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This classroom is designed specifically for the novice piobaireachd student. To learn music of any sort, one must master good technique. Good technique is not simply one of playing the notes as written, but of doing so with the correct rhythm. Once mastered, tunes then can be learned, phrase by phrase, by understanding the melodic pattern. It is the intent of this classroom to introduce technique and structure concepts as needed using a tune as the backdrop for your understanding. As the degree of technique raises, so will the degree of difficulty of the tune. Lessons will be presented in the usual form - notes plus an audio compliment. Only when the lesson is learned completely, should a student proceed. This means being able to play all from memory with no assistance from the written score. This is fundamental to all good piping, just not piobaireachd. You are now ready to begin.
2020/21 Tunes
Lessons The Massacre of Glencoe
Glencoe on a trip to Fort William - August 2011 Lesson 1
The History, Fundamentals and the Ground
Lesson 2
The Thumb Variation
Lesson 3
Taorluath Crunluath The Taorluath and Crunluath Variations
Lesson 4
The Crunluath a Mach
Video How to play a Crunluath a Mach
The Field of Gold They were only buttercups, but it was an uplifting experience, to see the sun shining on a field of such ordinary flowers, giving the enchanting acre a look of burnished gold.
... and so writes Donald MacLeod, composer of this lovely tune
Simon Fraser University Pipe Band during their Affirmation Concert, Glasgow, 2009
Watch on YouTube Lesson 1
A Listen to the Ground Basic Technique
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Lesson 2
The Ground 
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Lesson 3
Variation 1
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Lesson 4
Taorluath - A Tripling
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Lesson 5
Crunluath Basics
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G
This lament commemorates the death of Alasdair Ranaldson Macdonell XV, the Chief of Glengarry. It was composed by Archibald Munro of Oban on the death of his Chief and was played by him and five other pipers at the funeral of his master. All this is according to the tune biography in the Scot Guards Collection, Volume II. The year was 1828 the month January cold in the Highlands at that time of the year. Some 1600 clansmen gathered for the funeral to pay their last respects. This was typical of highland funerals and definitely worthy of a Piobaireachd. The score is written up in The Kilberry Collection of Ceol Mor, but oddly enough, is not included in the Piobaireachd Society books.
G A Listen
G The Ground
G Variation 1, Singling and Doubling
G Taorluath and Crunluath
Cabar Fèidh gu Bràth
In 1645 the MacLennan’s, as
usual were entrusted with the banner of Lord Seaforth, the MacKenzie Chief.
Around their standard, the famous "Caber Feidh," so called from its bearing of a
stag's head, a large number of them were cut down.
And so reads the history of
the Stag’s Antlers.
Cabar Fèidh Gu Bràth A Listen
Special Service - thanks to Joe Dunaway, you may download an easily readable BMW copy of the ground.
Cabar Fèidh Gu Bràth The Ground
Cabar Fèidh Gu Bràth Variation 1
Cabar Fèidh Gu Bràth The Taorluath Variation
Cabar Fèidh Gu Bràth The Crunluath Variation
By Patrick Og MacCrimmon (1640 – 1735)
It is time that we
studied one of the great MacCrimmon tunes, The Lament for Mary MacLeod, composed
by Patrick Og MacCrimmon. In the succession of MacCrimmon hereditary pipers to
the Clan MacLeod in Skye, Patrick Og was the son of Patrick Mor. Born in 1640,
he became the MacLeod piper upon his father’s death in 1670. He had a healthy
life living to the old age of 95, bearing two sons, John (1695) and Donald Ban
(1710). Donald Ban fought against the Jacobites, being taken prisoner in 1745
and later being killed by a single shot at the Rout of Moy in 1746. It is in
this final year that Donald Ban composed the famous piobaireachd, MacCrimmon
Will Never Return.
Patrick Og was also a
composer, penning the tunes Lament for John Garve of Raasay and the Lament for
Mary MacLeod. The great historian Henry Whyte, aka Fionn, described Mary MacLeod
as a poet or “bardess” who also nursed several of the chiefs at Dunvegan. She
was born in Harris in 1569, and according to the late John MacFadyen (Piping
Times, January, 1953), didn’t take up the poetry and song composing till late in
life. She was banished by the chief of the Clan, Norman MacLeod, to the Isle of
Mull for “giving publicity” to one of her songs. She forgave MacLeod for the
banishment, but the embarrassment lasted all her life; so much so that upon her
death in 1674 (age 105) she pleaded to be buried face down in recognition of her
shame.
She was much loved for
her poetry where she often referred to Patrick Og. Hearing of her death, Patrick
Og composed this beautiful tune to celebrate Mary’s life.
In more recent times, The Lament for Mary MacLeod has been set as a tune
for major competitions by the Piobaireachd Society (Book 5, page 155). It
has been recorded by players of all levels. Martyn Bennett, prior to his
death at a young age, composed a suite for pipes and orchestra based on the
variations and ground of Mary MacLeod.
Lesson 1 Lament for Mary MacLeod
A Listen A Second Listen
Lesson 2 Lament for Mary MacLeod
A look at the ground - Understand the structure and technique before starting!
Lament for Mary MacLeod
Oral tradition in the Cameron style - slightly different setting - Line 3
Lesson 3 Ground - Lament for Mary MacLeod
Playing and memorizing the ground
Lesson 4 Variation 1 - Lament for Mary MacLeod
Lesson 5 Variation 1 - Lament for Mary MacLeod
The Doubling - you will like the rhythm!
Lesson 6 Taorluath - Lament for Mary MacLeod
Lesson 7 Crunluath - Lament for Mary MacLeod
A New Method of Pulsing
Lessons Lesson 1 Piobaireachd Fundamentals
Also see video of Field of Gold below
Audio 1
Audio 2
Audio Hiharin
Lesson 2 Audio - Structure and Ground
Lesson 3 Variation 1
Lesson 4
Variation 1 Doubling
Lesson 5
Taorluath Variation
Lesson 6
Crunluath Variation
Lesson 7
Complete Tune
by Major General Charles Simeon Thomason
C.S. Thomason was born in Bengal, India in 1833. In 1849, he entered the British military as a cadet, studying at Addiscombe Military Seminary and from this point on was an engineer until retirement. He was a composer, student and compiler of piobaireachd all his life. When the Piobaireachd Society was established in 1903, Thomason became its first president. Perhaps his most important contribution to piping history would be his intricate system of symbols to publish piobaireachd. He could represent a tune in a few short lines where it might take pages with the traditional staff methods. In 1893 he published his Ceol Mor - A New and Abbreviated System of Musical Notation for the Piobaireachd as Played on the Highland Bagpipe. Of note, this volume included one of his tunes - Hail to My Country - described by many as one of the most musical of all 19th century piobaireachd. But the publication was not without controversy as history would witness. Thomason and Archibald Campbell of Kilberry did not agree on many things - and this would precipitate Thomason's short term as President of the Piobaireachd Society. As Kilberry is quoted writing to Seton Gordon "both Willie Ross and John MacDonald consider Donald MacLeod to be the outstanding piper of the day... I wonder at him being permitted by John MacDonald (his teacher) to bother with a thing like "Hail to My Country". It is not Ceol Mor at all, but very third rate Ceol Beag. The General told me about "Hail to My Country". After many years absence in India he came on leave and woke up in the train on a fine summer morning at Dalwhinnie to see the beginnings of the Spey as he got towards Kingussie. He was so uplifted that the first line of the ground came into his head. The second line was taken from his interpretation of the second part of Ossian's Lament for his Father.... I feel that neither this tune nor the General's compositions is worth anything." You be the judge! In the meantime, enjoy a tune that is both melodic and certainly in the style of Ceol Mor, if not meeting the expectations of the Kilberry!
Lesson 1 The Ground
Lesson 2 Variation 1
Lesson 3 Taorluath and Crunluath
By William
Barrie “When piping at a MacLeod gathering in Perth, Australia, a large painting of Dunvegan Castle dominated the function. This inspired the composition, Message from Dunvegan Castle, and it was later sent to Dame Flora MacLeod, who wrote back to express her gratitude and to say how much she liked the tune” – so says William Barrie, the composer of this lovely tune.
Dunvegan Castle
is on the
Isle of Skye, situated off the west coast of
Scotland. It is the
seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod,
chief of the
Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan Castle is the oldest continuously inhabited
castle in Scotland and has been the stronghold of the chiefs of the clan for
nearly 800 years. Originally designed to keep people out, it was first opened to
visitors in 1933. Since then, the castle is consistently ranked as one of
Scotland's premier visitor attractions and underpins the local economy of
northwest Skye.
It was the MacCrimmon’s who were the hereditary pipers to the MacLeod’s
from around 1600 onwards and it is in
this area of Skye that they established their school at Borreraig. Today a cairn
has been erected to mark the location for visitors – in some ways, our piping
Mecca.
Dunvegan Castle today Lesson 1 The Structure
A Listen to the Cantaireachd
Lesson 2 The Ground
A Study of the Phrasing and Themal Notes
Lesson 3 Variation 1
The Notes, Audio Lesson and Cantaireachd of the Ground plus Variation 1
Lesson 4 Variation 2
The Rhythm of Variation 2
Lesson 5 Taorluath
The Taorluath Singling and Doubling
Lesson 6 Crunluath
The Crunluath Singling and Doubling
Lesson 1 The Ground
Lesson 2 The Variations
Notes Thumb Var 2 Var 3 Combined Audio
Lesson 3 The Complete Tune
Lesson 4 The Complete Tune on Pipes
Andrew MacNeill was a farmer on the Hebridean island of Oransay which was tidally connected to Colonsay. He was as skilled with sheep and sheepdog training as he was with piobaireachd, his lifelong passion. His mentor for many years was the idiosyncratic Robert Reid, who in turn was taught by the famous John MacDougall Gillies. J. McD Gillies was a pupil of Alick Cameron. Needless to say, his piobaireachd pedigree was impeccable, deriving its continuity back to Donald Cameron. The late William Barrie and Willie Connell as well as Robert Hardie were all tutored by Robert Reid. It is this friendship with William Barrie that prompted this highly musical piobaireachd. The tune is recorded by William Barrie, singing his pleasing form of cantaireachd and accompanied by his son Jim Barrie on the highland pipe. The CD is entitled Ancient Piobaireachd - Volume III. I strongly recommend that you try to find a copy. Listen to William Barrie’s presentation and follow along with the music.
The Cameron Style of Playing Piobaireachd [Jim McGillivray (reprint from bobdunsire.com), March 7, 2009]
I confess I have some difficulty with the tendency to define "Cameron" playing as the way Robert Reid and his pupils played. I don't mean just in this thread, but in general. The last Cameron son died in 1923, MacDougall Gillies died in 1925, and as far as I know, we have no recordings of these men playing. So our primary knowledge of the so-called 'Cameron School' comes from the playing of Robert Reid. The recordings I've heard of Robert Reid's playing -- and I've heard many, courtesy of the late Andrew MacNeill -- are the work of an amazing stylist. I mean this in the same way that I would call John Burgess an amazing stylist, in that, try as you might, you would be hard-pressed to teach anyone to play like John Burgess. John Burgess received the heart of his teaching from Willie Ross, yet no one refers to his light music playing as 'Ross style.' (Having said that, the old recordings of Ross very much foreshadow the later John D. style.). I have never heard the power and confidence of Reid's piobaireachd playing equaled by any 'Cameron' player since, and I would suggest that while Reid was Cameron taught, what we hear is mostly Reid. Reid's light music is a different story. Despite the prizes he won in his prime, Reid's light music was not held in the highest esteem by his contemporaries, and in fact his frequent roller-coaster approach to many tunes was once again very much Reid and not a Cameron tradition. I think that often what Cameron devotees describe as Cameron style is what others describe simply as good music. For example, take this quote from a post just above --"A Cameron stylist would always light & shade the music, slightly over holding some phrases for emphasis, while treating other phrases with a lighter & lifting tendency." There's no genius here: seems to me this describes any piping (maybe any good Celtic music) at its best. This leads me to what is becoming more and more a common school of thought: that there really is no "Cameron" school, that there were no more differences between Robert Reid's piobaireachd and John MacDonald's than there is between Hugh McCallum's and Iain MacFadyen's, that the "Cameron" school is really kind of a fabrication, that if there were a Cameron tradition it has been swallowed up in Reid's powerful playing and personality, and that frankly, my dears, we're all in this big piobaireachd pot together doing more or less the same things slightly embellished by our own musical personalities. Lesson 1 The Notes and Audio (updated)
Lesson 2 The Notes and Audio (updated)
Lesson 3 Variation 1
Lesson 4 Taorluath
Lesson 5 Crunluath
I have been teaching this tune for some time now. From the pen of the great Pipe Major Donald MacLeod, it has all those sweet musical characteristic of his piobaireachd. A wonderful melody is surpassed only by the tragic story surrounding its composition. Of importance, Donald MacLeod was born in Stornoway, 1917.
At 1.55am on 1st January 1919, a naval yacht carrying sailors home on leave rang aground on rocks near the village of Holm, a mere 20 yards from the shore of the Isle of Lewis and less than a mile from the safe harbor of Stornoway. HMY Iolaire was crowded with 280 men, mostly naval reservists returning to the safety and comfort of their homes after the horrors of the Great War. On this dark night of winter a force ten gale was blowing from the south, hard onto the shore, and there was a heavy sea running. Men drowned as they jumped or slid into the sea from the pitching decks, were flung back into the angry foam from lifeboats awash and overloaded, were dashed against jagged rocks, or managed to swim and crawl ashore, only to die before they could reach shelter or aid. By the time the first New Year’s Day of peacetime dawned, 201 men had lost their lives, 181 of them on the very shores of the island they called home.
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 1
The Music
Lesson 2 An Alternate Approach to the Ground using Variation 1
The Dithis
Lesson 3 And now you can play the Ground!
Lesson 1
The Music
Listen to the great John MacFadyen playing the Battle of Auldearn #2
Lesson 2
After committing the ground to memory, the doubling of the ground will be easy.
Lesson 3
The Dithis Variation - a rhythmic G and E grace note movement on the theme notes
Lesson 4
The Dithis Doubling - double up on the theme notes
Lesson 5
Variation II - some Taorluath and a lot of swing!
Lesson 6
Variation III - a strong GDE Rhythm!
Lesson 7
Time for the Taorluath Variation!
Lesson 8
The Crunluath Variation!
Lesson 9
The Crunluath a Mach Variation!
Copyright © 2005 - 2022 The Captain's Corner |
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It was then that the MacKenzie’s last song of triumph was composed, one of the
finest rants in the language. It is called Caber Feidh, which means Deer Antler,
the badge of the MacKenzie’s; and the lyrics ridicule the surrounding clans
which had fled before it.
