The Jig Of Slurs jig

This is a classic Scottish tune which has crossed over into the Irish repertoire.

The key change from D to G at the beginning of the third part is wonderful. Just make sure that guitar accompaniasts are aware of the change.

Actually, I find this is tune which lends itself quite well to the guitar so stop strumming and start picking.

Fiddlers, you can get some great drone action going in the first part: just keep playing that open D string. At the start of the third part and fourth parts, you can drone on the open G, if you can reach that far quick enough.

Here’s some extra info from Kenny Hadden:

"This tune is probably the best known composition of George ‘G.S’ McLennan, an Aberdeen piper, who as a boy played before Queen Victoria. He is regarded by many as the greatest composer of ‘light’ music on the Highland bagpipes in the 20th century."

I heard somebody call it Jar of Slugs once…It was just a joke, but I went ahead and posted the name anyways.

For fiddlers, it’s great to do the low G in the 3rd part on the open G string, then make an instant 2-octave jump to the high G on the E-string. It sounds and looks spectacular. Go for it!

I just read that there is a key change. I think its so funny that I didn’t realize that when I learned I several months ago.

Your guy -George ‘G.S’ McLennan- durst play in G over his A drones then! I doubt it was forgetfulness did it!
Unless he was playing with just a D drone on? (border pipe style?) Or maybe he’d gone deaf, not so surprising for a piper after all! The result is mighty (it’s the tonal shift I relish most too)
A ‘musthear’ is Molloy’s rendition (acc.by Arty McGlynn) both in top form!

G.S. was definatly not deaf… ; )

Playing tunes or sections of tunes in other keys over the drones in A is a great way to build up tension before blasting back into a tune in the original key of A or D.

BTW: George defineinelty did not have a D drone… The Queen might have had him hung for that!!!

"Highland Bagpipe Music book 1", 1929

Jack Campin’s Homepage:
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/
The abc’s for some of the compositions of Pipe Major George Stewart McLennan
http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/Music/McLennan.abc

The following is based on a reduction of a transcription from there:

K: D Major
|: B |
A>dd dcd | B>dd A>dd | B>dd A>dd | B>ee ede |
A>dd dcd | B>dd A>dd | B>dd c>ee | f>dd d2 :|
|: B |
A>ff fef | a>ff fed | c>ee ede | f>ee edB |
A>ff fef | a>ff fed | B>dd c>ee | f>dd d2 :|
K: G Major
|: B/A/ |
G>gg gfg | a>ge gdB | G>gg gfg | a>ge g2 G |
B>gg gfg | a>ee g>dd | B>ee e>gg | f>dd e2 :|
|: d |
G>BB B>dd | d>ee edB | G>BB B>dd | d>ee e>gg |
G>BB B>dd | d>ee edB | B>ee e>gg | f>dd e2 :|

Here’s some background on this tune that I pulled from a thread on the differences between Irish and Scottish jigs:
***
It’s interesting how much a jig can change when it travels across the idioms. Perfect example it "The Jig Of Slurs". This was composed by a Highland piper to highlight the technique Highland pipers call a "slur", which is what uilleann pipers call a "pat", that is a lower gracenote used to seperate a quarternote into two eighth-notes. The Jig Of Slurs therefore, as originally written, progresses almost entirely by pairs of notes. When I heard Matt Molloy’s version I was amazed because he entirely changed the tune, replacing all the "slurs" (pairs of notes) with long rolls (groups of three notes). So, from the Highland piping perspective, he had removed all the slurs from the jig of slurs!
# Posted on June 22nd 2007 by Richard D Cook

I am trying to make sense of this tune - I would have posted in the comments section of the tune, but I have doubts that anyone would read a question posted there…

It is about all these double notes as the second and third parts of a Jiglet (jig triplet), especially where the third part follows with the same note again, but as the first note of the following triplet. Various attempts to make sense of this musically only seem to come out as a blur to me. So, how would all of you out there play this?

(I am playing this on a flute)

Taking, for example, the section GBB Bdd dee edB (start of last section) or Add dcd … (start of first section). Alternatives that I have tried:
1. Triple tongue the lot… i.e. tGkBtB kBtdkd tdkete kedb (t/k are the tonguing sylabbles)
2. Rolls with the Tap on the start of the new triplet. i.e. GB(cut)B (tap)Bd(cut)d (tap)d …
3. Tongue some of the above. i.e. GBtB (t or k)Bdtd (t or k)dete…
4. Same as 2. or 3. but just using cuts, or just using taps.
5. Various mixtures of the above, using some cuts, some tonguing and some tongued cuts

None of the above sound like I want them to. Possibly this could be due to my execution? Or possibly due to a faulty approach to it all. As one commenter in the tune section said, this is originally a pipe tune, so tonguing based approaches are probably not "traditionally" right. How did (do?) the pipers do it?

So, who has any better ideas? If possible , with a source of some good audio clips of how you think it should sound.

Thanks,

Chris.

Triplets can annoy me, but i generally use rolls and sometimes i tongue them. Just use whatever you feel comfortable with. I play whistle, so i understand, but if all else fails with the "traditional" way of playing the tune, go for the tongue solution! Sorry i can’t help anymore.
Niamh

Does anyone no what year this was written?

Per birlibirdie’s comment, GS MacLennan was a highland piper, i.e. no so-called D drone. The highland pipes have two tenor drones tuned a few cents above concert B flat, and a "bass" drone tuned one octave below that. The drones match perfectly with the tonic note of the chanter, what we call the "low A", likewise a B flat a bit above concert pitch. In MacLennan’s time, around the 20s, the pitch was certainly closer to concert B flat, if not even a bit lower. The third and forth parts harmonize perfectly with the drones, as the Low G (in fact an A flat to be exact) is fine tuned so that it essentially harmonizes. I know this sounds odd, but it’s strictly not the same thing as attempting to harmonize an A flat and a B flat on a fretted instrument…the fine tuning allows for a perfect blend with the drones. The best analogy in session playing would be a guitar accompanying a fiddle player playing a tune in A mixolydian (as many tunes are). The flat seventh does not contrast negatively with the A drone that the guitar player is playing. The essence of a drone note is the ability to work harmonically with notes which would not conventionally be thought to harmonize.

Secondly, the sheet music on all versions listed on this site should be changed. I realize sessions have a tendency to change tunes over time, but some of the note changes suggested here produce a significantly less interesting tune than the original transcription. MacLennan’s books should still be in print, and if all else fails, the Scot’s Guard (either book one or two) has the original version.

Finally, as far as the "deaf" comment, when you listen to the best highland piping today…try Willie MacCallum or Angus MacColl on youtube, you’ll notice that the tuning is much more precise than almost any session you’ll ever play in. Precision of tuning is valued as highly as technique among highland pipers, which is carefully mastered over a number of years.

No wonder pipers make better whistle players! =)

I couldn’t agree more with all you said there, dudehere44.
This type of ‘true harmony’ -true to physiological / harmonic facts rather than theoretical notions realised, say, on a mean-tempered keyboard- can ‘look’ odd on the page, but it is the performance, as always, that proves the ultimate test. For even Scottish bagpipes need be (re)tuned sometimes!
Also, McLennan probably did lose some hearing -I’m afraid all pipers do in the long term! - which isn’t the same as not being able to hear right and compose likewise.
All these remarks were in jest, by the way (just in case people wonder)!

In some quarters, apparently, the first half of this wonderful piping jig (the part in D) is known as ‘The Lucky Seven’.
Why that, I don’t know.

http://www.campin.me.uk/

The abc’s for some of the compositions of Pipe Major George Stewart McLennan
http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/McLennan.abc

Thanks David50 ( https://thesession.org/members/35561 ) for a heads up on problems here with the recent change over and ABC movements, also to update Jack Campin’s links, appreciated…

Very common for old traditional Highland pipe tunes to be in the key of G, heard over the A drones.

This sounds "right" to Highland pipers brought up in the old tradition, and tunes continue to be composed in G, though it’s true that most of the tunes in G you come across are old ones.

To give a common example, the 6/8 march The Campbells are Coming, on the Highland pipes, is in G over the A drones. This gives what otherwise would be a somewhat banal tune a very interesting archaic tonality.

But there are dozens of old Strathspeys and Reels in G in the Highland pipe tradition.

Does no-one play the fifth part (in A major) anymore? I may post it, just for completeness, when I have some time.

There is no 5th part - not by the composer G.S.MacLennan, anyway. I do remember John Doonan making this claim, must be close on 40 years ago, and when he played it, it turned out it was a part from a 6/8 march, a completely different tune.
Please post it, and let’s see.

P/M G S MacLennan (Gordon Highlanders) wrote this jig as an exercise for his pipers, and it rather loses its point if not payed "as writ". The third setting above is the closest to "as writ" by G S. As always the sheet music is a guide and the tune should be heard being played by a good piper on the piob mor. Arguably the most accurate rendition of the tune as played by a SCD band is included in Ian Powrie’s 1960s recording of "Johnny McGill".

Setting as played at the Golden Guinea pub session, Bristol, UK.

Quite possibly my favourite jig ever. Any fiddler tips outside of the obvious drones?

When I like a Scottish bagpipe tune, I usually try to "see" it (and play it) from a Highland piper’s point of view. For me, as a whistle player, it makes it so much more interesting. What I mean is using the same fingering as Scottish pipers would use (not literally the same fingering, because obviously bagpipes and whistles have different fingering systems, but I mean the key), so in this case it means playing this jig in G, and not in D.

So I’ve taken Mix O’Lydian’s setting and transposed it down to G:

X: 6
T: The Jig Of Slurs
R: jig
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K:Gmaj
|: E | D2 G GFG | EGG DGG | EGG DGG | EAA AGE |
D2 G GFG | EGG DGG | EGG FGA | BGG G2 :|
|: E | D2 B BAB | dBB B2 G | E2 A AGA | BAG AGE |
D2 B BAB | dBB B2 G | EGG FGA | BGG G2 :|
K:Cmaj
z |: C2 c cBc | dcB c2 c | C2 c cBc | dcB c2 c|
C2 c cBc | dcB c2 c | A2 A A2 c | BAG A2 G :|
|: CEE EGG | GAA ABc | CEE EGG | GAA ABc |
CEE EGG | GAA ABc | A2 A A2 c | [1 BAG A2 G :| [2 BAG A2 |]

Of course, there’s no low C in whistles, so the second part is not playable this way, but still I find it more interesting this way, closer to the original Scottish version. Try it, don’t you feel like you’re playing the bagpipes? ;)

When I like a Scottish bagpipe tune, I usually try to "see" it (and play it) from a Highland piper’s point of view. For me, as a whistle player, it makes it so much more interesting. What I mean is using the same fingering as Scottish pipers would use (not literally the same fingering, because obviously bagpipes and whistles have different fingering systems, but I mean the key), so in this case it means playing this jig in G, and not in D.

So I’ve taken Mix O’Lydian’s setting and transposed it down to G. Of course, there’s no low C in whistles, so the second part is not playable this way, but still I find it more interesting this way, closer to the original Scottish version. Try it, don’t you feel like you’re playing the bagpipes? ;)

By the way, if "slur" is a Highland bagpipe term for "tap", then you can see the name of this tune makes a lot of sense when you play it in G on the whistle. ;)

As played at the session in O’Ceallaigh’s in Groningen, The Netherlands and at various other sessions in the Netherlands.

Hey Kenny, sorry it’s 3 years late, but here’s C’s X:2 setting from above, with the fifth part tacked on. I don’t think I had it from John Doonan though; I wouldn’t be at all surprised to be told that I must have heard it on the solitary scottish dance band record I was exposed to some decades ago - I do remember that was Jimmy Shand.

Anyway, the fifth part, being in A, always gave dancers a lift, and ends on a nice tense 6th of the scale before diving down back to the start.

That fifth part is just weird and moves around the modes too much. I’ve never heard it played, ever. G.S. certainly would never have composed it, what with its C nats and G sharps.

If it hasn’t been heard played before, it may seem so. But when a session or band launches into it in full cry, one might reach for a different adjective.

I’d be interested to see if Kenny or anyone can say whether those 8 bars also belong in another tune, as was suggested above.

Hi Jerry - bars #1 - #6 of the "extra" part are definitely from a completely different tune which I’ll try to track down. Some piper friends of mine would identify it in 2 minutes, I’m sure. Bars #7 and #8, as written, are from neither. I doubt if you’ll find a single musician in Scotland who will play that 5th part, and I could almost guarantee a negative reaction from pipers. I don’t think it adds anything musically to the original - as G.S. MacLennan once famously replied when asked his opinion of a composition by one of his students, "Aye, Wullie, it’s mair clever than musical" 🙂

The first six bars of that fifth part are the first six bars of the Bobby Macleod 6/8 march, ‘Seamus MacNeil’. Maybe somebody heard them in a set together and mistakenly thought they were were part of the same tune?

See my post above from 4 years ago.

A tune with some similar phrases, from O’Neill’s 1001: The Old Horned Sheep (https://thesession.org/tunes/3644)

This is just the first tune setting with chords found here: https://www.vashonceltictunes.net/irish/htmchords/jigofslurs.htm