Improve With Practice

Disciplined practice, while one strives for perfection will reap great rewards. As an example, “Amazing Grace” when played with more expression, will be improved immensely. Its enhancement will be from maintaining constancy of its beat and giving full amount of time to the first beat of each bar. The tune is not to be hurried and the pipes should be exceedingly well tuned and blown to their full tone. The triplets need to be played with more emphasis on the first note of the triplet. Some music shows these three notes as a triplet, and yet they were not originally so. Organ and piano music show then as two eighth notes. Pipers have written them as a triplet. Triplets should be given a slight emphasis on the first note, but in “Amazing Grace” it is more than an emphasis. The first note is to be played as an eighth note and the following two as sixteenth notes. The tune will be much improved. Strict three-four timing must be maintained throughout. Other hymns can be improved similarly. One for example is “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” also written in 3/4 time.

Six-eight marches and slow marches, are composed with two groups of three notes in each bar, and most of them, but not all, are played with more time given to the first note of the three. Often, it is not played long enough. Instead, the third note is improperly given the extra time. Considerable improvement is possible in the playing of these tunes, when the dotted notes are given their proper amount of time. Practice should be spent concentrating on maintaining this strict 6/8 time throughout each tune.

Often, three notes are played as though they were sliding down to the third note instead of being played with emphasis on the first one. Occasionally however, in pieces written in 6/8 time, the first note in a bar is the one that is cut, while the second note is dotted. These should be played distinctly. In so doing, the timing is not interrupted. Grouping of notes into threes also occurs in music written in 9/8, 12/8 and 6/4 time. While it is important to know the correct notes of a piece, their expression depends upon the time given to them. In piping this is of considerable importance because there is no "louder" or "softer," just emphasis in the timing.

Rather than learn a new piece of music while sitting at a table, it will be better to learn it while standing and marching. This is definitely an advantage when practicing the 6/4 piece, “Sands of Kuwait.” With six beats in a bar, each footstep has to be coordinated with a beat, with the piper’s heals coming down on each beat. It takes practice, which is worthwhile, as it produces exactitude. The result is coordination of each piper in the band. This is an excellent tune for marching when it has been practiced with accuracy.

Practice on the chanter or the bagpipes should involve marching as it helps to develop steady timing. Whether it is a march, reel, strathspey or jig, this kind of practicing will develop one’s control on timing and fingering so tunes will not simply get away on a person, but may eventually be speeded up and retain their accuracy.

A tune often played carelessly is “Dark Island,” also written in 3/4 time. Its timing is strict and its beats are like a metronome in a piper’s head. Emphasis is required on the first note in each bar. When they are not emphasized, the time is given erroneously to the second note and it doesn’t sound right. It happens in the seventh bar, and sounds incorrect, like it was played by ear rather than from the music. The song can be found in The Church Piper volume 12B, “More Songs of Scotland.”

Pipers around a table often tend to speed up. This happens because dotted notes are ignored, and a tendency exists to clip other notes. Improvement would be made in expression and constancy of timing, if dotted notes were held and notes were not clipped. Having practiced holding down the time when playing chanters, pipers can learn to listen to one another conscientiously while playing in the band. Playing will be improved tremendously to allow well-tuned pipes to “sing” their melody.

These are just a few considerations a piper can make to improve his or her practice time, and be assured that wise use of practice time will result in enhanced performance.