Jun 20, 2017
I started off my music career playing the piano. As I learned I passed through books of songs that were designed to teach me a specific skill. When I discovered this great instrument, I realized that every tune I learned was repertoire and would be performed...
Jun 16, 2017
I am a bagpipe teacher. As a teacher I would tell anybody new to playing the Great Highland Bagpipe of Scotland, that it would be worth their time and money to hire a teacher. Although the instrument has only 9 notes, it is a relatively difficult instrument to play...
Jun 15, 2017
Like everyone else, you have a job. What happens to your new bagpipe endeavor when you’re on the road. if you’re like most people it suffers from your absence. The most important thing that you could do when learning to play any new instrument is to...
Jun 15, 2017
I presently have a lot of students who have come to the point in this process where they are starting on their pipes. “”Blowing and squeezing”” is a relatively difficult concept to achieve properly. The first thing that needs to happen is for...
Jun 15, 2017
Last night as I was teaching my AOH Group, one of my students wanted to tell a “funny” story. As I teach people I find that their hand position can go from good to bad through neglect. My suggestion was for them to buy a small mirror like a makeup mirror...
Jun 15, 2017
I’d like to make a product endorsement. When I first started playing the pipes almost 40 years ago, we played everything “wet”. Hide bags, seasoning, cane drone reeds, etc. The goal was keeping everything from drying out. Today we have taken a 180 degree...
Jun 8, 2017
As if it weren’t hard enough to play the bagpipe, keeping your instrument in top working shape is a job in itself! I play a lot of gigs so, therefore, when someone is paying me to play and play well, I don’t have the luxury of an instrument breakdown. I...
Jun 6, 2017
The problem last night, the father of one of my students brought his pipes by for a tune-up. The student is competing in solo competition this weekend at a regional highland games. While working with this student over Skype yesterday, he had expressed to me some...
Jun 4, 2017
I think that one of the greatest things about playing the bagpipe is marching. I think most of our audience thinks so as well. I play a lot of weddings and funerals in the course of a year. When the bagpipe is allowed to play inside the church I always recommend a...
May 26, 2017
With our country coming out of the greatest recession since the Great Depression, people are concerned about prices. I believe that people who are misinformed about how business works believe that the cheapest price always wins. I personally believe that that is a...
