Hi to All, I am trying to find if the Northumbrian Small Pipes or the Border Pipes have any melodies that are connected with Portugal. A Portuguese friend of mine is asking if there is any musical connection with Lowland Scotland/Scotland/Northern England and the Portuguese. I know there are a few titles in Bewick that mentions Spain, but not Portugal....as far as i know. Any other manuscripts, songs, titles, melody variants...that could be connected. We had a good relation with Portugal than with Spain in the past so i am surprised there is not some evidence. can any one help with titles or melodies or any hints to were i can find any? many thanks Kevin
Best wishes, Kevin -- http://www.ethnopiper.com http://www.youtube.com/kevnsp http://kevnsp.blogspot.com http://facebook.com/kevin.tilbury http://soundcloud.com/kevnsp __________________________________________________________________ From: Kevin <tilb...@yahoo.com> To: "nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu" <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu> Sent: Friday, 8 June 2012, 18:08 Subject: [NSP] Top 'A' fingering for Border pipes Hi to All, I am curious to know if any of the pipers who play open-ended pipes, such as the Border Pipes, mouth blown of with bellows, use or have come across a finger style/position that use a 'closed fingering' for the top A (or top note of your chanter). I am not taking about notes above the octave. I got my Border pipe chanter in the early 90s, tuned in A and plays 9 notes, it has a sharpened 7th (G#) hole and can get a G natural by cross fingering. The top A note is/was obtained by lifting the top hand off but keeping the ring finger down as in the Highland finger position (i believe this to be the standard way to get the top note: [bottom hand] oxxx [top hand] xoo o). But, recently I have come across a different and what seems to me a easier way of playing a top A which is in keeping with the 'closed fingering' of the Northumbrian/Scottish Border tradition, and i am wondering if anyone has used or uses this fingering style? the top A would be played like this: oxxx xxx o i have been trying this out on various tunes i play on the Border pipes from Peacock, Bewick, Dixon etc. and this finger style for the top A goes very well with a lot if not all of the tunes. if your chanter is a little sharp in the top A, this will flattening it a fraction, which can add colour to the melody as well as putting a out of tune chanter in tune! if you have a G natural hole/note, without cross fingering, the runs are easy to play as well, but what i find 'natural' to finger, is the tunes where there are jumps from the lower notes to the top A or from a high A down to the lower notes, such tunes as Newmarket Races, Blackett of Wylam...the list is endless... one can play these jumps without leaving go of the chanter with the top hand, a lot steadier and notes are obtained faster. By playing both finger positions for top A, (often in the same tune depending on runs and note order) can add to a versatile technique, also a leap from cross fingering to closed fingering (Border Pipes to Northumbrian Small Pipe) is a step closer (?). I am still experimenting with this finger position but i find i am naturally using it with out much difficulty for my chanter, it would make life easier if i had a chanter with a G natural hole, but when i play G# the top A is not so difficult to play, by alternating the top A finger positions I find playing the difficult passages more steadier and quicker (i consider myself having a slow tempo). I would be curious to know if any of the chanters who model their style on european fingering use this finger position? such as the John Swayne chanters? Best wishes, Kevin -- [1]http://www.ethnopiper.com [2]http://www.youtube.com/kevnsp [3]http://kevnsp.blogspot.com [4]http://facebook.com/kevin.tilbury [5]http://soundcloud.com/kevnsp __________________________________________________________________ -- To get on or off this list see list information at [6]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.ethnopiper.com/ 2. http://www.youtube.com/kevnsp 3. http://kevnsp.blogspot.com/ 4. http://facebook.com/kevin.tilbury 5. http://soundcloud.com/kevnsp 6. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
