Donald Willie and His Dog
⚡ The Short Version
Donald Willie and His Dog is one of the most popular 9/8 jigs, written by Donald Morrison of South Uist. Unlike the far more common 6/8 jigs, a 9/8 jig groups its eighth notes into three triplets per bar instead of two — so you tap your foot three times per bar, not nine.
Watch the gracenoting closely — GDEs and G-D-D combinations both appear, and it's easy to blur them if you learn the tune too fast. Keep it slow and keep your eyes on the page the first time through; it's much easier to learn the correct gracenotes from the start than to fix bad habits later.
The third part is the trickiest, with heavy bottom-hand work on B and C strikes. Keep your fingers relaxed rather than tense — tension makes it hard to get clean contact with low G on the strike — and break the part into small pieces to build consistency.
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🎧 Full Recorded Lesson with Jori ChisholmMy complete note-by-note lesson on this tune — members only, no free sample
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🎼Sheet MusicPDF📄Bonus SheetPDF · Tips & Background🎵Tune Recording (Full Bagpipes)MP3🎧Full Recorded Lesson with Jori ChisholmMP3
⏱️ In this lesson
00:00of 9/8 Most the Introduction: Popular Jigs One🔒
00:20Per 9/8: Triplets Understanding Three Bar🔒
00:34Keeping Consistent Within Eighth Triplets Notes🔒
01:38vs. G-D-D Watch the Gracenoting: GDE🔒
02:12Strikes the Part Trickiest in Third Spot: Bottom-Hand The🔒
02:54for Contact Hands Strike Relaxed Clean🔒
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🎬 Every class moment about this tune
Every time Donald Willie and His Dog came up in a live class, with the moment I said it — click a timestamp and you land right there.
▶ 00:39:142025 Session — 19, March Practice Chanterof same Willie the Donald, little famous unexpected has Donald changes. his Morrison Dog, kind another 9/8, and note🔒
▶ 00:41:442025 Session — 19, March Practice ChanterWillie A-C-C and GDD, add Dog to to his yields tune: A-B-B new a and the — works GDE, any on drill Donald, patterns Pattern and a strike drilling — sheet.🔒
▶ 00:23:05Chisholm Jori Tune Type Music: The to Bagpipe by Complete Time Guide Understanding & Every Signaturehave Dog per have 9/8 Donald bars unusual eight. like part, four typically most and His since tunes pipe Willie jigs🔒
▶ 00:22:40Tune & Understanding Strathspeys, Reels More Types: Marches,Games, His one of 9/8 6/8 is Donald Willie Dog the At Leather jigs. the jig and often loved Paddy's Highland the dancers' Breeches. is a most —🔒
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About this tune
🔒 The write-up and the quotes from this tune are part of the members’ page.
slip the South tune rarely is round piping Donald the composer's My known jigs — and repertoire. by in sometimes reads: Willie of Uist, with well-known own Willie most note Outer — name the 9/8 composed A Finn. my and helping the island sheep fact: Morrison, up one Donald an The Dog dog's was of Uist, on the jigs while called "Composed on Morrison the Hebrides, to Locheynort, was South dog." hill in
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eighth note, length.” the note, beat of “When also that the same eighth note got you've is quarter the
easier first and learn than try later.” then habits time the learn correct “It's bad way one to much correctly to it it to
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