Hi all,

Perhaps I should explain that the Northumbrian Small Pipes (NSP) are not generally suited to sessions due to their unfriendly pitch.
The "traditional tuning" is not concert pitch but has 'A' as 445Hz instead of the modern 440Hz concert pitch. [20 cents sharp of F in fact]. This is because 'concert pitch' is a fairly recent innovation in NSP terms: there is an unbroken tradition of piping from the mid 18th century! So they tend to get played as solo instruments or duets.

I prefer to play a piece once through as written and second time around with added decoration, swing or stoccato. This adds interest for the listner and avoids the performance become mechanical and wooden.

However, to claim that I have "performed" variations in public would be wide of the mark! These are a challenge in their own right and are part of the enjoyment of playing a piece that everyone knows, like 'John Peel', with its simple 8 bar strain and graduating through four variations with incremental complexity. I suspect it is part of the showmanship that any musician should be able to command. I can certainly see the similarity with Jazz.

I do concede that playing a slow air is just as fine, if not more difficult, but it is worthwhile to be able to do both.

Sue might argue that variations must be played well to be entertaining. I wonder if that's what she was really driving at! ;-0)

She did reminded me of the Tom Lehrer quote: "Some people think that singing 56 verses of 'On Top of Old Smokey' is twice as good as singing only 28 verses!"

I think I shall counter with "Variety is the Spice of Life"!

Hope this clarifies the context of the debate.

Bob vG