Bagpipe Scale

Articles
March 17, 2024

The bagpipe, specifically the Great Highland Bagpipe, which is the most well-known type of bagpipes outside Scotland, typically uses a mixolydian scale.

The scale of the Great Highland Bagpipe has nine notes, ranging from G to A, one octave higher, with all the notes being natural except for F, which is sharp. Here’s how the scale looks:

Low G
Low A
B
C
D
E
F#
High G
High A

The bagpipe chanter (the melody pipe) does not have keys or valves, so the scale is fixed, and the chanter produces a continuous sound, with melody played by covering and uncovering the holes on the chanter. The mixolydian scale of the bagpipe gives it its distinctive sound, which is different from the major and minor scales commonly used in Western music.

The Mixolydian mode is common in non-classical harmony, such as folk, jazz, funk, blues, and rock music.

st. laurence o toole pipe band

Pipeband

In 1910 a meeting was organised by the St. Laurence O’Toole Gaelic Athletic Association Club in the CBS school,Seville Place, Dublin.

Armagh Pipers Club

Bagpiper

Armagh Pipers Club is an independent traditional music teaching organisation based in Armagh City. It provides classes at various levels for eight instruments and singing. It runs an annual international festival of pipe-based music. The Pipers Club has developed over six decades into into a centre of excellence. Its music classes have in recent years been attended by children and adults from Armagh and seven neighbouring counties. The annual international William Kennedy Piping Festival, launched in 1994, has attracted enthusiasts of pipe-based music from all over the world. A registered charity, the Club operates from Áras na bPíobairí, its premises in Scotch Street, in the centre of Armagh.