Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The march in sophisticated Scottish music is far more than one might think from St. Patrick’s Day parades. The march on the bagpipe is perhaps one of the most intricate and virtuosic pieces a bagpiper can learn, particularly in the 6/8 and 2/4 variety. While these marches come from a functional tradition, 6/8 and 2/4 marches have evolved in Scottish music into a “high art” form with much subtly and finesse. The second work – Master Scott Nichol – is one such virtuosic 6/8 march in the rather haunting mode of E hypophrygian. Sitting in the middle of this suite is the “MSR” or the March-Strathspey-Reel, a classical triptych of forms that is the centerpiece of any professional bagpiper’s repertoire, each piece demonstrating various manners of style, control, dexterity, and aesthetic understanding. The 2/4 March, like the 6/8 march is highly intricate and difficult with much nuance to its exact rhythmic execution and embellishment. You will notice the idiomatic “scotch snap” in this tune, a rhythmic design sometimes taught in classical music institutions.
The march in sophisticated Scottish music is far more than one might think from St. Patrick’s Day parades. The march on the bagpipe is perhaps one of the most intricate and virtuosic pieces a bagpiper can learn, particularly in the 6/8 and 2/4 variety. While these marches come from a functional tradition, 6/8 and 2/4 marches have evolved in Scottish music into a “high art” form with much subtly and finesse. The second work – Master Scott Nichol – is one such virtuosic 6/8 march in the rather haunting mode of E hypophrygian. Sitting in the middle of this suite is the “MSR” or the March-Strathspey-Reel, a classical triptych of forms that is the centerpiece of any professional bagpiper’s repertoire, each piece demonstrating various manners of style, control, dexterity, and aesthetic understanding. The 2/4 March, like the 6/8 march is highly intricate and difficult with much nuance to its exact rhythmic execution and embellishment. You will notice the idiomatic “scotch snap” in this tune, a rhythmic design sometimes taught in classical music institutions.
