by ‘limothy Cummings ‘THEORETICALLY SPEAKIN' Triple Time Trouble rf LATS the fret thing you think If you want ef when 1 se wipe ime, in Seotmuialson™ Thee jaet your pipe band aslad this question tothe barns atone ofthe coflce chops Lrequent when doing my laptop- pry (euch writing this artce). This parcalar baits happen to play abit of jae gitar when ‘not pulling shots of single oxgin espresso; and afer a brie rallective pause, be waltz” to be extra pious and holy —and don't we all... Tried to conceal my haliethan-thon judge- nent ofhisreaponse. You ce, ine further bac, in histor. in thecenery Futope he az-playing bart at medieval third-wavecofce shops might have aso rpevime with nhing es thanthe Hoy Tiniy. Indeed, 98 time, a meu involving three triple bens per measure then enjored the designation of emp pefeaum (major oF genes prec im’. 14 ime. with its pattern oF hice Auge beats, waslanown.aszempaspefctam mio. Yes thas ight. f you want yeu pipe band to be eta pious andboy ~ and dont weall~ youl ned taconfine yur repertoire ip jg. 78 marches and perp 34 dis and weet marches, keeping, ‘nr mind tha: 3/4 hive» minor. ese. sats to anything in 9/8 Te han always ben che case. hue these days ye tiple ine —specialy dhe less, ‘simple tpl time-with the human heartbeat. ovat ea heey characterised shy ofthe human hesxtbeat: dump thamp | ap tam (se) dain damp. To my that lines up ver nicely with atime signature in Erieerionsy <_ a _ oa thump thump thump thump. thump Wedbrithave many tines in ou common piping repertoire tht expicty emphasis this particalar triple time rhythm in eich a vite way, but hav ing recently learned 2 small andfil of boures 3 tmp from central France and some Scandinavian dance tunes (eg, the Nerwegianpob), the heartbeat flat ic new brought 19 rind when playing in 2 simple rple rhythm assuch, ‘The posinparticalar Feataredance ep and thas russian Fnt-aps, ‘that coordinatewith chefs and thid beatsofcach thar Though the mely may do semething onthe sccond eat, of the fet do nota least e any- thing poresive— ano there is anost akon the pronounced and ies yt of dump thump re] hump thump =| sump thump underlying cach bar of muse, eiefiom the dances fooseps, fot the foot tapping of the musicin(s). Notably. this send best, noe having any foot movement assigned tot iets fred in soch awa tht many ‘Scandinavian musicians coy wich it vo greater and lesser extents, ofen ‘stetching the best ina ously dizying-yecharming way th i dificul to mite unless you kxow the dance wllandfe ysve tice long seeped in the musical wid, All that aside for now pleas ler me ak: What pipe cus do you anocite with pe ie mer? IF swalires maka. test matches soe sire. spies and 9/8 marches come mind. yore oa the ight track, But how many of sou have a complieted relaionship with some of thee tunes Those of, you raising your hand in response to this lat ques- thors Taha you fr your honeaty. The of you in stenifat denial or perhaps just completly conused bby my queaion ithnot your fal, can explain 44 le be thump thumpThere hove been, for many decades now, Poor Sor Wha Hae. It rectved only 686 inaway butpehaps sil les thas del because at lest two curious inconsitencies eelatad to ofthevores in 2006 pol fr the Sconshna-_themannerin which mostpiprsplayitdoesat ‘common pipe tunss in simple triple time that tonal anthems and fo manr decades prior to realy match the somveofenthing dae wegen is, unesthat feature thrse heats in abat and the, hesune was wrienin 4/4time, wth eke erally playinGI8 namely josand (8 earches whose mainbessarediviibl by tro inother vas majertyofpipesGnluirg yours truly. racially ewery piper Tweheard play Sets hx word: nes in3/8, 3149/2 meee Forthe ignoring tha notation and playing it with a Harha produced smthing mach cleeerta2 vat majority of Piping Tada reer, Siethe more graceful wale like gtr, thought wal oF if ata signifcarly slower tampo, 2 only filiar onc of howe imerigaatury and were in 34. A.gce aut in YouTabe reveals 3/4alew march or sir hich, angus aloo indeltkisisuheonedhathae born problematic that mow angst sng it chat way, two wilh kw wate) Let an cay that Teint om of view, ats), the notable exceptions of Dik Gagghan ina in fct oud w have many diferent venions ef Regarding the first concern, allow me so very fice 2/4, pethaps) and Dougic MacLean Seas Wha Hae, but | hink its also imponant highligh the Sst pipe tune I ere learned, (in 1/82. Mor een The College ping ro bave wnten usc thataccanely represents possibly thefire pipetare youleamed aswell: swtor improved the rhythmic discepancy by whiter venion is being played, spealy € Sov Wha Hae, ‘wrkng iin GIs time, whichis more sccurse its thevery rst cune a piper lars! Setting of Scots Wha Hae in 3/4: ) : s = s s » = GF ¥ efi a 2 fe = “The second inaccuracy invoies 3/4 retreat marches, Save some py fr the mitrented mtrat march 2 well. Ix hath ald and new allectons of smusicthesearerighflly netated with atime signseure of 3/4. No prablem there. Bu there seems tobe ome confurion about where the downbeat that ie the aronges best lise. Fin, elon ot acommon seing ofa common sett march + ai ai ah an + WHENTHE BATTLE IS OVER (Scots Guards, vol-1 setting) 1 boy ty 4 Ori pe [Necicearything fishy boat howitsnoated? nots, whick beats you might be remped to hestongest pub be asigned the second bea? Phas notyet, bat row ls revs the afore-emphsie or accent in sme way. Next. try In "Wester mia. leas the rorgest beats mentioned naira accertuston oF the wal, exaggerating thoee empha: abit more, and almatalwaye signed hein bet aFabar no the French lourée 3 somps the Nomwesian pol, pay clove atention 10 which notes got the matterthetimesignseare thu emphasing the and the heart beating bithflly inside your mest weight "Thete ac Hound tobe diferent second beat shore all ethers woald be strange Mhoras. all cee fe thind bea ste opinions bat my guce ia that mow: pipers inany mate. sccm petcualy weaadsons consiteutly che mostaccenwated, and, in my will put dhe grease sts om che fist dice in 344 neve, where he fis and ciel beas ‘opinion thi fel very ratural othe x and Cis ofthe tan, cach placed! on beat 2 in the demand the mot emphasis the body. (Uhefint beat generilly receives the aboveexampe, Limphassing thse Cis x my With this in mind, havea loo ar his altes- _prateat emphasis of course) instinct wel native seting of Wen be Bete Le Or ith ‘With thit ia mind, now sing to yoursdf’ You can probably ste whete imgoingwith che only diference being wher the bar Line Wher the Bate i Over, and notice which thi why would henote hat fedsllkeitwanes hasbesn placed WHEN THE BATTLE IS OVER (cevised setting) 4 ~* y + ~” = “ther lt SarDoes hs sen morenacualand musical Now conser tar ll of che other 3/4 retat inarchesinvelume 1 ofthe Sou Gund calle ton ae weten we the same quirk with only thes few exepione The Kor Pil Lach ‘Marea posbly Youghal Faron ven the 9/8 and 44 retreat marches in daded in the same sscton, namely The Bate Of te Somme and The Mecig of he Waters ‘ave exact thesame aroma asthe 4s wih raped bat Lino. (lughel Heros sexs tobe tune thar stcceedseculy wth the ar line wher it i ard wth the ba line nudged ‘ne st er) Genesaly speaking, if the une starts with ss doced quaves(ighenet) aid with » ‘cmiquare(axteenth-toe), with When che Ratlel: One. ther that beaters ented Fik-up best, noe dhe danke. You ae wel ‘onetodispre butwhicherer youcan atleast sscthat his nconitceyncnougheocenfine ny piper, and more than enough to bewider tne geal intate any pipeland drummer “While writing ths piece. 1 picked up my dd fashioned lindline telephone, and called the deector ofthe Vermont Insite of Cae “rt, and Pipe Major ofthe Catamount Pipe Band. fain MacHerg. Tain picked op his old fisbioned landine elephoe, aad we had & sped ol shioned human crvesation about ‘hinge ol fshione, ik bagpipes and how on cath 4 rerestmarches po knocked off cette Iyaheat hin mind meofthe tendency of pe baeds to ply, work Eom pas of tHesurtng lloff sequence. Thissemed! to rnelileageod opportriy te ame drummers of cours, but + more honest srckoning ‘rong forth the Hey ei thai the piper stating to play anting er tara fll, uncompromind tworbeatE a at ofthesta ing lho squence, And novonly har butwe are perhaps trying tsimplifyanother problem inepads co matching in eplecime with two leg: hat che le foo lance on the dowrbeat ‘onlyon every ether measar. Put thetwo-heat Ehabiccgcter with wepping puters tac fk avlovard onevery ther measure and ching te bound to get out of whack. (Our drummers may in fic be deserving of pase in mgard ther appreadh 3/4 retreat marches, Tequetean snorymauscantibutor to the Bob Dunsite Forums dicusson on this opie "Ta my earthe best drum score: ar 5 eres make ever as of ambi 48:0 the location ofthe dowebeat, allowing the car te find che natural downbeat, ye aceentt= ing what would oerwis be pick-up just enough to say trae ta the pp band iam” Toles hie sid teeter. And Tet yor decide if the SconshPover Pipe Band cram ‘corps succeded in chin way in their 2018 Britsh Championship-vining medley that Tegan with the 4 est, The Dame Valey af Gndarul. [A cording ofthis performance iseaily found online) Pechape my question about « “complicated relationship’ with pipe cunes in 3/4 makes 2 Titlemore se now Tncideaely inoue pars of de absclue, rightecus andhalytruth, hin wert sfarasco dig pape WAU pipe satingofthe radional ache milking song. Crh Chalern (Cal Gate). bose ody almost cenainly eeates ppc marching in scary bade “That le me w unearthing the seting of Marre of aan Lemons (McGregor of fore) book ofthe Dari Glen callcton, printed ome around 1890. Both ofthese ate writen wich the pick-up betsand concoct ls, Tes more cent yeas the brine coasion scemsto be concauing, I wu chagrned, bur not surprised, tee some eenly-compesed SV rarest marche maligned ia s alecion ff pipe tunes printed in 2018, And I was estened ice Kenneth Macianes Dooplar Mair 4314 reese march composed hi ea, properly set on page 26 of the previous isu Piping Taday [Wherever you decide oplce the bar ines in your 314 rereat marches, the’ stil che foue of whee a pipe band io atrt dhe ane in anoperng lo sequence, While t may prove t be more musa, alma to play the pick-up notes a geruine pick-up notes, doingsovnidd rue shorting the wo-best, TE, Tetigating a change of ds ata would lety produc: acastions of lke new anda sum as confi, chaos, and tragedy athe smased bands paddock. Aswitha lotof musi theory, omeof these fine, ponsickty three dtl may bane an immeditdy obvious eft on the ster function af our muse making. But sometimes these subilepeins cat acer mare than we may chink 2 rst such as when were sryingte produceborer phruinginour msi, and when were playing with other nox-pp= bard miscims.. Whehowr. improving or sndescanding of our music and imp the qualtyand acuray of our writen music, even on a micrcopic sil, will generally ae the eller of making us beter muscins, both individually and collectively Armed with sn xpanded krowlalge of ureniy el be speaking che lnguage of music evetore Suen etter dbl to connect with ella eu scans ofall sriges. Not abe pou, pehups @