The actual notes of the Scottish Bagpipe's Scale don't correspond to
the "exact" tones of modern music. They have a generosity of overtones
and there are variances between even same make chanters. They do however
"closely" correspond to the modern (without getting into Mixolydian modes)
major scale we are all so familiar with, except we flat the 7th (You see
lots of flatted 7ths in the "blues" as well)
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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Major
Scale
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A
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B
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C#
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D
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E
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F#
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G# (7)
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A
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Bagpipe Scale
(Mixolydian)
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A
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B
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C#
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D
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E
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F#
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G (7b)
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A
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Press Here to hear a midi Bagpipe Scale
as played on a practice chanter
- Some Definitions and FAQ's -
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What is a Hz?: stands for hertz which is how many cycles (vibrations) per
second
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There are twelve scale tones ( A | A# | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F#
| G | G# ) which are generally used in a scale of seven notes. Because
the divisions are divided equally, the scale is referred to as "equal temperment"
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The distance between two tones is a semitone (one guitar fret, one
piano key, A to A#)
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These semitones can be further broken down into one hundred units called
cents.
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Bagpipes tune around 468 - 472 Hz. currently (though some tune up to even
480 Hz.) so they are Bb "and a wee bit".
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The sharped tuning and dropped 7th gives the bagpipe a very unique
and beautiful sound.
These points are illustrated in the picture below. Capo the first fret
of the guitar, banjo or mandolin and tune to a bagpipe's A. You will find
you can play to the scale. Keep in mind that with the capo on the first
fret you must remember to play F# and C# when reading pipe music even though
it is written as plain F and C. If you want to chord along with bagpipes
see the explanation on Playing Along
with Bagpipe.
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