Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Technique in Music Writing

Some of us still write our music by hand.  Even though an individual may write his or her by hand initially, it will most likely be set up by an individual who will use a computer program to print it nice and neatly.  Certain techniques are necessary to make the music easy to read and to correspond with rules just as applicable to bagpipe music as to music written for other instruments.

Considering the staff, on which musical notes are written, it is composed of 5 lines and four spaces.  The spaces are named from the bottom upward with the letters, FACE and the lines are named in the same order.  They are EGBDF.  To memorize the lines, one remembers the phrase, “Every Good Boy Deserves Favor,” or “Does Fine,” whichever way one is taught.  Bagpipe music writing also requires a high G and a high A.  Its range actually extends from the low G to the High A. The high A has a ledger line drawn through it.  The range of notes in the bagpipe scale is short, being just one octave, from A to A along with the low G note, but the scale enables one to write innumerable combinations.  Amazingly, there are thousands of musical selections written for the bagpipes.  They are catalogued under slow marches, quick marches, retreats, laments, strathspeys, reels, jigs, polkas and hornpipes, as well as popular songs.  Even bugle calls have been written for the pipes.  

Every Good Boy Does Fine.  F-A-C-E.

A musical staff is very much like a graph.  Horizontally, the lines measure time when divided periodically by vertical lines called bar lines.  Vertically, the lines and spaces will accommodate the notes, and because notes are given a certain time value or distance between the bars, one can see at a glance, how long each note is to be sustained.

A typical example of a tune written for the pipes would be, “Abide With Me.”  Here, one could write four staffs, one above the other across the page, and then divide each one of the staffs into four bars using vertical “bars lines,” to produce sixteen “bars.”  The time signature, which will have been given at the beginning of the selection is 4/4, which means that each one of the 16 bars is to be considered as having its time divided into four portions.  Consequently, the basic note is a quarter note and it is allotted a quarter of the time given to a bar. If the time for that note should require twice as much time as a quarter note, it will be a half note, and it isn’t blackened in.  A half note is given half the distance along the bar.  A whole note is not blackened in and it doesn’t have a tail.  Its location should be at the beginning of the bar and hence a musician will know at a glance that the note will sound for the entire length of time which is designated by the time from one bar to the next.  Often, one sees that a whole note may be placed by the careless music writer, anywhere within the bar; even towards the end of the bar, and this is a misdirection for the musician.  Correcting such errors in the writing of pipe music is one of the reasons for this article. 

Both a quarter note and a half note will each have a tail.  A little flag on the tail of a quarter note would make it an 8th note.  Two flags would make it a 16 th note. 

If a quarter note or a half note is to be played longer, it is given a dot.  Its time is extended by adding half its initial value.  That is why, when actually playing a dotted quarter note, one beats twice; first it’s for the quarter note’s value and secondly for the dot, because the dot falls in the space of time that would be given to a subsequent quarter note if it were written there.  Instead, it’s the dot that gives an extension of the note into the next quarter of the bar.  Some players miss this point and consequently begin to speed up the tune.  So, it’s an important reminder to be aware of the dots and to hold onto the note for the next beat.  Along with the dot, an eighth note or in actuality, two sixteenth notes would have to be included in that second beat to complete its amount of time, and they would have to be spaced accordingly.  Such is the case when writing tunes such as “Highland Cathedral” and “The Sands of Kuwait.”

There is more to explain about writing music.  Musical notes must be presented on the staff so the music can be visualized at a glance, enabling one to play the tune in his or her head without actually hearing the music.  It is a salient point about writing music, and yet writers are not always conscious of presenting the music in this manner, which is to write the notes according to time, precisely where they should fall in each bar.

In “Abide with Me,” for example, the first note, is a half note C, with a high G grace note preceding it.  Being a half note, the C should be given half the length of the first bar.  The two quarter notes following it, should be given the second half of the bar, and be spaced so one can see clearly that the first quarter note doesn’t crowd the half note and that the second quarter note will have an equal spacing before and after it.           

When one writes the two half notes in the second bar, the first one should fall close to the beginning of the bar and the second half note should be placed at the halfway mark.  Thus, one can visualize sounding the second half note for the time devoted to half the bar.

When writing music, the beginning of the first staff line is indented somewhat, not unlike indenting a paragraph in a letter. Only the first line is indented.  A bar-line is drawn at the beginning and another at the end of the line.  Similarly, each subsequent line should have a bar-line at the beginning and at the end, but not after the treble clef.   A treble clef is drawn on each staff line.  It looks somewhat like a stylized G.  It winds around the G line so it’s called a G clef; but usually it is called a treble clef to differentiate it from the Bass clef.  There is also an Alto clef for instruments such as the viola, which play in the middle range, but neither the Bass nor Alto clef is of concern to the piper.  There should not be a bar line drawn after any G clef. 

Before dividing the staff into bars, there are several other necessary considerations: The first is that music is played in one or another key and that key must be indicated after the G clef.  For most conventional instruments, the key may be that of A, B, C, D or innumerable others, which have their significant symbols.  These symbols are sharps or flats.  However, the key in which bagpipe music is written is an ancient one, known as a Pythagorean scale or a Mixolydian Scale, and since the bagpipe instrument is designed to incorporate sharps, the key signature is not required as it is for other instruments.  For them, music is written in various keys.  Occasionally, one will see music written for bagpipes, with one, two or three sharps in this location, and they are not required, and often incorrect if one were to consider the correct key for that music if it were to be played on a conventional instrument.  Do not use a key signature when writing bagpipe music.  The Mixolydian scale was designed with its corresponding sharps built in.

The time signature comes after the Treble clef and is recognizable by 2/2, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 5/8, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 and other less common time signatures.  They tell the musician how many beats are to be given in each bar of music.  One might beat twice, three times, four or more times in a bar depending upon the time signature. Three-four indicates there will be three quarter notes in each bar and there will be three beats in each bar.   Four-four indicates there are four quarter notes in each bar and that each of those quarter notes will get a beat.  Similarly, with two-four time.  (Two beats to a measure.) 

Timing is different in six-eight, nine-eight and twelve-eight time, in that the notes are grouped together in threes and each group of eighth notes must get a beat.  Occasionally, one finds a tune written with four quarter notes to a bar and it sounds best when the player beats only twice for each bar.  In this case, the time signature is a capital C and it denotes Common time.

A person reading a musical selection notices first of all, the indentation of the staff, then the treble clef, and the key signature, then the time signature in that order.  The key signature is not needed in bagpipe music writing and it is incorrect when added.  Next, the music often has an introduction.  If so, whether the introduction is one note, two, three or more, it comes before the repeat sign.  After that, the staff is divided by bar lines into bars.  There may be three, four, five or more divisions in one line and their purpose is to divide the line into time intervals.  A staff is essentially a graph.  With the notes graphed vertically and the time devoted to those notes graphed horizontally, the music becomes easy to read.

 Repeat signs must be considered as they are designed to give clear direction throughout the musical selection.  The initial repeat sign appears immediately after, and not before the introductory notes.  There will be a first and second ending, and the first ending must contain the introductory notes that were excluded initially.  This ending is bracketed.  The bracket is drawn down to meet the repeat sign.  The second ending is not closed like the first ending, but the line above the second ending simply appears to continue on.  Here, the bar must satisfy the rule of the satisfied bar.  The bar must contain notes to the value given in the time signature, and if the music of a selection is in 4/4 for instance, but only notes to the value of three quarters is to be played, then a quarter note rest should be written.  Similarly, a quarter note rest will be written in place of the third beat in a 3/4 selection, if a note hasn’t been written to be played.

Some have said the written music is only a guideline, but the truth is that music must be written very accurately and played accordingly.  Even so, one musician may bring expression into his or her rendition excelling another person.  To a great extent this is because careful attention is given to providing the correct time to the notes, just as they have been written.

Effort has been taken to explain the details of writing music because many are writing music for their pipe bands who may not be following precise rules.  Instead, they may have learned their methods from having seen the way in which others have only done their best without having had any formal training.  Their music may indicate it is to be repeated from here to here, or to be played regardless of the spacing of the notes.  I hope these explanations will help in the provision of professionally written music for bands that haven’t been so fortunate. 

The Challenge of Arranging Music

A friend sent me an Email to say, “Take a moment to listen to "Beulah Land" because it should sound nice on the pipes.”  I found a video on the web with two couples singing "Beulah Land,” an arrangement from a hymnbook.  I found the printed music for it in "Hymns of Glorious Praise," a hymnbook by Gospel Publishing House.



I've arranged many hymns from this book.  From my old pencil jottings on the pages, I observed that I considered “Beulah Land” at one time, to see how it would sound on the pipes.  It appears that I set this hymn aside to be worked on at another time.  The reason seems obvious; its range was extensive and it had to be compacted, which wasn't out of the question; just that more time was needed to arrange this hymn than other hymns.  It looked quite adaptable and I’m sure it can be done because I just completed it, motivated by knowing it's a hymn my friend is dying to play.  I was thinking I should arrange it because he was needing it, and of course, because it would be challenging.  Also, others might enjoy playing or listening to it being played. 

It’s amusing, that years ago, when I had transposed one hundred hymns for the bagpipes, I decided that would be enough.  Nevertheless, I continued to arrange music for the bagpipes, because my desire was insatiable and I was often preparing to play for church worship services or other engagements.  I'd hear another beautiful hymn and I'd wonder, "How would that hymn sound on the bagpipes?"  Now, I hear other pipers playing, "Be Thou My Vision," "I'd Rather Have Jesus than Anything," and "The Rifted Rock."  I know these hymns are the result of my insatiable habit of not wanting to let any great hymn to be left unarranged for the bagpipes and my desire to publish my arrangements in a series of bagpipe music books called, “The Church Piper,” for the convenience of other pipers.   I wanted pipers and others to enjoy hearing and loving them just as they loved "Amazing Grace" when it was introduced in the '70's and played ever since.  To have many wonderful hymns available for the bagpipes enables them to stay fresh and beloved so people won't get tired of hearing them.  That's why I want to arrange "Beulah Land" for my friend.  I wish I had arranged it earlier.  I'll share it with him when it's neatly written. 

It will be a while before my next book is published, though I actually have a sufficient number of pieces to do so.  It may be, “Aspiring Hymns,” with the theme of aspiring to develop one’s character to be more like that of Jesus, or “Worshipful Hymns,” to suit playing commencement of worship services by the piper.  Presently, I must concentrate on distributing my newest Church Piper music book.  This month, the fifteenth volume in this series was published and it has been welcomed exceptionally well.  Its title is “Patriotic Music & Familiar Folk Songs.”  Short notes from pipers have encouraged me to continue to arrange and publish music for the pipes.  One piper said, “Your admonition to use our God given talents for the work of the Lord is very important to me,” while another wrote, “Thank you for a great ministry and labour of love.”

My latest book of music arranged for the bagpipes, “Patriotic Music and Familiar Folk Songs,” also contains several beautiful hymns.  Other books in this series are based on themes such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Memorials, Weddings, Scottish Music, Gardening, Sailing, Friends & Neighbours and Sojourning, to name a few.  They are all for the convenience of pipers who need a ready source of music suitable for their piping engagements.   All of them are available from Henderson’s Imports, a Scottish supply shop in Michigan. 



A Piper With a Purpose

This week I had the pleasant surprise of receiving an e-mail letter from a piper, a pastor in New Zealand.  He had searched the web to find especially arranged music for the piper who expects to play in church.  He found that I had published thirteen volumes of suitable music for “The Church Piper,” and he wanted them all.  His special desire has been to specialize in hymns, much to the exclusion of secular music.  He had already begun to transpose and arrange hymns, and knew it would be helpful to find a resource where hymns had already been arranged and could be learned.  In addition, he expected to learn the techniques of transposition and arranging from them.

I explained to him that by moving from Manitoba to British Columbia, I had let Hendersons Ltd., in Michigan, have the whole inventory and that he could order his complete set of music books from them.


Henderson's

I expressed my hope that he would find the satisfaction he desired by specializing in church music and that he would pledge his musicianship towards the glorification of God by doing his finest for whatever occasion he would be invited to play.  It might be in church for call to worship, for a funeral, a wedding, a banquet in which a piper is invited to pipe-in the head table or in a pipe band, coordinating his abilities with other pipers.  Always, it would be with dignity and pride that he would not only be presenting Scotland's kind of music, but assuredly, when playing a hymn, it would be with awareness that God wants him to represent Him well in all he does.

The Scripture reminds us that in everything we do, to do it as for God and not for man.  That is the highest standard, not only for all the music we play, but also for our deportment and the Christian example we set for others to follow.

I explained that one should be proficient in both kinds of music, because each style helps the other in practicing certain finger-work.  One benefits from playing before an audience, from the confidence that it brings, and the ability to maintain good time and perfection in playing.  Finger dexterity is learned from playing secular music as well as hymns.  The ability to count out time comes from playing more than hymns, and to play such pieces as "The Highland Wedding March" and "Trumpet Tune," is gained from hours of practicing music suitable for competitions.  Practice is always with the intention of improving for the next occasion.  One becomes able to play well before any audience.

From my experience as a band piper, and through the need to prepare suitable music for church services, my entire repertoire grew.  My mother's urging was to share the church’s beautiful spiritual music with pipers in the world and to introduce them to Christ our Saviour, so their music would be made meaningful too.  In other words, she explained to me, that I needed to tell pipers that they could only expound upon the love of Jesus once they knew Him personally.

The greatest essential in becoming proficient in playing church-related music is to have more than a book-knowledge of Christ.  That is, we must know Him, and know Him personally -to be able to talk to Him and have love and respect for Him, knowing He is God.  Because Jesus lived on earth as a Man, we can relate to Him in the same way as His own disciples.  That’s when one’s piping becomes meaningful and qualifies a piper to do as Jesus instructed; to go into all the world and teach about His love for everyone.

A little later, I received another letter from this piper and he agreed that he would be retaining his teacher and be associated with a pipe band where he could learn the techniques of piping so he could apply them to his church piping.  He already knew Jesus Christ in a way that he could speak of Him as a Brother.  With such ambition, he will be an outstanding Christian piper in New Zealand.