Piobaireachd: Go long, or go home

This post is a few months behind the times, but I felt I should get my opinion on the topic out there. When this rule change was announced by the EUSPBA, there was quite an uproar, and at the moment there are seven pages worth of discussions on it at the Bob Dunsire forums.

So here’s the scoop: on April 29, the EUSPBA made this announcement on their website:

Grade 4 solo, Jr. and Sr.  Piobaireachd, requirements found on page 8 of the existing Rule Book will change.  The option for ground only to be sanctioned will be removed.  Effective January 1, 2011, only the full tune event will be sanctioned by the EUSPBA.

In other words, starting next year, there will be no ground only piobaireachd competitions. All competitors, including those in grade 4, must play the whole tune.

I was pretty confused when I first heard this, because I don’t remember hearing anything regarding this rule change until it was announced. I attended the association’s AGM last November, and I don’t remember it being discussed at all. There were many other issues and rule changes discussed, but not a word about this one. Did the Executive Committee and/or Music Board step up and decide to implement this without discussing it with membership?

That’s neither here nor there, and I’m not going to delve into the politics of the association because that’s a can of worms I would not like to open. This post is about the rule change, so I’ll stick to that.

My feelings on the subject are somewhat mixed. I’ve never really been a fan of ground only competitions, because it’s hard to get a grasp on the player’s piobaireachd ability from just a few lines of music. Part of the magic of a piobaireachd is how all the parts fit together, and a good player is able to carefully construct a tune to tell a story. Playing only the ground really makes it hard to get a sense of that.

Here’s a list of some of the effects that I see over the next few seasons, expanded upon below.

1. There will be fewer people entering the piobaireachd competitions.
2. There will be less diversity in tunes played in competitions.
3. There will be fewer people voluntarily learning piobaireachd.
4. There will be some people who will always hate piobaireachd.
5. The overall standard of piobaireachd playing in grade 4 will increase.

1. There will be fewer people entering the grade 4 piobaireachd competitions. This is pretty obvious and doesn’t need much commentary. It’s an imposing task to learn a full piobaireachd, but learning the ground isn’t that bad. Now it’s going to take a lot more work for the casual piobaireachd player to be able to enter a competition, and there will be fewer entries as a result. People who haven’t learned a full tune will either have to learn it or not play in the piobaireachd competitions.

2. There will be less diversity in tunes played in competitions. If you only has to learn the ground of a piobaireachd, there’s really no limit to the tunes you can choose. The ground usually has the most intricate technique (aside from the crunluath), but there are some really big tunes that have quite manageable grounds: two that come to mind are Lament for Mary MacLeod and The Desperate Battle. Requiring a full tune will effectively eliminate those tunes and a dozen others. I’m guessing the same five or six tunes will be heard throughout most contests: Lament of Alasdair Dearg McDonnell of Glengarry, Lament for the Old Sword, Sir James MacDonald of the Isles’ Lament, The Company’s Lament, and Clan Campbell’s Gathering. Those are some great tunes, but it’s also nice to have some variety.

3. There will be fewer people voluntarily learning piobaireachd. This ties in with #1: people won’t enter competitions next year, and some will settle into a mindset of “I don’t play piobaireachd.” It’s hard to shake that, and I see it lasting for several years.

4. There will be some people who never learn to like piobaireachd. This ties in with #3. I really began to appreciate piobaireachd when I started learning it, and those who don’t learn it won’t learn to like it. As a result, there will be some who never really gain an appreciation of the music. Some instructors though will continue to teach it to everyone, especially their most promising students.

5. The overall standard of piobaireachd playing in grade 4 will increase. But not in the way the EUSPBA is hoping. As I outlined above, there will be some people who either never learn a full tune or don’t learn any piobaireachd at all, and at risk of sounding callous those people probably weren’t going to be the best piobaireachd players anyway. The increased level of playing will be more a result of eliminating some players toward the bottom part of the group, thereby raising the average in an “addition by subtraction” way.

My overall opinion of this rule change is negative: the ones who learn and play full tunes will be the ones who were doing that in the past anyway. It’s true that many of those who won’t be playing piobaireachd likely wouldn’t have gone on to win any of the major prizes anyway, but piobaireachd (and all music for that matter) is not reserved only for those who play it well. Everyone should be able to take part, according to their interests and regardless of their abilities, and this rule change will create more disinterest in piobaireachd than it will improve the level of playing.

I’m in favor of a ground plus first variation, or ground plus first two variations, than the whole tune. Grade 4 competitions run this way in several other major pipe band associations in North America, including the Midwest USA, the Western USA, Southern USA, Ontario, and British Columbia.

I think that could have a greater positive effect on piobaireachd than requiring a full tune, and that’s my suggestion for the association.