bandman

Okay, don’t laugh at this post…

I’m of Scottish heritage and I have always been curious about learning to play the bagpipes. I’m curious if any of you have experience on the bagpipes, and as a music educator will I be to teach myself via a method book?

Also, any advice as to a better brand for a beginner would be appreciated.

I know I will probably never play these in public, but life is too short to not do something I’ve always wanted to do.

Thanks in advance for any serious help you guys can give.

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Jerry Freedman

There are lots of different type of bagpipes. Very common throughout the world. In the British Isles there are 4 I think. The most sophisticated are the Irish and the best sounding are the North Umbrian. What everyone thinks of is the Scottish bagpipes and here in the Boston area there are numerous groups of pipers. Google in your area and hook up with a local group. This is the parade season, go to a parade and there will most likely be a piper or two, find out who they are and make contact.

Mikey

It must be a requirement for every piper to learn two songs:

Amazing Grace (a tune that brings tears to my eyes; it sounds so good)

Scotland, The Brave...("The Old Spice Song")


One piper playing by himself sounds good.....A group of them in a parade........

(ouch)

Being of Irish-Scottish descent, my wife has always wanted me to learn the pipes. (To be honest, I think she just wants to see me wear a kilt).

And yes, a true piper goes commando...

Tootsall

Bandman... a friend of mine plays the pipes. He's a math professor at the local univeristy. About 6 or 7 years back he had the opportunity to spend a year on sabbatical in Edinburgh and while there took some private lessons.

I can ask him about "quality" vs price (I suspect about the same rule as what you find with trumpets will hold!) In the meantime there is a store out of Seattle called "Lark In The Morning" ( http://www.larkinam.com ) that sells pipes of various qualities.

As a kid growing up on a military base a friend of my Dad's also piped... I can remember hearing him practice. Let's just say that it's an affliction of my own heritage that I never felt the need to acquire.

Did you know that the pipes are actually an Irish invention.... and the Scots have never figured out the joke yet?

Jerry Freedman

If I remember my history, Scotland was originally colonized by Ireland. The languages are very similar ( I am talking about scottish gaelic and irish ) with irish having undergone a spelling reform that didn't happen in scotland.

As far as pipes..their are bagpipes all over Europe. Balkan singing imitates the pipe sound as does the hurdygurdy. Its hard to say that Irish invented the pipes. irish ( Uillean?) are the most sophisticated, using a pump rather than breath to inflate them and they can produce chordal sounds.

bandman

What you learn in a day is amazing. I never knew that the pipes could only play in the Lydian and Mixolydian modes. I never knew that a traditional pipe could only play 9 notes. This explains a lot about the sound, and also why you hear all 40 gazillion pipers playing the same tunes.

I think I may have to rethink this pipe thing - maybe it's not worth pursuing an instrument that has that many limitations.

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ptynan

I Live in Nova Scotia. It seems like everybody plays the bagpipes here.

There is lot's of Celtic fiddle music, stepdancing,....the whole celtic thing is huge.

This store in in my town http://www.johnwalshbagpipes.com/ (it may help)


PT

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Paul Tynan
"Now Available in California!!"

uatrmpt

A friend and I actually looked into this our sophomore year of college. There's a local piping group in Birmingham that gives free lessons, and the was it was explained to us was this: we would spend at least a year just working on the chanter, or the fingering part. We would buy a practice chanter (a combination mouthpiece w/internal reed and fingering tube) and learn the fingering technique first. An interesting fact is that you can't tongue on bagpipes! That's why you hear so many grace notes when they play. After that time, we would get an actual set of pipes.

Also, keep in mind that the bagpipes were originally used on the battlefield! It's no wonder they're so loud and obnoxious sounding; but, I still love them!

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--Matt--

Jerry Freedman

that's just for war pipes. irish pipes, which are "fueled" by a bellows in the armpit are not "marchable", and Northumbrian pipes, my favorite, are small with a very sweet, light sound, very inappropriate for war. Its impossible to "tongue" on pipes and that's why there is so many grace note elaborations ( "cranning"). The use grace notes to break up the flow

trpt2345

You know why pipers walk while they play? They're trying to get away from the sound.

Michael McLaughlin

"If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again."
Groucho Marx

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Chicago MM