The Skylark’s Ascension (jig) on The Session

Two settings

X: 1
T: The Skylark's Ascension
R: jig

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
|:efg|a3 faa|fee c2B|AAA A2B|cee ecA|
f3 fec|eff c2B|Aaa fec|e3:|
|:efg|a3 afe|f3 f2e|c3 cef|ecB c2B|
a3 afe|f3 f2e|Aaa fec|e3:|
|:e2a|AAA A2c|ecB c2e|f3 f2 e|cfe c2B|
AAA A2B|cee c2B|Aaa fec|e3:|
efg|aAa fdf|eca c3|dff cee|Acc B2g|
[1aAa fdf|eca c3|Aaa fec|e3:|
[2a2f ecA|cff c2B|Aaa fec|e3||

X: 2
T: The Skylark's Ascension
R: jig

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Amaj
f|aaa faa|fee c2B|AAA A2B|cee e2c|
f3 fec|eff c2B|Aaa fec|e3 e2:|
f|a3 afe|fff f2e|c3 cff|ecB c2e|
a3 afe|fff f2e|Aaa fec|e3 e2:|
a|AAA A2c|ecB c2e|fff f2e|cfe c2B|
AAA A2B|cee c2B|Aaa fec|e3 e2:|
f|aAa fdf|eAa c3|dff cee|Acc B2e|
[1aAa fdf|eAa c2B|Aaa fec|e3 e2:|
[2a2f ecB|cfe c2B|Aaa fec|e3 e2||

Twelve comments

Source

Transcribed from "On Safari" by "Keep it Up" On the CD, played with a strong lilt

There are no G#s in highland bagpipe music.

Kenny,
you mean its e dorian (G not G#) ?

Mode

I would have thought A mixolydian, rather than major. G notes are "natural" in Scottish pipe music.

Mode

I transcribed literally from the CD where thi fiddle is definitely playing a G#

The fiddle player’s wrong, then.

in my opinion.

I can’t find my copy of this tune at the moment, but as the only occurrences of the G are in lead-in notes, it’s quite possible that they aren’t present in the "original" piping arrangement (I’m fairly sure this tune was composed for pipes originally, and is probably also in copyright, but that’s another issue). This probably means that you end up with a tune for which the mode is ambiguous - you never hear the 7th in the actual melody, so it could be either Ionian or Mixolydian.

The tune is attributed to Pipe Corporal Archibald Lindsay. See: http://www.footstompin.com/music/celtic_bands/on_safari/tracks/obj14886

No G#

How would a piper play the efg lead-in, not with a G natural since it doesn’t sound like it fits with the rest of the tune. Maybe the composer was using pipes tuned to A?

I keep forgetting to look out the tune to check this -sorry. My vague memory is that the lead-in note is an F# quaver, rather than the EF#G# run, with suitable lengthening of other notes to make the bars add up! Anyway, all this trivia aside, it’s a rather unusual tune, I think, and makes a really nice "change of pace" from a lot of pipe jigs.