My Favorite Tunes

I was asked to submit my favorite piobaireachd and give some reasons why. This topic is one that changes the more I play piobaireachd and the more I teach piobaireachd, as I fall into the mindset of the various musical passages in a tune. To some folks, piobaireachd may be a slow, dreary type of music with difficult ornamentation. If you are heading down that road, remember your theme notes, the concept of forward momentum, and most important, to bring the tune to life, the same as an actor contributes words to his part with thought and expression. Accomplished actors bring words to life by conveying the thoughts and feelings behind the words.

My favorite piobaireachd for today’s writing is Beloved Scotland (Beloved Scotland, How Sadly I Leave Thee). I was first taught this tune by Jimmy McIntosh and Mike Cusack. Willie McCallum had a recording of this tune, and I wore it out from listening so often. The more I listened, the more I wanted to study the tune.

Jimmy McIntosh indicated the tune encompasses the full register of our bagpipe scale (every note on the chanter is used in the tune). Oddly enough, very few piobaireachds include every note of the scale.

In the first line of the piobaireachd I try to have the listener feel the waves of the boat as they leave the shore. Boats of course were the main method of transportation at that time. Halfway through line 1, after the song is established, the throws on D and grips give one a feeling of waves rhythmically hitting the boat. Line 2 reintroduces the song, but as the reverse of the start of line 1, and then starts its journey through the upper register, where high G is introduced.

And what a note this is in piobaireachd! To me, this minor-key note, augmented by the F finger, expresses the sorrow passengers felt starting their journey to leave their land, the place of their birth.  Line 3, to me, runs the gamut of sorrow, yet conveys a hopefulness for what tomorrow may bring in another part of the world.

Being an American and leaving the country I love to move to “the best wee country in the world,” I experienced some of the same thoughts of what tomorrow may bring. The love in my heart to and with my beloved. “Home” becomes being a place where you hang your hat, look for the comfort and safety of what tomorrow may bring, and the joy in sharing that hopefulness of life and the pursuit of happiness.

The song, of course, does not finish at the end of the ground. Moving from the taorluath singling to the taorluath doubling is a perfect example of forward movement. Technical passages are followed by the theme note down to a note and back up to the theme note throughout the singling, then a teasing or introducing the doubling slightly early, and then returning back to the themal passage established early in line 1. Trying to envelope the listener into the song throughout the taorluath and crunluath variations is a must. Don’t just treat it as a taorluath or crunluath exercise, but project that theme note, and therefore the song.

Jakez Pincet taught me that tension and relaxation are ways to engage with our listeners to produce music. What I learned from that was that long notes themselves do not produce relaxation, and short notes do not create tension. Rather, musical phrasing and forward momentum – how one treats those long and short notes within the phrase – creates the tension and relaxation. The great drummer Alex Duthart taught me this gem – “The secret to music, son, is rhythms.” Rhythms, phrasing, tension, relaxation, forward progress, and technique, all on one of the hardest instruments to learn and tune, using every note of our scale. Yes, Beloved Scotland is a difficult ask. On the occasion, I can tick all of the above boxes when playing the tune. This is why Beloved Scotland has such a special place in my heart. I wish everyonereading this the joys of what our great music has to offer and the very best of health and happiness.