Tag: Music Theory

Mixolydian Scale

mixolydian scale

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.

This is known as an mixolydian scale.

Octave

An octave is eight notes (whole tones). 

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.



The Musical Alphabet

The Musical Alphabet

Each pitch is named. There are 8 notes in an octave, after which the names repeat.

The musical alphabet is notes with the following names:

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G

When we get further into theory talking about Scales, Sharps and Flats, we will also talk about Enharmonic notes (ones that have multiple names).