Jigg from Dorian Tunes

The Jigg from Dorian Tunes is the last of three songs composed by Ronald Miller in 1976 and published on the Associated Content pages. The composer was a clarinetist in the 59^th US Air Force Band at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, and also performed on oboe, flute, and saxophone in various ensembles. The Dorian Tunes were deliberately written to be suitable for all of these woodwind instruments, although each instrument will bring a different character to each piece.

The image at the top of this article contains the written music, click on the image to increase the size and print out the music. The first two tunes were already published along with articles explaining them . The tunes and articles are at March_from_Dorian_Tunes and Aire_from_Dorian_Dunes , both at AssociatedContent.com

The main feature of this march is the rhythmic interest, with a second feature being the Dorian tonality. If played immediately after the March and the Aire, the audience will already be acclimated to the haunting minor key sound. After the easy pace of the Aire, this should be played as a rapid 6/8 jig. The tonality and tempo will give the impression of Irish pipes.

The first thing to explain is the mordent which first occurs on the last note of the second measure. It is indicated by a squiggle above the note. It is similar to a trill, except that the upper note is only hit once. On the beat of the note, the note D is followed as soon as possible by an E and then back to D. It is similar to D and E grace notes in speed, but the two notes are played on the beat instead of slightly before it.

On the last measure of the second line, be careful to breath after the quarter note C and keep the eight note E moving forward to the next measure. The sixteenth notes beginning in the fifth line need to be light and smooth, try not to attach the high D too hard, but sort of glide down from it. In the same way, try to keep the sixteenth note rhythms starting in the third measure of line six light. This looks awkward, and it is a bit of an unusual sound, but you will find that it lies under the fingers well and is really quite easy to play once you get used to it. The grace notes on line ten do go before the beat.

There are no dynamics written for this tune, it is up to the musician to interpret. Typically the tune would be played mf or medium loud Be careful to keep track of the beat, as the rhythms move around the measures a bit. The slurring that is notated is important. Notes that are not marked with articulation should be played with a moderate separation but not accented.