Great Highland bagpipe

The great Highland bagpipe (Scottish Gaelic: a' phìob mhòr pronounced [a ˈfiəp ˈvoːɾ] lit.

Though widely famous for its role in military and civilian pipe bands, the great Highland bagpipe is also used for a solo virtuosic style called pìobaireachd, ceòl mòr, or simply pibroch.

Though popular belief sets varying dates for the introduction of bagpipes to Scotland, concrete evidence is limited until approximately the 15th century.

[3] These references may be considered evidence as to the existence of particularly Scottish bagpipes, but evidence of a form peculiar to the Highlands appears in a poem written in 1598 and later published in The Complaynt of Scotland which refers to several types of pipe, including the Highland: "On hieland pipes, Scotte and Hybernicke / Let heir be shraichs of deadlie clarions.

"[4] In 1746, after the forces loyal to the Hanoverian government had defeated the Jacobites in the Battle of Culloden, King George II attempted to assimilate the Highlands into Great Britain by weakening Gaelic culture and the Scottish clan system,[5] though the oft-repeated claim that the Act of Proscription 1746 banned the Highland bagpipes is not substantiated by the text itself, nor by any record of any prosecutions under this act for playing or owning bagpipes.

[citation needed] The custom was revived by the 51st Highland Division for their assault on the enemy lines at the start of the Second Battle of El Alamein on 23 October 1943.

[6] Bill Millin, the personal piper of Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, was at the landing of 1st Special Service Brigade at Sword Beach on 6 June 1944 in Normandy.

Although it is further classified as a double-reed instrument, the reeds are all closed inside the wooden "stocks", instead of being played directly by mouth as most other woodwinds are.

According to Forsyth (1935),[10] the C and F holes were traditionally bored exactly midway between those for B and D and those for E and G, respectively, resulting in approximately a quarter-tone difference from just intonation, somewhat like a "blue" note in jazz.

Compared to many other musical instruments, the great Highland bagpipe is limited by its range (nine notes), lack of dynamics, and the enforced legato style, due to the continuous airflow from the bag.

All grace notes are performed rapidly, by quick finger movements, giving an effect similar to tonguing or articulation on modern wind instruments.

Due to the lack of rests and dynamics, all expression in great Highland bagpipe music comes from the use of embellishments and to a larger degree by varying the duration of notes.

The ceòl mòr style was developed by the well-patronized dynasties of bagpipers – MacArthurs, MacGregors, Rankins, and especially the MacCrimmons – and seems to have emerged as a distinct form during the 17th century.

"Few attempts have been made hitherto to combine the bagpipes with classical orchestral instruments, due mainly to conflicts of balance and tuning," said composer Graham Waterhouse about his work Chieftain's Salute Op.

"[15] Peter Maxwell Davies' Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise (1985) also features a great Highland Bagpipe solo towards the end.

[citation needed] The great Highland bagpipes have played a minor, but not insignificant role in rock and pop music.

It is particularly popular in areas with large Scottish and Irish emigrant populations, mainly England, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The great Highland bagpipe has also been adopted by many countries that were formerly part of the British Empire, despite their lack of a Scottish or Irish population.

[citation needed] The great Highland bagpipe also spread to parts of Africa and the Middle East where the British military's use of pipes made a favourable impression.

[citation needed] In Uganda president Idi Amin forbade the export of African blackwood, to encourage local bagpipe construction, during the 1970s.

[citation needed] The great Highland bagpipe was also adopted in Thailand; around 1921, King Rama VI ordered a set to accompany the marching exercises of the Sua Pa Wild Tiger Corps.

The band, which plays Thai as well as Scottish tunes, still practices at Vachiravuth High School in Bangkok, which is named for Rama VI.