with this philosophy, and I accept that point of view, however nothing causes me (or your audience) more displeasure than to hear a beautiful melody compromised for the sake of embellishments. The equal can be said of a bad sounding instrument. My basic rule is to play within your abilities, both in the selection of your music and in the inclusion of embellishments.

We hope that you find these words and the tunes within this book helpful. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to either of us at www.thebagpipeplace.com

The Hal Leonard Bagpipe Tune Book is an essential resource and fulfills most of the players’ needs, both somber and celebratory. This collection brings together both traditional and contemporary compositions that fall within the general abilities of the average piper. It is our hope that this will benefit both the musician and audience in advancing an understanding and appreciation of the great Highland bagpipe.

This book includes 125 different tunes, including airs, hornpipes, reels, marches, strathspeys, and jigs. Also included are demo recordings for all 125 tunes! Audio is accessed online using the unique code inside the book and can be streamed or downloaded. The audio files include PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right.