Harmony Writing Part Eight. By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #92, 2018. We have arrived at the eighth and last article on writing harmonies for pipe bands and other pipe ensembles — for the time being, at least. In the previous seven articles, we explored a progression of approaches to crafting […]
Reviews, Hints & Tips
Theory Top-Up: harmonies that imitate uilleann pipe regulators
Harmony Writing Part Seven. By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #91, 2018. If you’ve ever heard a world-class uilleann piper, you’ll have experienced both the thrill of a magnificent instrument as well as the accompanying harmonies played on the regulators. Uilleann pipes are similar to Scottish-style bagpipes in that they have […]
Theory Top-Up: writing chord-based harmonies for slow airs
Harmony Writing Part Six. By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #90, 2018. Those of you following along with this mini-series on Harmony Writing may remember the project from the previous article, which involved developing a more involved harmony for the first part of John Walsh’s The Korgi (a reel in the […]
Theory Top-Up: Elaborating on chord-based harmonies
Harmony Writing Part Five. By TIM CUMMINGS Piping Today #89, 2017. In the last three features of this Harmony Writing campaign, we spelunked evermore deeply into the underground realm of chords. First, we learned the basic idea of chord triads, then we began to match various chords to particular parts […]
Theory Top-Up: discovering chords 2 (as a basis for crafting harmonies)
Harmony Writing Part Four. By TIM CUMMINGS Piping Today #88, 2017. In part three of this mini-series on Harmony Writing, we looked at the most common basic chords used to accompany Celtic music, in particular Scottish pipe tunes. A chart of the nine most common chords, most of them consisting […]
Dr Bova’s advice on building bagpipe stamina for the new season
Day 20 of the February Piping Challenge saw Dr Andrew Bova dispense advice on how to build stamina in your playing at this time of the year. At 6pm tonight, February 21, Dan Nevans will give a presentation on perfecting your pipe band attack. This will be available to watch on […]
Competition tips and technique advice on the February Piping Challenge
Margaret Houlihan, Willie McCallum, Finlay MacDonald and Dan Nevans have presented videos on a variety of subjects over the previous week in the February Piping Challenge. Willie and Dan gave talks on aspects of performance and preparing for competition, with Margaret, Finlay and Dan the chatting about the technique of […]
2/4 marches, jigs, and technique advice on the February Piping Challenge
Over the past four days Willie McCallum, Danny Hutcheson, Ailis Sutherland and Wilson Brown have been presenting videos on The National Piping Centre’s February Piping Challenge. Willie spoke about 2/4 marches and plays The Crags of Stirling, Danny teaches strikes, Ailis talks about jig playing using the tune The Judge’s […]
Get reel playing, comfort and control tips on February Piping Challenge
Days eight and nine of the February Piping Challenge were presented by Dr Andrew Bova and John Mulhearn on the topics of reel playing and the importance of being physically comfortable when playing your pipes. At 6pm tonight, February 10, Willie McCallum will give a presentation on playing 2/4 marches. […]
Join Dan the motivation man on the February Piping Challenge
Dan Nevans gave a 18 minutes live stream broadcast on the subject of setting your piping goals on day seven of the February Piping Challenge. At 6pm tonight, February 8, Dr Andrew Bova will give a presentation on the topic of playing reels. This a live stream will be available […]