Dunaber Music » Score & Sound File

A Jig, “Jenny Hazzard”: Score & Sound File

Michael Grey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:05:07 +0000

I’ve had a couple of notes from people looking for “more jigs”. So for the jig hounds here is a 4-parted 6/8 jig, “Jenny Hazzard”, from “Old & New Tunes“, published 1995. I’ve played this in solo jig competitions with success and I’m pretty sure Peel Police Pipe Band played a couple of parts in a competition medley when I was PM in the mid 90s.

This is an interesting tune to me because the third part sounds almost - almost – like a different tune. The key change is a bit of a surprise (and ain’t that a good and rare thing – a surprise, I mean), though, I think, works fine.

I see there is a wee typo in bar 7 of the 4th part: the D strike is meant to be a shallow strike (so that should read as a C gracenote and not low G gracenote between the two D eighth notes). Really, though, you play what you like. Shallow or heavy strikes – whatever. My usual preference is a shallow strike but that’s mainly, I think, to temper my technical style.

Jenny_Hazzard_Jig_by_Michael_Grey_Dunaber_Music.mp3

Jenny Hazzard, of course, is one of the best pipers anywhere and one of my favourite people. She is a Canadian from Woodbridge, a small town now part of north Toronto suburbia [Wooda-breej to the many, mostly Italian, locals) and has lived for the last 10 years or so in Edinburgh with hubby (and my pal), Colin MacLellan. In fact, May 30th this year will mark their 10th wedding anniversary, so I suppose they’ll be looking for prezzies …

She was really well taught – I know her first teacher very (very) well

Be Open to Something New (Also Score & Sound File: “The Oyster Wives’ Rant”)

Michael Grey — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:50:50 +0000

In honour of St Patrick’s Day, a quote from the great Irish novelist, Jonathan Swift:

“It was a brave man who first ate an oyster”.

PS. Completely unrelated: attached here, “The Oyster Wives’ Rant”, a reel from my second book, “Music for Pipers” (1991). The quote reminded me of this excellent traditional tune, so here you go …

The_Oyster_Wives_Rant_trad_arranged_Michael_Grey_dunaber_music.mp3

A Competition Strathspey: “The Blue Heron” (Score & Sound File)

Michael Grey — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:30:13 +0000

This tune comes from my third collection of tunes, “Old & New Tunes” (1995). The Blue Heron is a competition-style strathspey.

A competition-style strathspey is, of course, at least four parts in length. Our repertoire has a few good six-parters like, “Blair Drummond” and “Bogan Lochan” and one notable eight-parter, the grand daddy of them all, ”The Cameronian Rant”. However, the four-parted strathspey is the competitive norm and probably part of a good plan when setting out to compete in a strathspey and reel event. I mean, why fill the air with more risky (and potentially blootery) notes than required when the rules call for a minimum of four parts? Why?

Because competition strathspeys are almost always more technically demanding than their two-parted cousins fundamental differences in the two are clear.

While there are exceptions you’ll generally find competition strathspeys:

Based more on rhythm than melody (with two-parters higher on the whistleability scale)
More interesting and better interpreted played at a moderate strathspey tempo
Low on the Highland dancer’s favourite tune list: competition strathspeys are made for technical and rhythmic shenanigans – not dancing.

So here is “The Blue Heron” at a moderate 112 MM, a good tempo for an experienced solo competitor. I hope you like it.

M.
New Strathspey

A New Hornpipe: “Sliding into Colintraive” (Score & Sound File)

Michael Grey — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:32:47 +0000

Yet another tune from the fifth book, “Music for Everybody”; this time, “Sliding into Colintraive”. This hornpipe is the kind of tune my great teacher, the Aberdonian, George Walker, would call, “hillbilly music”. To George, anything uptempo and easily played on the fiddle would usually fall under the hillbilly category. I remember playing what I could at one Toronto Knock-out final: lots of Cape Breton reels to finish – lots of sweat. George was there and came by as I was putting the pipes away, “Ach, metty, fine playin’ but all that hillbilly music!”

So here, a recording of two renditions of hillbilly music: first slow and open, and second, in moderate tempo. To save space I did not repeat parts 1 to 3. Part 4 is played with the variation – as in the score.

The village of Colintraive is found on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland. Colintraive is an important (relatively speaking) ferry crossing point to the island of Bute.

The “sliding” part? Hmmm. Let’s just say it had to do with a little wet pavement, a hill, a couple of cars and Visa car rental insurance (it really works).

I like this tune more than others I have made. It would work as a competitive solo piping hornpipe if your hands were in good form.

As always, I hope you find it of interest.

New Hornpipe
M.

A New March: “The Valley Train” (Score & Sound File)

Michael Grey — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:23:45 +0000

Here’s a very simple 3/4 march you may find interesting, “The Valley Train”, another tune from my fifth book. I should really have called it “The Dundas Valley Train”. That might’ve made the title a little more specific, a little more accurate, a little more meaningful – you know, the markers of good composition!

That aside, I live in a small town, Dundas, in close(ish) commuting distance to Toronto. Dundas will never get much bigger than it is since it was founded in a valley (part of the Niagara Escarpment) with geographic limits to growth. And, by the way, that’s a good thing from my point of view.

So more about this “valley train”: the railway tracks are built half way up the escarpment on a fairly notable grade (don’t ask me specifics on that). Throughout the day I can clearly see the train passing from my westward-looking “office” window. At 0300 h I can clearly hear the train climbing up the grade. So, a little tune for the valley train, my “two hours advance warning” wake-up call.

I hope you like the tune.

M.The_Valley_Train.mp3

A New Jig: “Well Away” (Score & Sound File)

Michael Grey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:23:17 +0000

I knew I’d been away too long from these pages when it took me 20 minutes to track down the once-memorized dunaber login and password. Thanks to the notes on my trusty Blackberry: found.

Here’s a jig I made not too long ago, “Well Away”. It’s in my newish book (5) and one I imagine is OK. It’s of middling technical difficulty in the big scheme of jigs (is there a big scheme of jigs? Can you imagine!). If “Cork Hill” is at the easy end and “Donald MacLennan’s Exercise” at the tricky end, “Well Away” is in the middle.

The most challenging part in playing this tune is probably in the area of rhythmic control, especially in the last part. Admittedly this part “riffs” on the second part of Donald MacLeod’s “Glasgow Police Pipers” and, maybe, Colin Magee’s “Troy’s Wedding“. I’d like to think it’s still orginal enough and not unduly derivative (note to self/you: in composing tunes avoid “derivative” at all costs).

On the mp3 recording here (see below – click the arrow) I play first quite slow and open and follow up with a rendition of moderate tempo. I’ll try and do more of these tunes (score with sound file) if there’s any interest.

I think I’ll add “Well Away” to my competitive jiggy repertoire.

Sorry about the title. I could’ve done better. The true story on the name – 3 out of 10 on the “Lame-o-meter”: I was stuck with a printer’s deadline and had a number of tunes still embarrassingly nameless.

I hope you find interesting.

Well Away_JIG_By_MichaelGrey_dunaber_dot_com.mp3