Discovery Days Online Academy Summer Festival

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Beginning - 03 May 2025

The Craft of Pibroch: patterns for weaving new music

Description

The Craft of Pibroch provides students with an introduction to ‘the great music’ of the bagpipes as well as the harp. This repertoire is highly developed, complex and technically challenging. At its heart, it is a story-telling vehicle, capable of evoking high emotion, delight, laughter and sorrow. Using 'McLeod’s Lament' as a model, we will explore piobaireachd as a process, not as a fixed goal. Instead of building the course around learning to play a particular piece, we will explore fundamentals of melody, harmony and figuration to create our own examples of piobaireachd on harps or lyres with gut or wire strings. We will discover parallels in the repertoire of medieval Welsh harp music, where compositions were devised according to ancient measures -- various combinations of alternating moments of tension and resolution. There will be considerable focus on learning figuration, from Irish as well as Welsh sources, to provide us with the technical vocabulary to embellish our stories on the strings.

The purpose of the Welsh measures was three-fold: 

— To produce music; to compose

— To recognize music; to appreciate and understand the framework

— To keep music in mind; to cultivate memory

Within the course, we will aim to compose according to the ancient instructions, using a variety of measures, with some being regular, and others irregular. We will explore modality, where the tuning of the harp is only the beginning of the process; choosing where the finalis lies will govern the affect of the piece.

This course welcomes all levels of players except pure beginner. There will be a considerable element of freedom to compose within one’s own skill level. Some students may wish to challenge themselves to create elaborate pieces; others may prefer to be more conservative in their structures.

Harps and lyres welcome!

 

Course Duration

6 Sessions

Level

Post-beginner+

Class Time

3:45–5:00 pm (Irish time)

Tutor(s)

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Barnaby Brown

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Bill Taylor

Price

€130.00

Saturday | 3:45–5:00 pm (Irish time)

03 May

Session 1

Introduction and explanation of historical piobaireachd and cerdd dant (1 of 2)

In this session, we'll introduce and cover the following topics: 
* Sources, measures, and figuration
* An overview of McLeod’s Lament, where we'll begin working through the urlar.
* Instruction on harp figurations.
* Learning a measure by ear with movements like clapping, snapping, and stamping.

As a homework assignment, you'll have the opportunity to compose a piece using a measure, identify the mode and finalis (resolution), and identify the moment of tension

[Barnaby Brown and Bill Taylor]

10 May

Session 2

Introduction and explanation of historical piobaireachd and cerdd dant (2 of 2)

Continuation of topics introduced in the previous session; review and follow up of session 1; homework sharing and discussion; Q & A

[Barnaby Brown and Bill Taylor]

17 May

Session 3

The modern history of piobaireachd | Further exploration of McLeod's Lament, figurations, and measures (1 of 2)

In this session, we will introduce and explore the following topics:
* A look at the modern history of piobaireachd, including competitions, the Piobaireachd Society, and relevant publications
* Questions about piobaireachd
* Continuing to learn the urlar from McLeod’s Lament
* Learning more figurations
* Learning a different measure

Homework assignment: Compose a piece using a different mode and/or measure

[Barnaby Brown and Bill Taylor]

31 May

Session 4

The modern history of piobaireachd | Further exploration of McLeod's Lament, figurations, and measures (2 of 2)

Continuation of topics introduced in the previous session; review and follow up of session 3; homework sharing and discussion; Q & A 

[Barnaby Brown and Bill Taylor]

07 Jun

Session 5

Measures in the Robert ap Huw MS | Further exploration of McLeod's Lament

In this session, we will explore the following topics:
* How the measures are used within the Robert ap Huw Manuscript
* Learning the final section of the urlar from McLeod's Lament
* Learning a different measure

Homework assignment: Compose a piece using a different mode and/or measure

[Barnaby Brown and Bill Taylor]

14 Jun

Session 6

Pulling it all together

Continuation of topics introduced in the previous session; review and followup of session 5; homework sharing and discussion, Q & A; course recap

[Barnaby Brown and Bill Taylor]

What to Expect

In this course, students will —

  • Learn about the history and development of piobaireachd, in song and instruments
  • Make connections between pipe and harp sources for composition and techniques
  • Use 'McLeod’s Lament', from the Campbell Canntaireachd, as a model
  • Learn how to compose their own piobaireachd, employing a variety of harmonies, melodies, rhythms and figures

Technical Requirements

  • A laptop, desktop or tablet computer; we do not recommend using a phone to participate
  • Speakers or headphones
  • Access to a printer for downloadable course materials
  • Access to the Zoom platform; further information to help you get set up for participating over Zoom will be sent after you have registered

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