Comments on: Piobaireachd Technique – Advice From An Expert http://piperpride.com/archives/piobaireachd-technique-advice-from-an-expert I Am Proud to Play a Pipe - by Piper Pehkonen Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:33:09 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Justin Howland http://piperpride.com/archives/piobaireachd-technique-advice-from-an-expert#comment-1737 Justin Howland Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:06:35 +0000 http://piperpride.com/archives/piobaireachd-technique-advice-from-an-expert#comment-1737 I couldn't agree with you more, Marc. Just to add to what you've quoted Jim McGillivray as saying (by the way, I think that article is downloadable from his site) I'd like to put in my two cents. As I've been taught, technique is one of the most important aspects of playing the pipes whether it's within piobaireachd or light music and plays a very obvious and important role. The number of gracenotes, doublings and other embellishments almost double the number of notes our limited scale will play. With that, it's understandable that these things need to be executed with precision. Technique, however, isn't just the ability to play these sort of movements but how to play these sort of movements in time and without taking away from the melody as well as the ability to control phrasing. What I mean by this isn't the presentation aspect but, rather, the ability to control the rhythm within a certain idiom so that when it comes to presenting the music this presentation should be the only concern. As I said, piobaireachd and light music are no different and each requires the ability to produce certain movements with accuracy but in no way should it ever get in the way of the music. I would say that, while technique is important in presenting music, the music itself is what we should be all about. The two go hand in hand and one should not be traded off for the other. To see examples of great technique adding to the overall musical experience, check these out: Ryan Canning- http://youtube.com/watch?v=ErtFfLCNtz8&mode=related&search= Angus MacColl- http://youtube.com/watch?v=HXAk4ca6_UU Gordon Duncan- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEj3ejyxjNU&mode=related&search= Alasdair Gillies (1)- http://youtube.com/watch?v=rz4yveITg6A Alasdair Gillies (2)- http://youtube.com/watch?v=lbZ-lBIWKtc&mode=related&search= and...just for fun, Jack Lee- http://youtube.com/watch?v=5bXX6U3SJBc I apologize if I got carried away with the links! I couldn’t agree with you more, Marc. Just to add to what you’ve quoted Jim McGillivray as saying (by the way, I think that article is downloadable from his site) I’d like to put in my two cents.

As I’ve been taught, technique is one of the most important aspects of playing the pipes whether it’s within piobaireachd or light music and plays a very obvious and important role. The number of gracenotes, doublings and other embellishments almost double the number of notes our limited scale will play. With that, it’s understandable that these things need to be executed with precision. Technique, however, isn’t just the ability to play these sort of movements but how to play these sort of movements in time and without taking away from the melody as well as the ability to control phrasing. What I mean by this isn’t the presentation aspect but, rather, the ability to control the rhythm within a certain idiom so that when it comes to presenting the music this presentation should be the only concern. As I said, piobaireachd and light music are no different and each requires the ability to produce certain movements with accuracy but in no way should it ever get in the way of the music. I would say that, while technique is important in presenting music, the music itself is what we should be all about. The two go hand in hand and one should not be traded off for the other.

To see examples of great technique adding to the overall musical experience, check these out:

Ryan Canning- http://youtube.com/watch?v=ErtFfLCNtz8&mode=related&search=

Angus MacColl- http://youtube.com/watch?v=HXAk4ca6_UU

Gordon Duncan- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEj3ejyxjNU&mode=related&search=

Alasdair Gillies (1)- http://youtube.com/watch?v=rz4yveITg6A

Alasdair Gillies (2)- http://youtube.com/watch?v=lbZ-lBIWKtc&mode=related&search=

and…just for fun, Jack Lee- http://youtube.com/watch?v=5bXX6U3SJBc

I apologize if I got carried away with the links!

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