by Wallie Ogilvie » Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:40 pm
As one of the lucky attendees at Richard's inspiring Peacock session in Whitley Bay, I wholeheartedly agree about the importance of these tunes. Afterwards, I got Richard to make me a keyless chanter, which sent me off into a thrilling exploration of Peacock, which makes me regret that I didn't (or couldn't ) get into this when I first started playing. As a largely self taught piper who has always struggled with " the dots" the Peacock facsimile book was an intimidating manuscript that seemed unapproachable. Coupled with lengthy variations, these were difficult to get into, and, if like me, you didn't know the tune in advance from recordings, then they could appear as impenetrable as free jazz. I only returned to Peacock because I was bored with playing the usual tunes and felt I'd developed enough as a player to want something more demanding, and resolved to try some variations. After several weeks struggling to get through Jacky Layton, and sometimes managing to play it with only a few mistakes, a light came on, the tune started to make sense and suddenly I understood why these tunes were so good. They are hard work, but the rewards have been extremely satisfying, and have contributed to a marked improvement in my playing, which carries over into the non- peacock repertoire. I also found that I had to concentrate much more on the dreaded " detached fingering", as some of the tunes just sound so much better played in that manner, and this may well be a deterrent to many players who commonly play in a legato rather than staccato style. As a convert I now meet other pipers, for whom Peacock/variations are something to avoid as the general opinion is that they are complicated finger twisters with no recognisable tune, but the more they are exposed to them , the more likely that the light will come on for some of them. Perhaps if Chris and Adrian recorded the whole of Peacock, we could all hear how great these tunes can be, both to listen to and to play!!