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Piobaireachd
Piobaireachd (pronounced 'pee brock') is a Gaelic word which means both 'bagpipe music' and 'bagpipe playing'. However, Piobaireachd isn't a collective term for pipe music, it is the ancient form or classical pipe music which is often referred to as Ceol Mor(Gaelic for 'big music').A Piobaireachd consists of an opening slow theme called Urlar (or Ground) This is followed by several variations of increasing tempo and complexity. Most tunes are of at least 8 minutes duration! Although not appealing to everyone, most would agree that a well played Piobaireachd on a balanced and tuned instrument, while not so immediately as a short tune, is ultimately more satisfying, more sophisticated in content, and in every way a "bigger" piece of music.The type of music you hear us and other pipe bands play is not Piobaireachd, but instead referred to as Ceol Beag: 'light' or 'small' music. Piobaireachd is left to the more accomplished soloists amongst us.
The sound of the Pipes
The Great Highland Bagpipe has a unique sound instantly recognisable from any other instrument. Been a legato instrument, it is unlike any other woodwind instrument in that it can provide a constant sound; the musician playing other instruments has to stop to draw breath. However, it's the Bag in Bagpipe that makes the difference. The bag acts as a reservoir that pipers uses to maintain a steady airflow to the reeds while they stop blowing to draw breath.
Steady airflow is key to a great sounding Bagpipe, and it takes years for a piper to develop their technique. It's essential because there are four reeds in the Great Highland Bagpipe, all of which are set in tune with each other. There is one reed in the pipe chanter; which is played using the piper's fingers to produce the melody. This is the strongest of the reeds and as such is the loudest, furthermore the chanter is conical which amplifies the sound. The other three reeds are the Drone Reeds. There is a Bass Drone and two Tenor Drones that produce that unique constant hum that tie together with the Chanter sound to create wonderful harmoniesthat are often most apparent in Slow Airs, Piobaireachds, and Laments.
Embellishments
The Great Highland Bagpipe can only produce nine notes, that's right - just over one octave! Furthermore, the volume is constant; it's just not possible to emphasise a pieces of music using changes in volume. This is why the finger technique is so important - to make the most of those nine notes.
While the tunes are made up of the 9 theme notes; the notes that form the basic melody, there are also grace notes played over them, to place varying amounts of emphasis to make the tune interesting. The single grace notes that are short sharp pips are arranged together to form numerous doublings and embellishments. Playing these embellishments quickly and clearly requires years of practice and a degree of dexterity in the piper's fingers.
The Scale
The nine notes of the Great Highland Bagpipe are an unruly bunch. They fail to conform to western musical standards, and as a result the pipes are rarely accompanied by other instruments, although it can be and is sometimes done quite successfully.
The Scale is not one of the traditional major scale. That is the typical Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Si, Do sense. Instead, the GHB scale has a flattened seventh, that's the Si! It's a semi tone lower, i.e. nearer the La. This is known as the Mixolydian Mode in the music world. But further to this the notes don't fall exactly in the Mixolydian Mode, that's just the nearest 'label' that can be used to pigeon hole the pipes. In reality the notes are just somewhere near those used in western music, and this no accident or poor engineering tolerances when manufacturing pipe chanters. No, this is to improve the harmonies that are developed against the drones. Let's also not forget that the Great Highland Bagpipes evolved more than a few years ago, and the pipe makers of yesteryear where not concerned by standard western music. These were solo instruments, and did not need to conform.
The tradition on non-conformity still continues, different pipe and reed makers produce their own sound, and as a result bands have to use chanters from the same maker to ease the job of tuning. Over the years the Great Highland Bagpipe has become significantly sharper, furthermore the relative differences between some of the notes have changed to suite the style of playing from ceol mor to ceol beag, that is; from the traditional 'heavy' Piobaireachd to modern 'light' music.
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