It’s finally here; the last day of the year, 2008…hard to believe that yet another entire year has passed us by.   Hopefully for most, you have had some great experiences over the past year, and have also had some great pipe band moments!   

As both our bands have gone their separate ways for our Christmas break from pipe banding, I am starting to remember that there was something that I was supposed to learn, and of course have off for our first practice of 2009: A huge stack of new music!  This of course raises the question:  how best to learn music?  And a second and more important question:  Do I still have enough time to get it done prior to that first practice?  

My suggestions are aimed at pipers, they’re my perspective…but I believe they might be useful for drummers as well.  I’d love to hear your thoughts drummers!

Being the PM of the grade 3 band for the last few years has really let me see a lot of different learning styles and common problems that usually hinder a player’s ability to master a new tune.  I’ve watched some players play a part FOREVER until it’s memorized, usually repeating the same error, then moving to the next part, and repeating.  I’ve had players do sort of a step latter thingy, where they play first part twice, into the second part, then play the first part second part into the third part, and so on.  I have also had people talk about a counting method, which I still don’t understand, and please – I’ve love to figure this out!  My biggest pet peeve though, is when there is that one part of the tune where there is an odd bit, or a second timing, or something, like in the fourth part of “Doctor Ross’s 50th Welcome to the Argyllshire Gathering”, where one little note changes, and for some reason half the players mess it up repeatedly!  But getting back to my point… 

So here it is: my tips for memorizing a tune:  

1.  Although this whole topic does sort of depend on the talent of the player and the difficulty of the tune, for me (and I believe for most players out there) playing a tune slowly and to a steady beat, be it a metronome or your foot, will allow you to think about what you’re doing, and will also let you play the easy bits just as well as the tricky bits!  You have to make sure they are played correctly and at the same speed.  Again, depending on the time signature, double beating out a tune is probably the best way to open up a lot of that tight execution you may have, and to put things in the right spot.  There is just no use in playing a new tune way too fast where you make the same mistake every time through the same part. All this does is make a muscle memory error that you are certainly not going to want!  Especially in front of the PM!  See my comments regarding the fourth part of “Doctor Ross’s”!  

2.  The parts that you are not able to play well?  I think that they should be slowed down even more.  Take that one bar of the tune, and break it down.  Break it down to just notes if need be.  Make an exercise out of it.  Then add the grace notes, and once you’ve got that, put the doublings back in.  I think it’s very important that all this stuff is done very slowly, and to a beat you can trust.  If your foot isn’t steadiest, and moving with your errors, then maybe it’s time for a metronome!  Doing this will hopefully eliminate the whole “Doctor Ross phenomenon”!  

3.  Now that you’re sight readying through the tune without making a whole whack of errors and playing the tune correctly, it’s time to memorize the thing.  For me, I think that if you can sing the tune, you can play it!  Some bands play a part over for hundreds of times to get it down, but this is more than likely a punishment at band practice for not getting it down at home!  Or is it the PM, he or herself using band time to ALSO learn a new tune – a topic for a latter date!  If possible, have your PM or instructor make a recording of the tune for you, or if that cannot be done, record yourself playing the tune correctly while sight reading.  The sole purpose for this is to get that tune, that melody in your head.  This is the fastest way to remember the tune.  A good idea is to burn a copy and play it while on the computer at home, or on the way to work, school, or working out, or whenever you can give some time to learn a tune that you probably should have had off a wee while ago!  

So that’s it, that’s my method.  Probably pretty similar to most players out there – or possibly not?  Let me know, as I want to hear what works for you!  And since I’m running out of time myself, I can use all the help I can get!

On behalf of the whole group here at the TPPB, I hope you all welcome in 2009 safely, with a positive spirit, and with a set of pipes playing “Auld Lang Syne” in the background! 

Enjoy your Hogmanay celebrations and have a very Happy New Year to you all!

Cheers, Brian

Brian Urkosky