Newsgroups: soc.culture.celtic
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 00:26:52 -0400 
From: Jon D Fiant <jf3u+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: The Definitive Word on Bagpipes and Weddings
	<1992Apr6.162058.16782@yang.earlham.edu>

Ladies and Gentlemen,

    I have seen this subject flitting about the bboard for some time
now, and I thought you would like the impressions and opinions of a
piper. My name is Jon Fiant and I am a piper in Pittsburg, PA, attending
Carnegie Mellon University where I am majoring in Music Performance in
bagpipes. If this seems uncommon, it is. I'm currently the only person
in the world doing it!
    On to the subject at hand. As familiar and as well liked as it is,
Amazing Grace, or Amazing Disgrace as I sometimes refer to it, is not,
to my tastes, a great tune for a wedding. I'm not saying it's bad; I
happen to like the tune, but I think that there are much better.
Generally speaking, if I'm  going to play more than once and at
different times during the ceremony, I try to match the tunes to the
mood that I wish to set, which of course is up to the bride and groom.
During a prelude, yes, Amazing Grace would serve as a peaceful
introduction to things, but there are many, MANY other slow airs and
such that are much better. The reason I shy away from 'Grace is the
lyrics with which most people are familiar, and the general feeling of
the tune. I find it most suitable for funerals (where it works
beautifully) as oppossed to a happy, joyous wedding. Anyhow, if you as a
piper, or a bride and groom, are going to play, or want a piper to play,
before the actual ceremony (ie during the prelude), here are my picks.
After these, I'll throw in some great stuff to play as the new happily
married couple gleefully exits the church.

Prelude stuff:
        Loch Etiveside
        For Ireland I'll Not Tell Her Name (especially nice)
        Banff to Victoria (the slow air arrangement)
        The Hills of Kintail
        The Dark Island
        Skye Boat Song
            ...and just about any other slow air that sounds happy or peaceful

Post Mortem stuff (played with all the pomp and circumstance that can be
mustered!)
        Mairhi's Wedding
        Murdo's Wedding
        Highland Wedding ( a six part competition march well worth learning)
        Scotland the Brave (the old standby!)
        Caber Feidh (the 4/4 march arrangement)
            ...and just about any other march that sounds happy and
joyous, although I avoid the "heavy" competition marches for these
boisterous crowds where your concentration may not all be there due to
the inevitable facts that you as a piper will be lead all over the place
and have to sidestep various obstacles. So the point is, play something
simple that you can play in your sleep so that the result is quality
music even when the bride's great aunt comes up to you while you're
playing to tell you what a great job you're doing!
    I have played at many weddings and I love to do them. Also, as most
people have alluded to, they tend to add a great deal. To that I add a
caveat for all pipers: If hired to play a wedding gig make sure that you
and your pipes are in good working order because nothing detracts as
much from a well planned wedding as does a set of ill-sounding and
ill-played bagpipes! 

Newsgroups: soc.culture.celtic