Galician Gaita - The Instrument

The Instrument

The Galician gaita has a conical chanter and a bass drone (ronco) with a second octave. It may have one or two additional drones playing the tonic and dominant notes. Three keys are traditional: D (gaita grileira, lit. "cricket bagpipe"), C (gaita redonda), and Bb (gaita tumbal). Galician pipe bands 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 heralded another rebirth. The folk revival may have peaked in the late 1990s, with the release of acclaimed albums by Galician Carlos Núñez (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 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.

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).