Duncan Johnstone hornpipe

Not a very memorable tune but another one for the collection none the less.
Every time there are three repeated notes, they are a or A notes.

I think it’s a great tune, and I would have thought in A mixolydian, it being a pipe tune. Another Pipe Major Donald McLeod composition , I think.

Thanks for posting it. Great tune indeed, but I’m not sure how long it takes me to learn it.

Love Ossian’s version of this into the jig afterwards

Confirmed Kenny, including by two reliable sources, in honour of the piper and composer Duncan Johnstone. One of those confirmations was secondhand from a friend who got it from Jim Hudgins of “Aberdeen Bagpipe Supply”, Houston, Texas - http://www.AberdeenBagpipe.com

~ born in Glasgow; a piper and a composer of music for the pipes, 60+ tunes to his name:

“Duncan Johnstone: His Complete Compositions” book & CD

http://www.footstompin.com/books/bagpipemusic/duncan_johnstone_his_complete

http://www.footstompin.com/articles/celtic_music_heroes/obj33248

It’s definitely A mixolydian.

A fantastic and different version of the tune can be heard on the Sileas album “Play on Light,” featuring two harpers. Not twee in the slightest.

It is in Eminor!!!!!

No it’s not.

No it’s not.

No its not! :-s

Nope, it sure ain’t e minor, but you could play it either way, taking the C sharp or naturally…unless you were a stickler for doing things by-the-book… 😉

Also, note-for-note, or varied, this is evidently also taken in two ways, as a hornpipe and swung, or as a reel. I have found it in notation as A Mixolydian and a minor, but the latter was an obvious mistake as all the Fs were F#s, though their chosen accompaniment was predominantly minor chords (A minor) throughout, so Dorian like this transcription, rather than Mixolydian like some others…

Richard Robinson’s transcription for this tune is note-for-note identical excep for very slight differences in the D-part (4th):

|: g2 |
aaag aeeg | aaag e2 ef | gaae degf | egde BdGB |
[1 aaag aeef | aaag a2 ef | gaag egBd | e2 A2 A2 :|
[2 e2de Aede | eABd e2 g2 | eaag egBd | e2 A2 A2 |]

He also starts the tune with the e and other lead-ins within the repeats, in other words:

|: e | Aeed edde | ~ | e2 A2 A2 :|
|: AB | Aaag aeef | ~ | e2 A2 A2 :|
|: gf | eA A2 Aeed | ~ | e2 A2 A2 :|
|: g2 | aaag aeeg | ~ | e2 A2 A2 :|

Hmmm, it seems that Richard left a little bit out, that e, and I missed it myself until seeing it here and doing the math. Here it is corrected, for the above examples, it should have been twice the length, e2:

|: e2 | Aeed edde | ~ | e2 A2 A2 :|

So, I had a few ways with it, first swung and then not, but not necessarily completely in agreement with each other, the hornpipe came first for me, so here it is, followed by a straing transcript we’ll call the reel. I used plenty of c’s, just to be ‘natural’ about it being peppered throught both and both being Dorian… 😎

M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: hornpipe
K: A Dorian
|: e2 |
A>ee>d e>dd>e | e>AB>d e2 g2 | G>dd>B d>BB>d | e>gd>g (3Bcd G>B |
A>e (3eee e>dB>d | e>A (3Bcd e2 g2 | e>aa>g e>gB>d | e>Ac>B A2 :|
|: (3GAB |
A>aa>g a>ee>f | g>ef>d e2 d>B | G>d (3ddd d>G (3Bcd | e>gd>g B>dG>B |
[1 A>a (3aaa a>e (3def | g>e (3fed (3efe d>B | (3AAA A>B e>g (3Bcd | e2 A2 A2 :|
[2 A>e (3eee e>d (3Bcd | e>AB>d e2 g2 | e>a (3aaa e>gB>d | e>A (3dcB A2 ||
|: (3agf |
e>A (3AAA A>ee>d | B>A (3AAB e2 g>e | d>G (3GGG d>BB>d | e>gd>g (3BcB f>g |
e>A (3AAA A>e (3eee | B>AA>B (3efe g>b | e>aa>g e>g (3Bcd | (3efe A2 A2 :|
|: g>f |
e>a (3aag a>e (3eeg | e>a (3aag e2 (3def | g>ag>e d>gB>d | e>gd>g B>d (3GAB |
[1 e>aa>g a>ee>f | e>aa>g a2 e>f | g>a (3aag e>gB>d | e>A (3BcB A2 :|
[2 (3efe d>e A>ec>e | A>e (3Bcd g2 (3c’ba | g>aa>g e>g (3Bcd | e2 A2 A2 |]

R: reel
K: A Dorian
|: e2 |
Aeed edde | eABd e2 g2 | GddB dBBd | egdg BdGB |
Aeed edBd | eABd e2 g2 | eaag egBd | eAAG A2 :|
|: GB |
Aaag aeef | gefd e2 dB | GddB dGBd | egdg BdGB |
[1 Aaag aedf | gefd e2 dB | A2 AB egBd | eAAG A2 :|
[2 Aeed edBd | eABd e2 g2 | eaag egBd | eAAG A2 ||
|: ag |
eAAE Aeed | BAAB e2 ge | dGGD GBBd | egdg B2 fg |
eAAE Aeed | BAAB e2 gb | eaag egBd | eAAG A2 :|
|: gf |
eaag aeeg | eaag e2 df | gaeg dgBd | egdg BdGB |
[1 eaag aeef | eaag a2 ef | gaag egBd | eAAG A2 :|
[2 e2 de Aece | AeBd g2 c’a | gaag egBd | eAAG A2 |]