November Workshop Summary
How to Make a March March
November 9, 2025
Peter graciously provided his notes from the workshop, which comprehensively cover what we did.
More than one Scot has said, "If ye cannae swing your shoulders tae it, it's nae a march." Scotland has probably more distinct types of march than any other single tradition (if Scots can be regarded as monolithic). Time-signatures include 4/4, 2/4, 2/2, 3/4, 6/8, 9/8, 5/4, 6/4 and probably a few even more esoteric ones such as 18/8 (yes, I've written one!) This workshop will focus on retreat marches in 3/4 and 9/8 time, a 2/4 pipe march, and a Scott Skinner 2/4 march.
The essential characteristics that make a march compelling include emphasis, weight of notes, rhythmical elements, flow, accompaniment ideas and more. These features are common to all forms of Scottish march to varying extents. For instance, the techniques for a 9/8 march transfer to a 6/8 march (or other compound time).
The chosen tunes are suitable for most melody and accompaniment instruments (including being in range for flutes and whistles). Teaching is fiddle, but techniques are transferable.
Tunes:
A Prayer for Jamie (D, 3/4),
Tigh-na-Gorm (A Mixolydian, 9/8)
Skye Gathering (D, 2/4), Lord
Huntly's Cave (D, 2/4)
Intro:
• Movement—Like dance music, marches must be compelling to move to (other than slow marches).
• Lift—Unlike dance music, there is less intention to lift the movers upwards, albeit not no intention.
• Weight—Generally, then marches have a somewhat weightier sound, much more planted on the ground. The challenge is how to make them weighty without making them heavy and plodding.
• Emphasis—The secret lies in knowing which notes and which parts of notes to add weight to, and which notes help to propel the tune forwards.
• Tempo—The tempo is also an important part of ensuring that they can be marched to rather than skipped to. Marching should be dignified. There should be no hurry.
Retreat March: 3/4 A Prayer for Jamie (Jim MacLeod)
• Tempo—Although primarily ceremonial these days, a good way to imagine retreat marches is for retreating from the field of battle: fast enough that the enemy does not catch up with you, but not so fast that you seem to be running away. They require a proud dignity. They should never sound rushed.
• Emphasis—Emphasised notes need length to add weight, but also some attenuation so that they are not simply heavy. Imagine throwing a dotted 1/8 note and watching it arc through the air. Same with downbeat 1/4 notes.
• Contrast—De-emphasised notes, such as the 1/16 notes following dotted 1/8 notes, should be kept light, providing some contrast with ensuing emphasised note.
• More lightness—Pairs of 1/8 notes risk sounding boring if played identically. A useful motif is to shorten the sound of the first (not its time value) and play the second more fully (dot-dash).
The lighter sound of the first avoids too much heaviness, and the contrast provides jauntiness. This should not be overdone, otherwise there is too much loss of continuity.
• Offbeat—Whilst not trying to lift marchers off the ground, having some offbeat emphasis can help jauntiness and avoid a plodding sound. Pairs of 1/8 notes, especially on the 3rd beat of the bar, can have the 2nd note more emphasised (including with the dot-dash motif). This constitutes the offbeat, and provides a bit of lift (not as relentlessly as for dancing). It also provides propulsion into the new downbeat. 1/4 notes can have a pulse on the 2nd half to achieve a similar effect (but don't overdo this).
• Accompaniment—This should be very grounded in the downbeat, but have a crisp offbeat. Downbeats can be varied in emphasis: 1>3>2 (but 2 should not be too weak). The offbeat may be abandoned towards the end of a phrase when using block chords on the downbeat (1, 2, 3) to push the tune forwards.
• Propulsion—Note that the change of accompaniment chords in a bar is frequently on the 3rd beat*. Adding a little extra emphasis to the new chord can propel the tune into the new downbeat. Melody players can achieve a similar effect: link the pick-up to the new downbeat rather than tacking it on to the previous phrase. Use the pick-up to launch the downbeat.
* Caveat: bagpipe collections usually have the barlines one beat earlier (pick-up = downbeat). Retreat March: 9/8 Tigh-na-Gorm (Ian Powrie)
Retreat March: 9/8
• Tempo—same underlying beat tempo as 3/4.
• Rhythm—The dotting should be less extreme than written, but the nominal 1/16 note in the middle of a beat should be played lightly to avoid everything becoming heavy.
• Weight—The downbeat should have weight, but be allowed to attenuate.
• Emphasis—imagine throwing the downbeat dotted 1/4 notes. Avoid inappropriate emphasis by slurring into the 1/8 note that follows a Scots snap. This also provides continuity.
• Contrast—keep beat 2 lighter than beat 1. Keep the nominal 1/16 note light.
• Accompaniment—Weighty downbeat, crisp offbeat (third 1/8 note of the beat), block chords at end of phrase. For variation, occasionally miss the 2nd downbeat, but sustain 1st offbeat through that time. Don't overuse this. It works better in 6/8, omitting the 2nd downbeat.
• Propulsion—Use final 1/8 note of 3rd beat as pick-up to new downbeat with some extra emphasis. Join it to the following downbeat, not to the previous notes.
Pipe March: 2/4 Skye Gathering
• Rhythm—The dotted rhythm should not be under-dotted.
• Weight— Weighty downbeat.
• Emphasis—In a beat that has dotted 1/16 - 1/32 - dotted 1/16 - 1/32 (dah-di-dah-di), the first dotted 1/16 should carry more weight than the 2nd. This is important for retaining a 2-beat feel (avoiding a 4-beat feel, which would have too frequent—and therefore too much—emphasis).
• Contrast—1/32 notes should be much lighter than dotted 1/16 notes, except in Scots snaps where this is reversed. Where a beat comprises two 1/8 notes, the 2nd should be lighter than the 1st, retaining a 2-beat feel, not a 4-beat feel. Slurring into the 2nd 1/8 note can help to achieve this.
• Accompaniment—Weighty downbeat, crisp offbeat. For variation, omit the 1st offbeat but sustain the downbeat for almost 2 beats, with crisp 1/32 right hand before moving on. Use this to reinforce the melody. Block chords towards the ends of phrases can be effective.
• Propulsion—Use pick-ups (typically dotted 1/16 - 1/32) to drive into new downbeat.
March: 2/4 Lord Huntly's Cave (James Scott Skinner)
• Note that downbeats in 'A' part are shorter notes than in the preceding tunes. Attenuation therefore has to occur sooner. This ties in with using a dot-dash motif for an opening pair of 1/8 notes. The dot should have a curtailed sound, but not be too short.
• Runs of four 16 notes should generally have the first (downbeat) emphasised. Half way through the 'A' and 'B' parts, transferring the emphasis to the 3rd note in the 2nd beat allows the final pair of 1/16 notes (the offbeat) to propel the tune into the new downbeat.
• Basic accompaniment is weighty downbeat, crisp offbeat. Block chords at ends of phrases.
Attendee Take-aways
The snaps are generally down bow and then a long dotted note which should be a bit longer than written. Slurring would be advised primarily for instances where you really need to be on an up bow. Attenuate the sound—and accenting up beats . In other words, varying pressure or breath even within a single note , measure, etc. Slurring in the march where there are three consecutive qtr notes. At the final phrase measure. The idea was to keep the 2 beat feel throughout. Lastly, create the dot dash feel (where there are two consecutive eighth notes, maybe quarter notes), to give a tune more life.
In certain places fiddlers should use a slurred bow and that the difference between the accented dotted notes must be in sharp contrast to a very, very, very short 16th note that is not accented at all. Overall it’s about thinking which notes are important and which notes must be very lightly played in order to get the lift for the dancers or in the case of these marches, the feeling of progression, always moving towards something but not by playing every note with the same emphasis. He really was talking about making music, not scrubbing fast, meaningless notes.