Your Repertoire - Tune of the Week

Carl Donley November 19, 2020
16 Comments

“Constantly vary everything, including constant variance!” - Abraham Lincoln

Occasionally, we have “your repertoire” instead of the normal, prescribed, tunes of the week.

"Your Repertoire" weeks are an essential element in reaching your full potential. These are weeks where, instead of using new and unfamiliar material to focus on our fundamentals, we about-face, and practicing using some of these fundamentals and the experience we’ve gained exploring a variety of material to improve some of our existing repertoire.

We work to apply all our recent progress toward eliminating bad habits and improving the tunes that we play regularly. Take these weeks seriously. You don't need to learn a new tune, but you do need to put what you've learned to the test.

“Your Repertoire” Guidelines

Those in Phase 1, 2, 3, and 4 will need to create simplified or rhythm lines for their particular tunes. This is an easy process when done correctly. Here's an article on doing it quickly and correctly: How to Simplify Correctly

A note about choosing your own tunes: Be sure to pick tunes on which you've already spent a considerable amount of time practicing. These tunes should come from your existing repertoire. If you don't currently play a tune from this idiom, please choose one of our past weekly tunes to become part of your repertoire.

Sometimes students ask if they can work on and submit 2 parted tunes. Here’s the scoop:

  • 2/4 Marches - NO, please select a 4-parter.
  • Strathspey - Yes
  • Reel (must be dot-cut style) - Yes
  • 6/8 March - Yes
  • Hornpipe (dot-cut style) - Yes
  • Jigs - Yes

Tune Recommendations (If you need help picking a tune)

2/4 Marches

Strathspeys

Reels

6/8 Marches

Hornpipes

Jigs

Categories: Uncategorized
Carl Donley

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Responses

    1. Carl Donley April 22, 2021

      Hi Donald, That would depend on your phase. Head over to the 5 Phases to Bagpipe Freedom and that will tell you what version to submit. If you are just getting started you'll be focused on just rhythm and therefore clapping. Also, while we strong encourage working through your phases, it's by no means the only learning path here at the dojo. If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for a strategy session so we can meet with you one on one and talk about the best learning path for you. Let us know if you have any other questions. Cheers, Carl

    1. Carl Donley July 22, 2021

      Hi Jay, Please submit this under the 5 Phases to Bagpipe Freedom right on the home page. We'll watch for it there! 🙂 . You can either upload the file directly to paste the link into simple text document and upload that. Let us know in the Technical Support Group if you have any trouble or you can always email support@pipersdojo.com. Cheers, Carl

  8. Fr Michael Dunstan July 22, 2021

    Ok, now I'm confused. Itried following the notated music, but the clapping and vocalizations didn't seem to apply very well. After 4 years of piano, and some time in school band, I can read musical notes, but none of that made any sense.

    1. Carl Donley July 23, 2021

      Hi Michael, Any chance you could join one of our live classes over the next few days? Andy's class tonight, Sally or Tim on Saturday or Andrew's or my class on Monday would be a great opportunity to chat live. The rhythms should line up perfectly no matter if we are clapping, playing simplified or the fully embellished but the easiest way to help, and find what's giving you a little trouble, would be to work through it together live. The only difference between the Rhythm lines and the simplified is that we remove Cut-Dot Rhythms. This wilful simplification is due to our propensity as pipers for rushing the beat and playing the cut notes ahead of the click. The most important thing in Phase 1, or working on Rhythm, is accuracy to the beat and metronome, not a few cut-dot rhythms. In any case, I'll look forward to helping. If you have any other questions please let us know. Cheers, Carl

  9. Benjamin Hill December 18, 2021

    In Sheila McMurchy’s Dance is the rhythm in bars 2 and 6 of the ‘rhythm score’ supposed to be different then the same bars of the “simplified score”? Certainly I’m not the only or first to notice this, am I? makes one question one’s own understanding of rhythm. Or am I missing something? I saw the same thing with Miss Delicia Chisholm, bars 7, 15, 23 & 32. I ignored it then, can’t ignore it now.

    1. Carl Donley December 20, 2021

      Hi Ben, Nope it's by design, with the exception of strathspeys, we do not include cut-dot rhythms in our rhythm scores. This is because the primary focus of the rhythm is to get the underlying groove and cut-dot rhythms are not part of that. So if you are in phase 1, be sure to use the rhythm score. If you are in phase 2, make sure when you clap it out, that the clap lines up with the short note in the replaced cut dot rhythm. Feel free to reach out in discord if you have any other questions about the rhythm scores. Sincerely, Carl