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If you’ve ever seen a group of bagpipers in a parade, you’ve probably heard “Scotland the Brave.” It’s a tune that everyone outside of Scotland associates with the country, and the Scots like it pretty well, too. It’s usually listed as one of the unofficial anthems of the country, second only to “Flower of Scotland.”
“Scotland the Brave” appeared as a folk tune sometime in the 19th century, with a first known printing in 1878. Many lyrics have been written for it over the years, but I can’t use them here because of copyright. They’re easy enough to find elsewhere online if you’re curious.
The tune is used frequently to this day (and not just in parades and before sporting events). The Real McKenzies play my favorite modern version, but it’s covered by plenty of bands, Scots and non-Scots alike. It’s a song that inspires hope and symbolizes strength in the face of tough odds – something people all over the world can appreciate.
“Scotland the Brave” Playing Tips
Once you have the feel of this one down, there isn’t much to it. The rhythmic pattern of “quarter note – dotted eighth – sixteenth appears” throughout, so get it in your head. If you include the following measure, which is always (except for the last bar) a series of either ascending or descending eighth notes, you get this rhythm syllable pattern:
TA TIM RI | TI TI TI TI
I’m including two versions of the tune, one in G that makes use of the low notes of a low G uke effectively, and one in C that can be played on a uke in either high G or low G tuning. I find my preference switches between the two almost every time I pull it up to practice.
You’ll usually hear “Scotland the Brave” played in D, and there’s no reason I couldn’t also transcribe it to D for uke as the range does fit. It does take the arrangement out of first position, though, and eliminates a lot of the open strings, however, so for now, I’ll stick with these versions to keep to my trend of posting the version of a song that is easiest to play on uke.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF.
“Scotland the Brave” Low G Sheet Music Download
“Scotland the Brave” High G Sheet Music Download
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