Practice chanter, scale with single gracenotes (audio clip)

Iain MacInnes plays a scale with single gracenotes or cuts. The practice chanter is a scaled-down, mouth-blown version of the Highland bagpipe chanter, used for teaching and learning tunes. It has a double reed, and plays in a pitch approximately one octave below the Highland bagpipe chanter. Here the practice chanter plays a scale using single gracenotes.

Bagpipe tunes are embellished using gracenotes, which serve to differentiate notes of the same pitch, and provide rhythmic articulation. Pipes play at constant pressure (through air provided by way of the bag), and therefore the volume cannot be modified while playing.

The fingering system used on Highland bagpipes, known as half-open or partially covered fingering, lends itself to elaborate gracenoting, which is a recognised feature of Scottish piping.

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