Jun 6, 2020
In the past I’ve written about the importance of a tune list and the dangers of “plate spinning”. Here’s a little more on that topic. Bagpipers are always excited about new tunes and different music. That’s great! However, there are some hard and...
Jun 6, 2020
In addition to being musical, playing the bagpipe is all about precision. There’s no denying that our instrument is very loud. Because of that, it not only needs to be tuned to precision, but it needs to be played to precision. In most cases, we memorize all...
Jun 6, 2020
Are you ready to “gig”? I mean, are you really READY to gig? I have taught many students during these last few decades. A lot of those students have been intrigued by the thought of playing for money. I don’t discourage them, for sure, but I do want to make sure...
Jun 6, 2020
Throughout the last month, I have found myself sitting on my studio floor on numerous occasions, re-hemping pipes for my students. I hope they were watching. The Great Highland Bagpipe is almost a living, breathing life form! It needs care to work properly. Often, my...
Jun 6, 2020
A while ago, I wrote an article called “Are You a Bagpiper or a Wannabe?”. At the time I wrote this piece, the main component of the article was focused on making the decision to “do it”. I had recently turned 55 and in doing that I realized that even...
Jun 6, 2020
I tell my students that they need to practice every day, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. The purpose of that statement is to simply get them to practice every day. As they become more experienced, they will have more to practice and the time will automatically...
Jun 6, 2020
In teaching people to play this great instrument, I deal with a lot of “perfectionists”. I used to be one myself, but it made my stomach hurt, messed up my digestion and gave me a headache. I decided a while back that I would do the best I could. I tell...
Jun 6, 2020
A good maintenance kit is essential to maintaining a set of bagpipes. Forty years ago when I started playing the pipes, we played it the same way they did for hundreds of years. We played elk-hide or sheepskin bags that were sealed with “seasoning” that usually...
Jun 5, 2020
Jun 5, 2020
I seem to be working with a lot of people right now on “blowing and squeezing”. The Great Highland Bagpipe of Scotland is one of the few wind instruments in the world where “the breath” has nothing to do with the musical line. The job of the breath on our instrument...
