The easiest way to identify the 4/4 march is to tap along to the beat. If it has four beats in the bar, i.e., you can count:
1 2 3 4 |1 2 3 4
to it and it contains some even quavers:
then it is a 4/4 march. In a 4/4 march each beat would normally be accented for marching to.
Other commonly played 4/4 marches include Loch Ruan, The Headlands, Mairi’s Wedding, The Barnyards of Delgaty. The last two are also popular as songs.
The best known Scottish social dance that uses the 4/4 march tune is The Gay Gordons, often the first dance of the evening, and usually performed by a Scottish dance band or ceilidh band.
Mairi’s Wedding Loch Ruan
Mairi’s Wedding is a very popular march tune throughout Scotland and is always played by dance bands to accompany The Gay Gordons at weddings, ceilidhs and other functions. It is also commonly played by pipe bands. As a song it has the title of The Lewis Bridal Song.
To perform this as a march, first get to know the tune by learning the song version, and try marching along to it.
Listen to a recording of Mairi's Wedding. Follow the score as you do which you will find in the Parts section.
Notice that the rhythms are mainly pairs of quavers (dotted on beat 1 of bars 1, 3, 5 and 7) and single crotchets. The melody has two parts, each of 4 bars; part A is used for the chorus of the song, and part B for the verse.
Chorus:
Step we gaily, on we go,
Heel for heel an’ toe for toe,
Arm in arm and row on row,
All for Mairi’s wedding.
Verse 1:
Over hill-ways up and down,
Myrtle green and bracken brown,
Past the sheiling, thro’ the town,
All for sake o’ Mairi.
Chorus
Verse 2:
Red her cheeks as rowans are,
Bright her eye as ony star,
Fairest o’ them a’ by far,
Is our darlin’ Mairi.
Chorus
Verse 3:
Plenty herrin’, plenty meal,
Plenty peat tae fill her creel,
Plenty bonny bairns as weel;
That’s the toast for Mairi.
Chorus
Loch Ruan
Loch Ruan is also a popular ceilidh tune, used for The Gay Gordons,
and is often played by pipe bands. Try to think about how marching to this tune
would affect the way in which it is played. Where will the accents be placed
to keep the tune steady for instance?
Listen to a recording of Loch Ruan; follow the score as you do.