Galician gaita
Encyclopedia
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
and northern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
The name gaita
Gaita
Gaita may refer to:Musical instruments*Various types of bagpipes common to Spain and Portugal such as:** Gaita asturiana, a bagpipe used in the Spanish provinces of Asturias, northern León and western Cantabria...
is used in Galician
Galician language
Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
languages as a generic term for "bagpipe". Bagpipes in Spain are traditionally found across the north and centre, most notably in Asturias and Galicia, but also in León
León (province)
León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.About one quarter of its population of 500,200 lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter....
, Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
, Zamora
Zamora (province)
Zamora is a Spanish province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.The present-day province of Zamora province was one of three provinces formed from the former Kingdom of León in 1833, when Spain was re-organised into 49 provinces.It is bordered by...
, the island of Majorca and the neighbouring areas of northern Portugal: Minho and Trás-os-Montes
Trás-os-Montes (region)
Trás-os-Montes was one of the 13 regions of continental Portugal identified by geographer Amorim Girão, in a study published between 1927 and 1930.Together with Alto Douro it formed Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Province.- See also :...
.
Just like "Northumbrian smallpipe"' or "Great Highland Bagpipe
Great Highland Bagpipe
The Great Highland Bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has achieved widespread recognition through its usage in the British military and in pipe bands throughout the world. It is closely related to the Great Irish Warpipes....
", each region attributes its toponym to the respective gaita name: gaita galega (Galicia), gaita transmontana (Trás-os-Montes
Trás-os-Montes (region)
Trás-os-Montes was one of the 13 regions of continental Portugal identified by geographer Amorim Girão, in a study published between 1927 and 1930.Together with Alto Douro it formed Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Province.- See also :...
), gaita asturiana
Gaita asturiana
The gaita asturiana is a type of bagpipe native to the autonomous communities of Asturias and parts of Cantabria on the northern coast of Spain.-Differences from other Iberian gaitas:...
(Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
), gaita sanabresa (Sanabria
Sanabria
Sanabria may refer to:*Sanabria - genus of bush crickets or katydids in the family Tettigoniidae subfamily Phaneropterinae* Sanabria or Senabria, a comarca in the province of Zamora, Spain...
), sac de gemecs (Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
), gaita de boto or gaita aragonesa (Aragón), etc. Most of them have a conical chanter with a partial second octave, obtained by overblowing
Overblowing
Overblowing A technique used while playing a wind instrument which, primarily through manipulation of the supplied air , causes the sounded pitch to jump to a higher one...
, in the same way as e.g. the Eastern European gaida. Folk groups playing these instruments have become popular in recent years, and pipe bands for some models.
Suggestions as to the origin of the name of the instrument are many. The word "gaita" has been compared to the names of eastern European bagpipes, such as gaida, gajda, and gajdy. Joan Coromines
Joan Coromines
Joan Coromines i Vigneaux was a linguist who made important contributions to the study of Catalan, Spanish and other Romance languages....
has suggested that the word gaita most likely derived from a Gothic
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
word gait or gata, meaning "goat"; as the bag of a gaita is made from a whole, case-skinned goat hide. Gothic was spoken in Spain from the sixth century to the eighth century when the country was ruled by the Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
s. The Visigoths originated in eastern Europe.
The instrument
Cone (geometry)
A cone is an n-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a base to a point called the apex or vertex. Formally, it is the solid figure formed by the locus of all straight line segments that join the apex to the base...
chanter
Chanter
The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder...
and a bass drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
(ronco) with a second octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
. It may have one or two additional drones playing the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
and dominant notes. Three keys are traditional: D (gaita grileira, lit. "cricket bagpipe"), C (gaita redonda), and Bb (gaita tumbal). Galician pipe band
Pipe band
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common....
s playing these instruments have become popular in recent years.
The playing of close harmony (thirds and sixths) with two gaitas of the same key is a typical Galician gaita style.
The bagpipe or gaita is known to have been popular in the middle ages, but suffered a decline in popularity from the 16th century until a 19th century revival. It saw another decline in the middle of the 20th century when the Francoist dictatorship tried to use it for propagandistic purposes. Then, beginning in about the 1970s, a roots revival
Roots revival
A roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.After an...
heralded another rebirth. The folk revival may have peaked in the late 1990s, with the release of acclaimed albums by Galician Carlos Núñez
Carlos Núñez
Carlos Núñez is a Galician musician who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe.-Life and career:Nuñez was born in 1971 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. He began playing the bagpipes when he was eight years old. In his early teens, he was invited to play with the Festival Orchestra of the...
(A Irmandade Das Estrelas).
The Gaita has even become popular in the USA with a gathering of the Gaiteiros Californios each year at Lark Camp
Lark Camp
Lark Camp World Music, Song & Dance Celebration Originally called Lark in the Morning Music Celebration is an annual week-long world music and dance celebration that includes dozens of instructional workshops for both professional and beginner musicians and dancers.Camp instructors come from all...
in California.
Traditional use include both solo performances or with a snare-drum known as tamboril (a wooden natural-skinned drum with gut snares), and the bombo, a bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
.
Galician bagpipes come in three main varieties, though there are exceptions and unique instruments. These include the tumbal (B-flat), grileira (D) and redonda (C).
Description
The player inflates the bag using his mouth through a tube fitted with a non-return valve. Air is driven into the chanter with the left arm controlling the pressure inside the bag. The chanter has a double reed similar to a shawmShawm
The shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
or oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
, and a conical bore with seven finger-holes on the front. The bass drone (ronco or roncón) is situated on the player's left shoulder and is pitched two octaves below the key note of the chanter; it has a single reed. Some bagpipes have up to two more drones, including the ronquillo or ronquilla, which sticks out from the bag and plays an octave above the ronco, or the smaller chillón. These two extra drones are located next to the right arm of the player.
The finger-holes include three for the left hand and four for the right, as well as one at the back for the left thumb. The chanter's tonic is played with the top six holes and the thumb hole covered by fingers. Starting at the bottom and (in the Galician fingering pattern) progressively opening holes creates the diatonic scale. Using techniques like cross-fingering and half-holing, the chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
can be created. With extra pressure on the bag, the reed can be played in a second octave, thus giving range of an octave and a half from tonic to top note. It is also possible to close the tone hole with the little finger of the right hand, thus creating a semitone below the tonic.
Songs
Tunes using the gaita are usually songs, with the voice either accompanying the instrumentation or taking turns with it.The most common type is the muiñeira
Muiñeira
Muiñeira is traditional dance and genre musical genre typical to Galego which is known as Galacia. It is distinguished mainly by the tempo of 6/8, played expressive and lively, although some variants are performed in other time signatures. There are also variant types of muiñeira which remain in...
, a sprightly 6/8 rhythm. Other 6/8 Galician tunes use different steps; they include the carballesa, ribeirana, redonda
Redonda
Redonda is a very small, uninhabited Caribbean island which is part of Antigua and Barbuda, in the Leeward Islands, West Indies.This small island lies southwest of Antigua, in the waters between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat...
, chouteira and contrapaso.
Alborada, usually-instrumental tune, most often in 2/4, though sometimes 3/4, and is characterized by a series of descending turning phrases. It is used to begin a day's celebrations, and is played at sunrise.
The foliada is a joyful 3/4 jota-type song, often played at romarías (community gatherings at a local shrine).
Galicia
- Avelino CachafeiroAvelino CachafeiroAvelino Cachafeiro Bugallo, O Gaiteiro de Soutelo was a Galician musician, who played the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe....
- Perfecto Feijoo
- Os Campaneiros
- Moxenas
- Os Rosales
- Carlos NúñezCarlos NúñezCarlos Núñez is a Galician musician who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe.-Life and career:Nuñez was born in 1971 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. He began playing the bagpipes when he was eight years old. In his early teens, he was invited to play with the Festival Orchestra of the...
- Anxo LorenzoAnxo LorenzoAnxo Lorenzo is a musician who plays the gaita, the traditional Galician bagpipe, from Moaña , a small village on the Atlantic Coast of Galicia ....
- Xosé Manuel Budiño
- Cristina PatoCristina PatoCristina Pato is a bagpiper and pianist.The first female Galician bagpiper to record a solo album in Spain, she has released three albums as a solo bagpiper and collaborated in international tours with bands such as Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Ensemble, The Chieftains, Hevia, Tenerife Symphony Orchestra,...
- Susana SeivaneSusana SeivaneSusana Seivane Hoyo is a Galician gaita player. She was born in Barcelona, Spain, into a family of well-known Galician luthiers and musicians, the Seivane family, whose workshop is the Obradoiro de Gaitas Seivane. She started her musical career at the age of three...
External links
- GaitaForum.com, a discussion forum for gaitas
- Gaita.ru Galician bagpipe (gaita galega) in Russia.
- "Jota da Mahia" performed by Javier Celada (Heiligkreuzkirche Berlin, 2004)
- Lark CampLark CampLark Camp World Music, Song & Dance Celebration Originally called Lark in the Morning Music Celebration is an annual week-long world music and dance celebration that includes dozens of instructional workshops for both professional and beginner musicians and dancers.Camp instructors come from all...
(Gaita Summer Camp)