Playing Guitars, Banjos, Mandolins, Fiddles and Tin Whistles along with Bagpipes

Guitars, Banjos, Mandolins, Fiddles, Tin Whistles and Bagpipes

If you are having difficulties with the chords for a tune please Email a .gif of the tune and we will add chords

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" Bagpipes play in D"

" I thought the bagpipe scale was in A !" Well ..... it is sort of in A , here is the explanation:

First, some minor technical information:

Concert A is 440 Hz
Concert A# is 466 Hz
Bagpipe "A" is 468 to 474 Hz or "A# and a wee bit"

What is Mixolydian many ask ?

Well that is just your regular major scale but flat the7th (G instead of G#)

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Major Scale	A	B	C#	D	E	F#	G# (7)	A
Bagpipe Scale (Mixolydian)	A	B	C#	D	E	F#	G (7b)	A

Oh, that was easy ! ....

Wait a minute, doesn't the regular D scale have just 2 sharps? D E F# G A B C# D ?

You're right, and most times when you play along with pipes you'll play the chords of the D scale, because you're actually playing a D major scale (A Mixolydian).

D Em F#m G A Bm C#dim D (I add chords to a LOT of tunes for pipers)

But didn't you say that the bagpipe scale was actually sharped: "A# and a wee bit" ?

Yes I did, and that means you add a capo to the guitar/banjo/mandolin or just play in D# !

D# Fm Gm G# A# Cm Ddim D#

Oh, I guess it would be easier to just put the capo on the first fret .......

That's what I would do......

So....what tinwhistle would I use?

A tunable Eb(D#) whistle if the pipes are new and tune sharp
A tunable D whistle if the pipes are tuned to concert A (like John Walsh Shuttle Pipes and Practice Pipes)
Now, since pipe tuning varies with moisture, I suggest you use a Susato Kildare Whistle which is tunable

Here's a tune called Oft the Stilly Night as an example:

Copright 1998