The primary object of all music is to give pleasure through the ear by imitating, or reproducing, more or less correctly, the sound of the human voice, and other natural sounds, so we find that as early instruments began to be improved they were so constructed as to produce various notes having the same intervals between them as are found between the tones of the human voice. In this way instruments with a fixed scale were obtained, and we know that in course of time various nations improved the instruments they had in use, the ancient Greeks especially bringing the art of music and their favourite stringed instrument, the lyre, to a high degree of perfection.
The great defect of all the more ancient instruments was their limited compass, most of them containing from five to ten notes only, thus rendering it impossible to play anything upon them except by the same series of notes and at the same pitch. This was gradually remedied, both as regards wind and stringed instruments, by adopting various devices whereby their compass was extended, and by introducing, with more or less accuracy, new notes called semi-tones between the original notes. The modern method of tuning musical instruments by “equal temperament” was unknown until the time of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) who, disregarding the custom which had prevailed until his day, of writing in a few keys only, and tuning instruments so as to render these keys nearly perfect at the expense of the rest, himself tuned the instruments on which he played in “equal temperament.” When he first began to play music on the harpsicord, tuned in the old way, in other than the keys in which it was originally composed, the effect was almost unbearable, and it thus became necessary to alter the relation of the notes throughout the whole scale by framing a complete chromatic scale having exactly the same interval between each semi-tone. In this way every note was slightly altered from the true natural scale, but not to such an extent as to seriously offend the ear.
It is obvious that to have a perfect chromatic scale a separate string or pipe is required for each note in such instruments as the organ and pianoforte, while it is obtained in those of the flute and oboe class by making additional holes in the tube at the correct intervals and covering them with close-fitting pads with levers (keys) within convenient reach of the fingers. (Having mentioned the oboe, it may be remarked in passing that its tone has been called “bagpipe music sublimated.”) Various attempts have been made to adapt similar appliances to the chanter of the bagpipe, but the results have not been satisfactory, and its scale remains practically the same as it was two centuries ago. It will be shown, however, with the aid of the table of vibrations appended to this article, that it does not differ so widely from the natural or “equal temperament” scales as the critics allege.
The scale of the bagpipe closely resembles what is known as the Greek scale, having a flat seventh, if we take it as running from A to A|, with a supplementary note G (the lowest on the instrument). While this is true, a reference to the table of vibrations shows that other scales can be rendered with a fair amount of correctness. A great deal has been written on this subject, much of it tending to show that the bagpipe is hardly, if at all, entitled to be considered a musical instrument. One writer starts with the assumption that the first or lowest note is the keynote of its scale, and thereby, very easily, comes to the conclusion that all the rest of the notes are out of tune. As well might it be asserted that the lowest note in any piece of music is the keynote of such piece; and it is obvious that taking the highest note on the bagpipe for the keynote and descending, quite a different result would be arrived at. There are various other writers who seem unable to distinguish between the Great Highland Bagpipe and the Italian and French bagpipes. With these it has hardly anything in common except the name.
It is pretty certain that the pipe chanter was at first used without a bag, and blown directly from the mouth, as a practising chanter still is, and that its key was D, thus giving an equal number of notes above and below. Afterwards two drones were fitted into the bag along with the chanter, probably in unison with one another, and with the lower A on the chanter, the key of the Greek scale already referred to. The instrument remained in this form for a long period. In the seventeenth century probably a third and longer drone (dos mor) was added, tuned an octave below the others. The drones form a fixed bass, and, according to the well-established principle in music that the bass always ends with the keynote, this may furnish very good ground for saying that the true scale is A, with which, indeed, a very large proportion of pipe music ends. But taking the note D on the chanter as the keynote, it is found that the notes above it are nearly in perfect tune, as can be easily observed by playing any well-known air in that key that falls within the compass of the piob mhor. Of course, it can be seen at a glance from the table of vibrations annexed that the scale of D is very nearly the same as that of A with a flat seventh. The use of this flat seventh descending is so common in minor scales as to form, after the minor third, one of their chief characteristics; and it does not greatly offend even the critical cultivated modern ear, when not an accented note nor leading directly to the key note. According to the principle mentioned already, that the bass always ends with the key note, it must be assumed that A is really the key note of the bagpipe scale, seeing the drones are tuned to that note; and starting from that point we find that A, C, E, A| are Do, Mi, So, Do| of the scale of A. Taking the higher Do of this scale and descending a fifth, we find D (Fa), and taking this as the key of a new scale, we find that D, F, A|, A are Do, Mi, So, Soˌ of the scale of D. In the same way, taking the fifth below D—that is, G—we find that G, B, D, G| are Do, Mi, So, Do| of the scale of G. On referring to the table of vibrations it will be seen that all these notes are very nearly correct in the scales mentioned, whatever their Sol-Fa names, the only differences being that B should be a little sharper in the key of A than in D and G, and that E should be a little flatter in the key of G than in D and A. For comparison there is a column inserted in the table giving the vibrations according to “equal temperament” of the chromatic scale from G to A| . None of the notes of the bagpipe admit of being sharpened or flattened except the upper G, which can be slightly sharpened by opening the E hole along with G and E. The notes D, C, B can be slightly flattened by lifting one finger only, with all those below it closed, but passages requiring this fingering are hardly met with except in pibrochs (Ceòl mor). The scale given in the annexed table is, I venture to submit, the true scale of the bagpipe. It is as perfect as can constructed upon an instrument of such limited compass without the aid of valves, and places it much on a level with the other instruments in use up to the time of Bach, already referred to, whereby the approximate correctness of a few keys was obtained by the sacrifice of all the others. It is possible that pipe chanters may not always be bored with perfect accuracy, and that in the case of very old instruments the holes may get enlarged by wear so as to be more or less out of tune, but I think that the true “bearings” are as I have stated.
Is is to be noted that but very few of the airs of our Gaelic songs can be played on the bagpipe, a fact which we think goes far to prove that the instrument was designed and used for martial purposes in the open air. Indeed the timbre of the instrument renders it unsuitable for playing in concert with the human voice.
It is, I think, a matter of great satisfaction to all Highlanders and to those who love the race, that so many intelligent and praiseworthy efforts are being made at the present time to preserve and cultivate our national music.
The following is the table of vibrations of musical scales forming the foundations of the scale for the bagpipe:—
| Notes on the staff. | Sol-fa Names with Vibrations in | Equal Temperament. | True Pipe Scale. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | G | D | A | Staff. | Vibrations. | ||
| A | l 880 | rˈ 891 | so 891 | doˈ 891 | 891 | [[audio/mpeg]] | 891 |
| G sharp | t 835⁵⁄₁₅ | 841 | |||||
| G | so 792 | doˈ 792 | f 792 | 794 | 792 | ||
| F sharp | t 742½ | m 742½ | l 742½ | 750 | 742½ | ||
| F | f 704 | 706 | |||||
| E | m 660 | l 660 | r 666¼ | so 668¼ | 666 | 668¼ | |
| D sharp | 627 | ||||||
| D | r 594 | s 594 | do 594 | f 594 | 592 | 594 | |
| C sharp | tˌ 556⅞ | m 556⅞ | 559 | 556⅞ | |||
| C | do 528 | f 528 | 528 | ||||
| B | tˌ 495 | m 495 | lˌ 495 | r 501³⁄₁₀ | 499 | 495 | |
| A sharp | 471 | ||||||
| A | lˌ 440 | r 445½ | soˌ 445½ | doˌ 445½ | 445½ | 445½ | |
| G sharp | tˌ 417²¹⁄₃₂ | 420 | |||||
| G | soˌ 396 | do 396 | fˌ 396 | 397 | 396 | ||
Note.—These calculations are made assuming that C in the middle of the staff has 528 vibrations, but of course whatever pitch be taken the relative proportion of the notes remains the same. Fractions, except in the case of one note, are omitted in the scale of equal temperament.