Hi everyone,
So my sister has asked me to play the pipes at her wedding. She likes the “haunting sound” of the pipes. Frankly, my repertoire of slow airs is, at the moment, zero. Thankfully, she’s not getting married until June, so I have some time. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good slow air to play her down the aisle to (it can be a cheesy tune, as long as it gets the job done)? Also, I would need a recording of the slow air so perhaps list a CD that it is found on, and possibly a source for the sheet music as well though this is not completely necessary.
Thanks very much for any help you guys can offer,
-Dylan
You could play the beautiful slow air “Sliabh na mBan” (the mounting of the women) which at a wedding is kind of apt ,and then go into the jig " I buried my wife and danced on her grave"
Bean Dubh an Ghleanna (The Dark Woman of the Glen) is on one of the NPU Piping Tutors with accompanying notes. In it the man is entranced by the beauty of the girl he loves, but, of course, this is metaphor for a much larger subject. In any event, if you have the DVD (I think it’s volume 3), you’d have a video and audio presentation of it being performed and the notes of its basic structure.
The song is about men being slaughtered on the slopes of Slievenamon. the mountain of women, which is not very appropriate for a wedding. Hang on - maybe it is.
Hey Dylan, check out Ronan Brown website he plays weddings all the time and is expert at the airs also there are dowloadable clips so you could laern them that way.
BTW you’ll be great and your sister will love it .
Yes, Ronin does present a good selection of approachable Irish tunes.
Chances are most people attending a wedding in Ontario will be unfamiliar even with these, so it will all be new!
In addition to that approach, you can mix things up with your own UP versions of more standard hymns. Also, going that way can help with meeting any liturgical requirements of the presiding pastor, as PJ correctly points out.
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