Grade 4 Competition Tunes
Turpen
My instructor has provided some suggestions, but since I will be living with
these tunes for the next year or so, I would like to consider all the
possibilities.
I would like some input from the Collective WIsdom of the group as to what
tunes might be more appropriate. This could be some sort of a survey as to
what tunes people have played in competition at the various grade levels.
While I'm most interested in tunes for Grade 4, I'd like suggestions for the
higher grades too so I can get some idea of the complexity involved as you go
up the ladder.
I now have both volumes of Scots Guards; hopefully most of the tunes will be
in there. Please provide a reference for tunes outside Scots Guards.
Specifically, I'm looking for recommendations for:
2/4 March
6/8 March
Piobaireachd
(Strathspey & Reel too, even though not a lot of Grade 4 events offer the
category)
(Would this be something that might be appropriate for the Bagpipe FAQ?)
Thanks,
Dave Turpen
Apprentice Piper
tur...@c813.npt.nuwc.navy.mil
David C Daye
Turpen <tur...@c813.npt.nuwc.navy.mil> wrote:
>I am in the process of selecting my Grade 4 competition tunes for next year.
Great timing! I had meant to post a suggestion recently but I find I've
lost my copy of the sheet music.
Some years ago Duncan Johnstone composed a march entitled approximately
"Feis Bharraigh ##" (The Barra Festival) where ## is a year (83 or
some such). I don't recall hearing this tune at games; perhaps it would be
a welcome addition to the novice repertoire.
The tune is a weird modal piece, you could call it G major D minor or
E minor or YMMV :). Like "Duncan McGinnis" and "High Rd to Gairloch" it's
mostly even 1/8 notes or dotted 1/8, and it's 4 parts, almost certainly
a 2/4.
Does anyone online have a copy (Ed Hale?) and would you consider
making it available online? I'd like it for my own use in any case.
Thanks in advance.
--
David Daye http://www-bprc.mps.ohio-state.edu/~bdaye/bagpipes.htm
scot & uilleann Pipe & reed modification diagrams, sound files of GHB
Columbus Ohio USA a440 & UP trad/silly. Beginner tips & Sounds of Extra
day...@osu.edu Terrier-Estrial Intelligence. Revised 21 Aug 1995
Kenneth G. Gordon
Crossing the Rhine"
Piobaireachd: "The Glen is Mine", "The Cave of Gold", "Lament for Mary
MacLeod" (in order of difficulty for grade 4)
2/4: "Toronto Scottish Regiment" (Although I don't really care much for
the tune, it doesn't have many surprises for a grade 4 piper, and the
judges seemed to like it 15 years ago)
Strathspey: "Struan Robertson", (one of my favorite Strathspeys, but
probably a bit difficult for a grade 4 piper)
Others?
br...@ais.com
>I am in the process of selecting my Grade 4 competition tunes for next year.
>My instructor has provided some suggestions, but since I will be living with
>these tunes for the next year or so, I would like to consider all the
>possibilities.
>
>I would like some input from the Collective WIsdom of the group as to what
>tunes might be more appropriate. This could be some sort of a survey as to
>what tunes people have played in competition at the various grade levels.
>While I'm most interested in tunes for Grade 4, I'd like suggestions for the
>higher grades too so I can get some idea of the complexity involved as you
>go up the ladder.
That would be unique -- any group of pipers agreeing on something,
especially tunes!
In Grade 4 what you should be concentrating on are tunes that don't
present an insurmountable challenge to you at this stage, so some of
the big tunes like `Lord Alexander Kennedy' or `Mrs. John MacColl' are
not a good idea unless you're actually much better than Grade 4 (more
like Grade 1 or possibly Grade 2) & haven't moved up yet (but if that's
the case, you _should_ move up & not sandbag in the lower grade -- but
you'd probably be aware of it if that's the case). Don't rule out some
of the `easy' tunes like `The High Road to Gairloch' (a 2-part version
of this 2/4 march is in Scots Guards Vol. II, but there's a 4-part
version in the David Glen tutor book; personally I don't care much
for the 4-part version); many of those tunes, including `High Road',
are deceptively simple (the expression in particular often being a
challenge in Grade 4 even for these tunes). Most pipe band associations
don't require a 4-part march in Grade 4 (just 4 parts of music, which
could be two 2-part tunes), and there are not a few pipers who have
won Grade 4 competitions with tunes like `High Road to Gairloch',
`Corriechoillie's Welcome to the Northern Meeting', and `Teribus'.
With that in mind, try to choose tunes that show off your strong points.
For example, if your strong point is technique, you might choose a tune
like `79th's Farewell to Gibralter' which is likely to be a bit of a
challenge to most Grade 4 players. If your strong point is expression,
you might choose something like `51st Highland Division at Wadi Akarit'
(The person who won the Grade 4 competition at the Grandfather Mountain
Highland Games, whom I met at the piping school near there this year,
played this tune).
Avoid tunes that have movements you can't play (but work on them off
the competition boards). For example, if you have trouble playing a
birl from notes other than low A, avoid tunes like `Ensign Keogh' or
`Miss Delicia Chisholm' which have a lot of them from F (though those
would otherwise be good Grade 4 marches).
With all that in mind, here's a list of tunes I'd consider playing in
Grade 4. I've put a * in front of tunes I particularly like. Your
(and other pipers') mileage may vary, of course.
2/4 march - 2-part tunes
High Road to Gairloch (Scots Guards II)
* Corriechoillie's Welcome to the Northern Meeting (Scots Guards I)
Teribus (Scots Guards I)
* Barren Rocks of Aden (Scots Guards I)
-- This is often written & played as a 2-part march. The last
two parts of the march as given in the Scots Guards are much
harder, and may be a bit difficult for Grade 4 depending on
how good your technique is. Also, although the third part
does still have a nice melody, it tends to dissolve a bit
in the 4th part & I don't care much for that part.
2/4 march - 4-part tunes
* Captain Norman Orr-Ewing (Scots Guards I)
* The Seige of Delhi (Scots Guards I)
79th Farewell to Gibralter (Scots Guards I)
Duncan MacInnes (Scots Guards II)
-- The main problem with the above 4 tunes is that they are
done to death in Grade 4, & I'd rather do one of the ones
below for that reason.
Haughs of Cromdale (Scots Guards I)
* The Battle of Killiecrankie (Scots Guards I)
Colonel Sinclair (Scots Guards I)
* King George V's Army (Scots Guards I)
Miss Delicia Chisholm (Scots Guards II)
Ensign Keogh (Royal Irish Rangers)
Caubeen Trimmed With Blue [or Liberton Boys or Liberton Pipe Band or
Liberton Polka] (Royal Irish Rangers)
* 51st Highland Division at Wadi Akarit (Queen's Own Highlanders)
6/8 march
* Rab's Wedding (Scots Guards II)
All the Blue Bonnets Are Over the Border (Scots Guards I)
Piobaireachd of Donald Dubh (Scots Guards I)
* Bonnie Dundee (Scots Guards I - 2 parts)
* Steamboat [or Hills of Caithness] (RSPBA Tutor Book 1 - 2 parts)
Piobaireachd
March for a Beginner (Kilberry Book)
Company's Lament (Seumas MacNeill's Tutor for Piobaireachd)
* MacIntosh's Banner (Seumas MacNeill's Tutor for Piobaireachd)
Cha Till MacCrimmon (MacCrimmon will Never Return)
(Kilberry Book, Logan's Tutor)
* Lament for Alasdair Dearg MacDonell of Glengarry
(Kilberry Book, Seumas MacNeill's Tutor for Piobaireachd)
* Glengarry's Lament
(Kilberry Book, Seumas MacNeill's Tutor for Piobaireachd)
Strathspey
* The Braes of Mar [or The Standard on the Braes of Mar]
(Scots Guards I - 2 parts)
The Caladonian Canal (Scots Guards I)
* The Fiddler's Joy (Scots Guards I)
Marquis of Huntley's Highland Fling (Scots Guards I)
-- might be a bit harder for many Grade 4 players
Orange and Blue (Scots Guards I - 2 parts)
Rose Among the Heather
(Cabar Feidh has a 4-part version; Scots Guards I a 3-part).
Reel
* High Road to Linton (Scots Guards I - 2 parts)
Kate Dalrymple (Scots Guards I - 2 parts)
* The Kilt is My Delight (Scots Guards I - 2 parts)
The Grey Bob (Scots Guards I)
Over the Isles to America (Scots Guards I)
In Grade IV I'd worry much more about the marches and piobaireachd (if
you're interested in it) than about the dance tunes. If the tune is a
bit of a challenge that's good if it's not too much of a stretch, but
don't choose tunes that you find very difficult even to play slowly.
You and your teacher will have to answer that question.
Try to pick tunes _you_ like; you're more likely to work on them, and
to play them with good expression and to enjoy playing them. If you're
just playing the tune to `get through it', and don't even like the
tune very much, that will be apparent to the judge, and it probably
won't sound much like music. That's a question only _you_ can answer.
Good luck,
Bruce C. Wright