By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #97, 2019 “What’s the first thing you think of when I say ‘triple time’, in the musical sense?” I have just asked this question to the barista at one of the coffee shops I frequent when doing my laptoppery (such as writing this article). This […]
Tag: Tim Cummings
Theory Top-Up: simple matters
By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #96, 2019 In the last episode of Theoretically Speaking, we took an initial look at some of the theory behind rhythm and metre – specifically, decoding time signatures (or metre signatures). In case you missed it or would like a quick refresher: time signatures are […]
Theory Top-Up: time signatures
By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #95, 2019 I have been teaching private lessons on the pipes and other instruments for close to 30 years now. Those of you who have done any teaching for a decade or more can understand my experience that every student is unique, and brings a […]
Theory Top-Up: learning tunes by ear
By TIM CUMMINGS. Piping Today #93/94, 2018/19 Part 1 Since starting piano lessons at the age of six (now 38 years ago), I have enjoyed and been challenged by a decades-long stretch of both learning and teaching music in one-on-one, small-group workshop and classroom settings. Most of this music has […]
Theory Top-Up: harmonies derived from hymns
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 […]
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: 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 […]
Theory Top-Up: discovering chords 1 (as a basis for crafting harmonies)
Harmony Writing Part Three. By TIM CUMMINGS Piping Today #87, 2017. Two articles ago, I lied to you: after describing the primitive harmony of the drone (or ‘pedal point’), I promised to discuss the harmony of chords in the very next part. And then I didn’t. That’s because in the […]
Theory Top-Up: writing harmonies of thirds
Harmony Writing Part Two. By TIM CUMMINGS Piping Today #86, 2017. In the last instalment of this column on music theory, we began looking at the most primitive, basic form of harmony that I could think of: the drone, or ‘pedal point’. Of course, droning is what most bagpipes do […]