Auchmountain's Bonnie Glen High Pitch Half Speed

Описание: http://www.teachyourselfbagpipes.co.u...
http://www.lindsaydavidson.co.uk

Learning discussion points

1 The doublings after the very short notes can be a trap. It is important to get used to taking some time from the preceding 32nd note and giving it to the gracenote. Given that this is quite a slow march the gracenote should be less than half of the 32nd note. In the interests of not introducing extra complexity this then means really dividing the 32nd note into 4 equal parts and making the gracenote come up in the last quarter so that it closes on the beat.
2 The throws can all sound the same in this tune and all should have a substantial amount of low G. Indeed, making a feature of the throws being identical will make the tune very attractive. The low G should be closed a 32nd note before the beat.
3 Tachum - in bar 3 the B and the D gracenote can be the same length as each other, although in a very slow tempo this sounds odd (as do most things when played very slowly). Making this note and gracenote equal will give the impression of sharpness as the listener hears the end of the B. Providing this is measured and everyone gets on the low A together, this will make a strong impact. This rhythmical scheme can easily be replicated at the beginning of the second part.
4 The taorluaths in bar 4 and corresponding places can be fairly slow and open, taking up fully an 8th note, or half of the B.
5 The F doublings in the second part need care to make sure and sound the F before doubling it and not giving an impression of rushing. This is achieved by being careful about the G gracenote going into the doubling - not opening it too late, nor too soon. Also, doubling with a highly rhythmical effect will give the tune a certain lilt and lightness appropriate for a slower tempo.

The Magic Maxim:

"If you can play slowly you can play quickly, but the converse isn't necessarily true..."

This means exactly what it says - the better you become the more exactly you should be able to control what you are doing, and so to test ourselves, we shouldn't practice more quickly, but more slowly.

To think again like computers - a sampling rate for a recording is a measure of how many times a second the computer will measure what is happening in the sound. A higher sampling rate makes for a higher quality of recording, up to a point beyond which it doesn't make much difference. It is the same with piping - the more times in a beat you can say exactly what is happening, the better your piping, up to a point..

By remembering the five steps in learning (see https://teachyourselfbagpipes.co.uk/h..., we can see that at the point when we assign time to our actions we can get better by increasing our sampling rate. We do this simply by dividing by two, and playing at half speed, with awareness of twice as many points in the beat. When we succeed at this level, we half our speed again, and double the number of places in the bar we try to feel and be aware of what is happening. We keep doing this until every gracenote can be measured opening and closing. If you know the 'New French Method' of rhythm, this helps dramatically, as it automatically gives us a sampling rate of four points per beat.

Start with a quick video (or a medium one) and when you feel you are playing with this nicely, go to a slower one, and try to feel more detail. First listen carefully, bearing in mind that most things are divided by two, to find where the actions occur. Obviously, when you accomplish this, go to the next slower file.

Once you have gone to the slowest file and played along correctly, start to go through the faster ones again to see how much more precisely you are playing, and hearing what you are playing.

Playing exactly with the midi files at a quarter speed is a fairly good test for a group, and this extra secret can dramatically affect the strength of playing within a band, and the confidence. It is true that using this approach, you can bring about a positive revolution in your band's playing and attitude.

If you know the New French Method, great. If not, you will need to' feel' the rhythm (until we can figure out how to explain the method via internet...).

It's a simple set of tasks, the trick is in disciplining yourself to do it.

Using this method groups (bands) can also learn to play exactly together, without the need to meet, or vaguely copy a master. A great ensemble plays together by creating the same thing at the same time using the same tricks (feel the 'rhythm'). This is one way to create that result.