Oregon Piper : Recordings

Sep 09

Popular Tunes

Tunes you’ll recognize.

Traditional Marches

Tunes you can march to. Marches are the most played of all the different tune styles. Medium tempos, catchy rhythms, and lots of kilt swaying.

Upbeat Marches

Similar to Traditional Marches, but a tad bit livelier. Also known as contemporary or modern marches.

Highland Dance Tunes (Strathspreys)

These tunes designed for highland dancing. With edgy beats and highly pointed phrases, strathspreys are tunes that lift even the most portly dancers into the air.

Jigs

The energy of the highland bagpipe. Tunes that truly celebrate life: toast your Guinness so it spills on the floor, start a bar fight, and set Michael Flatley’s feet on fire.

Reels

Cheerful tunes accompanied by a slice of pepper-jack cheese, more jalapenos than the average American can handle, and lots of spice. A step down the ladder of liveliness in comparison to Jigs.

Hornpipes

Similar to Jigs, but with more complex melodies. Generally a tad bit catchier and longer.

Slow Airs

Somber tunes that work great for delicate moments.

Ancient Tunes (Piobaireachd)

The poetry of the highland bagpipe. A piper standing in the distance somewhere far off on a grassy knoll in Scotland, surrounded by grazing sheep would be, by stereotype, playing these tunes. Piobaireachd melodies typically sound very ethereal and soothing, and are sometimes difficult for non-pipers to translate. The average tune lasts for about 8 minutes.

Non-Bagpipe Tunes

The bane of my existence. Songs requests generally bellowed out by the drunk guy in the back of the crowd. No, I do not know how to play “Freebird” and hopefully I never will. “We’ve got a piper down!”

Slow Airs

Somber tunes that work great for delicate moments.

Recommended for: Weddings and Funerals.

Traditional Marches

Tunes you can march to. Marches are the most played of all the different tune styles. Medium tempos, catchy rhythms, and lots of kilt swaying.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Upbeat Marches

Similar to Traditional Marches, but a tad bit livelier. Also known as contemporary or modern marches.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Popular Tunes

Tunes you’ll recognize.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Reels

Cheerful tunes accompanied by a slice of pepper-jack cheese, more jalapenos than the average American can handle, and lots of spice. A step down the ladder of liveliness in comparison to Jigs.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Jigs

The energy of the highland bagpipe. Tunes that truly celebrate life: toast your Guinness so it spills on the floor, start a bar fight, and set Michael Flatley’s feet on fire.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Hornpipes

Similar to Jigs, but with more complex melodies. Generally a tad bit catchier and longer.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Highland Dance Tunes (Strathspreys)

These tunes designed for highland dancing. With edgy beats and highly pointed phrases, strathspreys are tunes that lift even the most portly dancers into the air.

Recommended for: Weddings, Special Events, and Parties.

Non-Bagpipe Tunes

The bane of my existence. Songs requests generally bellowed out by the drunk guy in the back of the crowd. No, I do not know how to play “Freebird” and hopefully I never will. “We’ve got a piper down!”

Recommended for: Wedding receptions and Parties.