Nov 25, 2018
Today while perusing the “Old Geezer’s Bagpipe Page” someone mentioned “Orange and Blue” played as a 6/8 march. Funny thing the tune in 6/8 that they were talking about was “Hot Punch”. I’ve played both of the tunes for...
Nov 21, 2018
One of the goals of being a music teacher is getting students to become musicians. At 54, I am a “Professional Musician”. I am a musician first and make money second. The question is: what is a musician? In my mind a “musician” is a person who has dedicated a portion...
Nov 1, 2018
What are your dreams concerning your bagpipe project for this coming year? Do you want to be a better bagpiper? Would you like to be able to play more and different music? After 21 years spent teaching bagpipers via private lessons, I have found a direct correlation...
Sep 18, 2018
In our era where everyone gets a trophy for not doing anything amazing, I still find it refreshing that that attitude hasn’t trickled down into the bagpipe world. In teaching people I find myself saying to them: “Your attitude will determine your altitude...
Jul 30, 2018
As a bagpiper for more than 45 years, I have learned one thing that I deem the most important: “A bagpiper is a person who can play a list of tunes on the bagpipe by memory”. It’s just that simple. The first question that I ask you as a bagpiper: Do you have a list of...
Jun 12, 2018
Practicing, as I’ve said before, isn’t just about playing through the tunes. You need to have a goal and purpose in mind when you practice. For instance: The first goal that I think you should have with any tune is to know the rhythm. Take out your pencil...
Jun 7, 2018
Having taught bagpipes for a number of years, I see the same problem happening over and over. A person spends 8 to 12 months developing their bagpipe skills on the practice chanter and then make a substantial investment in a set of bagpipes. In most cases these...
Apr 15, 2018
When I started playing the bagpipe, I had already been playing the piano for 4 years. I was terrible at rhythm. My piano teacher would yell “Count, Gary, count!” but I still struggled. The problem, in reality, was that my piano teachers never actually taught me the...
Mar 1, 2018
I hear a lot of bagpipers tell me that they have a hard time memorizing tunes. That’s a true struggle because a good bagpiper is a person who can play a list of tunes by memory. It’s pretty much essential. The first question that I ask these people is; “Can you sing...
Oct 21, 2017
As I work with people learning our great instrument, I find that sometimes we forget that the bagpipes are indeed a “musical” instrument. My goal as a teacher is to develop not only bagpipers, but bagpipe musicians. Along the way, we develop not only...
