The Bagpipes has a range of nine notes, low G to high A.
The bagpipe scale is tuned close to but not exactly on the “concert bb” scale.
The traditional (western) scale is tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone, with the octave divided almost evenly into 12 parts. The
Bagpipe scale is an octave (fairly) evenly divided into 8 parts. The tuning is close enough to the traditional scale that you can play along with a concert band, but be aware that your 7th (high g) is flat.
There will not be both sharps and flats in a key signature.
The key signature of a tune indicates which sharps, flats or naturals are used within the tune.
In modern transcriptions of Bagpipe Music, you will typically not see a key signature written. That is because we don’t have a good (nor consistent) way to produce sharps, flats or naturals. In theory bagpipe music should have 3 sharps written (key of A). In practice we would only write 2 sharps because the scale that the bagpipes plays (mixolydian) has the 3rd sharp flattened always. This would require a “natural” symbol written in front of every occurrence of the G in any/all tunes.
Key of D. What the bagpipes scale would be written in if we wrote a key signature.
In the physics realm of music, going up one octave is the doubling of the frequency of the pitch.
Concert B flat (standard pitch tuning for concert bands and orchestras) uses 440 HZ (Herz – cycles per second) for the A, otherwise known as A440. The next octave up, the A would have 880Hz.
The bagpipe Low A is tuned near the B flat of the A440 scale which would be about 477Hz.
There are two octave-scales on the bagpipe: low G to high G; and low A to high A. Don’t confuse the range (one octave plus one note) with the scales.
An octave of notes on the bagpipes would be
(low) A B C D E F (high) G (high) A; or,
(low) G (low) A B C D E F (high) G
The scale is a sequence of 8 notes of tone and semi-tone intervals. The key signature indicates which of these tone and semi-tone intervals apply.
As the bagpipes do not have a way to play accidentals without using false fingering, the key signature is not written. Otherwise you would see an F# and C#. See What Key is Bagpipe Music written in
Keys with Sharps
To find the name of a key signature with sharps, look at the sharp farthest to the right. The key signature is the note a half step above that last sharp. Key signatures can specify major or minor keys. To determine the name of a minor key, find the name of the key in major and then count backwards three half steps.
Pictures borrowed from XYZ.com but could be regenerated by any music scribing software!
Keys with Flats
Determine the Key from the last note
In classical Sonata music, you can determine the key of the music from the tonic (root) of the last note/chord. This is because our ear says the tune doesn’t sound finished until the tonic is played.
That said, due to different modes of music, the key may not be what you think it is. As well, you could be in a (related) minor key rather than the major.
Each Major key has 1 major scale and 3 minor scales – Melodic, Harmonic, Natural.
Scale
Scale means ladder in latin.
A scale is a series of notes going up or down in pitch.
The scale of the bagpipe has the following tuning:
Tone + Tone + Semi-Tone + Tone + Tone + Semi-Tone + Tone.
The bagpipe scale is modal, so will sound odd to other musicians.
Diatonic Scale
The diatonic scale is composed of 8 adjacent notes each a tone or semi-tone apart. In this scale each note has a different name i.e. A B C D E F G A.
The Tonic gives the scale its name. It is the lowest and the highest note of a scale
Dominant
A chord built on the Dominant is so strong that it masters the key.
Mediant
The Mediant note is between the Tonic and the Dominant. It helps determine if the scale is a Major scale or a Minor scale.
Chromatic Scale
A chromatic scale is 12 notes that are a semi-tone apart. The scale can start on any note and when played covers an entire Octave.
If written, the scale employs sharps when ascending and flats when descending.
traditional scale – mixolydian scale
The Bagpipe scale consists of nine notes, low G to high A. The bagpipe scale is tuned close to but not exactly on the “concert bb” scale. The traditional (western) scale is tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone, with the octave divided almost evenly into 12 parts. The Bagpipe scale is an octave (fairly) evenly divided into 8 parts. The tuning is close enough to the traditional scale that you can play along with a concert band, but be aware that your 7th (high g) is flat. This is known as an mixolydian scale.
Major Scale
A Major scale has 2 tetrachords. TETRA means four.
The tetrachord is 2 tones followed by a semi-tone. For example C, D, E, F. The second Tetrachord would be G, A, B, C.
In all major scales, the semi-tones are between the 3rd and 4th, and the 7th and 8th notes. (i.e. Whole tone, Whole tone, Semi-tone)
The Tonic (root note) of a Major scale with sharps is always the diatonic semi-tone above the 7th note. In the D scale example below, note that the 7th note (C#) is one diatonic semitone below the D of the Tonic. Also note that in the order of sharps (FCGDAEB) that only the sharps up to that 7th note exist within the scale (in this example F and C).
The Tonic of a Major scale with flats has similar rules. The scale is named for the 2nd last flat in the scale. See Db Scale below. Note that F Major Scale has only 1 flat so is an exception to this rule.
Notice the difference between the D and the Db scale is that the Db scale is shifted 1 semi-tone lower for every note of the scale compared to the D scale.
C Major scale
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
D Major Scale
D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
Db Major Scale
Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
F Major Scale
F G A Bb C D E F
Minor Scales
There are three types of scales:
natural minor scale
harmonic minor scale
melodic minor scale
Minor scales are not formed the same way as the Major scales. Instead of 2 tetrachords, the minor scales have a major inferior tetrachord and a minor inferior tetrachord. The difference between the superior tetrachord allows you to distinguish which type of minor scale we are dealing with.
Each Minor scale has a related Major scale in that they share the same key signature. The difference is the Tonic note. To find the related Minor scale of the Major scale, take the Tonic of the Major scale and move backwards three semitones. For example, the C Major scale is related to A Minor (C -> B -> Bb -> A). Another way to do this determination is to take the 6th note of the Major scale.
Major Tetrachord
Key of C Major:
C D E F (Tone Tone Semitone)
Minor Tetrachord
Key of E Minor (Bb Eb Ab):
C D E F (Tone Semitone Tone)
natural minor scale
The Natural Minor scale uses the exact same key signature as its related Major scale with no change.
Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone
harmonic minor scale
In the Harmonic Minor scale, you take the same key signature as the natural minor scale, but then raise the 7th note. If the 7th note is flat, you raise it that semitone to the natural note (i.e. Bb becomes B). If the note is already sharp, you raise it a second sharp (i.e. A# becomes B).
Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone 1.5 Tone Tone
D Harmonic Minor scale:
D E F G A Bb C# D
A Harmonic Minor scale:
A B C D E F G# A
melodic minor scale
A melodic minor scale has the 6th and 7th notes raised when ascending but played normally when descending.
A Melodic Minor (no sharps or flats)
A B C D E F# G# A G F E D C B A
D Melodic Minor (Db)
D E F G A B C# D C Bb A G F E D
Determining the Key of a tune
To determine the key, there are a couple of things you can look at:
the last note of the tune
in Western music, a tune generally ends on the Tonic.
bagpipe music can follow this rule to a certain extent, but we don’t have a lot of keys to play within.
the leading note (7th note) of the scale. This is dependent on the key signature.
an accidental beside the raised 7th will generally indicate that this is a minor key.
If the tune doesn’t have the key signature written at the start, you can determine the key by making note of all of the accidentals within the tune. If they are all sharps, or all flats, you can determine the key by jotting down the list of sharps or flats, and determine which key has those in it.
For example, if you had:
F#, C# and G#, you would have the key of A.
F#, C#, G# and a B#, you will see that there are a bunch of missing intervening sharps and therefore B# would be an accidental. You would still have the key of A for this example.
Finding the key for flats works the same way.
If you have both flats and sharps, check if there is only 1 sharp. If so this is probably a flat minor key with the leading note (7th) raised.
Being able to identify the parts of the Practice Chanter is a requirement for SCQF Level 2
It is either made of plastic or wood. Chanters made by the better manufacturers have the maker’s name engraved on the lower half of the chanter between the joint and the high G hole. Only well made chanters will be in tune with itself.
To check a chanter, look in the bores. The inside should be smooth. Also, try playing a reed, and check the pitch of each note to the others. Some reeds may not tune in a certain chanter, but most reeds should.
When buying a chanter, there is no point in buying a model with ivory and silver finishings as that only adds to the cost without improving the sound.
There are half sized chanters on the market. There is no point in buying them. A person quickly becomes used to stretching their fingers to cover the holes of the full sized chanter. Besides, if the learner gets used to the half size chanter, then he or she has to relearn hole spacing for the bagpipe chanter.
Parts
The Mouthpiece is where the lips wrap around and through which air is blown. On most (plastic) practice chanters the mouthpiece is molded onto the top section. On wooden chanters, the mouthpiece is generally plastic and the top section wood.
The top section connects to the bottom section on the pin. It covers the reed completely, and air flows from the mouthpiece through the top section to and through the reed.
Reed
The blades of the reed is what vibrates causing the sound. The blades sit in the staple and the staple and blades are wrapped with hemp.
Bottom Section
The bottom section contains the finger holes. It also contains the pin (joint) on which the top section is attached.
The Sole is ornamental, on the bottom of the chanter. It helps prevents wooden chanters from splitting. It also raises the chanter up off of the table (when resting on a table) which allows sound to escape.
Care, Cleaning and Storage of the Practice Chanter
Practice chanters are sensitive to extreme temperatures.
Don’t leave them in your vehicle during the hottest days of the summer or coldest days of the winter.
Heat will melt the plastic chanters and reeds.
Cold will make both plastic and wood chanters brittle allowing them to break easily.
Materials Needed
Practice Chanter
Hemp
Parafin Wax
Scissors or knife (cutting hemp)
Cloth/pull through
Disassembling the practice chanter
Make sure you always separate joints by grabbing onto the top and bottom of the joint immediately beside the joint before you twist. DO NOT leave a great space between your hands. The stress of the twisting motion can cause the chanter (or other part like a drone) to break, especially if it is wood.
Hemping the joint
On the newer practice chanters that are plastic, they usually have rubber o-rings for sealing the joint so hemping isn’t normally required. However, on wooden chanters it is required. Due to the air pressure required for the reed to sound, we need to ensure that the joint between the top section and the bottom section is as airtight as possible. This is accomplished by wrapping the pin with hemp. The hemp is coated with paraffin or bees wax to help make the hemp water resistent so that it doesn’t rot. The hemp also helps prevent the hemp from spinning on the pin.
To hemp the joint:
Form a loop with the hemp. The top of the loop is at one end of the pin and the free end of the loop is at the other. At the free end, start wrapping the pin with hemp by filling in the grooves (practice chanters that need to be hemped will have grooves). Once you have wrapped to the loop end, you insert the running end of the hemp through the loop, and then pull it under the wrappings by pulling on the free end of the hemp.
Continue adding layers of hemp as required such that the top section will fit snugly on the bottom section.
NOTE: If you haven’t used pre-waxed hemp, you will need to wax each layer of hemp as you have finished the layer.
Removing Moisture from the practice chanter
Wipe down the outside of the chanter.
Wipe down the seat and around the pin (inner part of joint).
Insert your cloth up into the upper section of the chanter to absorb moisture that may be in the chanter.
You may also need to hold the bottom section upside down so that moisture drains from the chanter.
Removing Moisture from the reed
Wipe down the reed.
If there is moisture in the reed (it makes a gurgling sound when played) you can blow from the staple end of the reed and this will blow most of the moisture out of the reed.
Cleaning the practice chanter
Don’t use harsh chemicals on your chanter. Usually wiping the chanter down swill suffice, but if that isn’t sufficient, use luke warm water with a very mild soap.
Assembling the practice chanter
Carefully line up the base section and the top section. Ensuring that you don’t scrape the reed on the inside of the top section, insert the base into the top so that the pin on the base is snugly in the top.
Storing the practice chanter
Store your practice chanter in a cool dry location. I usually store my chanter in my pipe case.
When experiencing something, our mind puts the experience, knowledge, etc into short term memory. If we process something three times, the memory becomes stronger. The next time we sleep, those memories are then moved into long term memory.
The more often we process something, the stronger the memory becomes. If we process something similar but slightly different, we now have 2 memories competing against each other. To reduce this internal competition and to strengthen the true memory we want, we need to compare what we learned versus what we wanted to learn. In terms of music, this means comparing what we played versus what we were trying to play.
We will take the bigger picture parts of piping, and break them down into smaller chunks so that we can focus on small items. This focus will allow us to process it enough times to get the knowledge or technique into long term memory.
To enable our best learning, we need to have Ownership, Enjoyment of the activity, and intrinsic Motivation. If we don’t have these 3 things, we aren’t going to put the effort in to master what we are learning.
Sound is vibrations that are within the range of human hearing. When an object vibrates, it displaces a medium like air. The moving air then moves parts of your ear which is translated into an auditory signal in your brain.
On the bagpipes, sound is created by the air moving past the lips of the reed. This causes the lips to vibrate, leading to the sound produced.
If an object vibrates at one frequency it has what is called a pure tone. When the object vibrates at multiple frequencies at the same time and there is a mathmatical relationship between the frequencies, you have a rich tone. If the ratios between frequencies is not whole numbers, you end up with noise.
The pitch of the sound
The pitch is determined by the frequency or frequencies of the vibrating object. Since the speed of sound is constant in a medium, the frequency is strictly dependent on the wavelength.
frequency = speed / wavelength
In an instrument, the wavelength is determined by the length of the tube that the vibrating air is passing through. The longer the tube, the smaller the frequency (less vibrations per second) and therefore the lower the pitch of the sound. Another example of this though not sound producing is a pendulum (think clock). The longer the pendulum arm, the slower the swing. A guitar string is the same; the shorter the string, the higher the frequency.
While the pipe chanter is a cone, the open tube is close enough for both the chanter and the drones. The theory around False Tones also applies, as you can get harmonics out of the drones if the tuning aligns just right.
On the chanter, we alter the length of the tube by covering or uncovering the holes with our fingers. The more fingers that are down sequentially, the longer the tube and therefore the longer the wavelength resulting in a lower frequency.
The Tone of the sound
A musical note is more than just the base frequency – there are overtones that make up the tone of the note. The first (strongest) harmonic is a perfect octave (2x the frequency) of the main frequency. The next overtone is 3/2 the frequency. The exact mix of the overtones is what changes the tone (overall sound i.e. tonal quality) of the note from warm to cold. When all of the overtones are added together you end up with the waveform of the sound.
Computer generated waveforms are square, but non square ones can be simulated by adding a whole bunch of really short square ones at appropriately different strengths to make the round/triangle/ waveforms desired.
After a busy July working around the house, I’ve had a few hours to go through the website and update many of the pages. There was some major cleanup needed as I had migrated my website hosting from one provider to another.
I have also started putting my individual lesson material online here as products you can purchase. This is still in the experimental stage, but my initial experiments were working, so I will continue.
My pipe band the Airdrie Scots Pipes and Drums has performed a few parades and we have 2 left on our schedule. We have started working on the tunes we will play for our Robbie Burns night in January or February (date TBD). New members always welcome!
My wife and I are attending the Airdrie Farmer’s Market this summer. We will be at the next 7 (August and most of September) on Wednesdays. I have my Fraser Highland Shoppe and Marcia has Marcia Fraser’s Custom Travel as vendors. I also take my pipes along and play a tune from time to time throughout the day. Stop in and say Hi!