Piping Girl's Christmas Picks

I've been watching the snow gently falling all day. Actually, the wind just picked up and it doesn't look so gentle right now. But it still puts me in mind of Christmas. So, from my snowy neck of the woods to yours, Merry Christmas!

Even though it's probably too late for you to get any of these gifts for the piper on your list, I thought it would still be fun to tell you about the piping picks that made my Christmas list.

First is a really neat t-shirt that you can buy from the official site of the Proclaimers. Although I don't think that they ever incorporate bagpipes into any of their music, The Proclaimers are my favorite Scottish band. The t-shirt has Edinburgh Castle on it, and also features the St. Andrews flag:

Next up is a bagpipe tune book called Irish Tunes Old and New by acclaimed Pipe Major Terry Tully. The tune in this book that I'm particularly interested in is called "Pumpkin's Fancy":

I just think it's an awesome tune!

A couple of other tune books I wouldn't mind having are Santa's Favourite Piping Tunes:

and Privy Piping.

Both books would just be fun to have when I feel like messing around and having fun with tunes that people might recognize.

There's not really any other gear I need for either my bagpipe or my uniform. I've got a nice bagpipe case and my band just picked up the tab for nice new vests for us. The only other bagpiping thing that I would REALLY like to get is a set of smallpipes. I'm still in the very early exploratory and saving up of money stage, so I don't know what kind I would buy...or if I would go with a bellows powered set...anyone out there want to talk up their smallpipes?

At any rate, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all!

Pipe on!

Carillon Piping

I'm afraid I haven't done quite as much bagpiping this summer as I'd like. Certainly not as much as I did last summer. Various things just kept getting in my way. Remember that my band isn't a competitive band, we're a hobby band, so we play in a lot of parades and charity events and most of these are in the summer when the weather is better.

One neat thing my band did get to do was play a concert with a carillon. The World Carillon Federation defines a carillon as, "A musical instrument composed of tuned bronze bells which are played from a baton keyboard. Only those carillons having at least 23 bells be taken into consideration". And Wikipedia says it's the heaviest instrument because the bells can weigh several tons. So it's basically a huge set of bells in all shapes and sizes and it's very loud. The picture at the top of this post is NOT the carillon we played with, but it gives you a sense of what one looks like. There are all differents types and sizes of carillons.

The carillon player does various concerts and I guess he decided a bagpipe band would be a nice compliment to his carillon. The carillon we played with is at the top of a tall office building. We went up 14 flights on an elevator, up 2 flights of regular stairs, and than up about 2 flights of a spiral staircase. I'm afraid my poor drones suffered a few nicks in the tight quarters of the spiral staircase.

At the top we found ourselves standing on a narrow ledge with a fantastic view, but no worries, there were solid concrete waist high walls so even though we were high up, we felt secure.

We were going to be playing "Amazing Grace" and "Highland Cathedral" with the carillon. The carillon player picked the tunes and while we know AG, we didn't know HC. So, because we weren't playing in front of a very visible audience, we cheated and taped the music up to the walls.

It was not our greatest performance. We had to stand in single file and I was stuck in between two of the biggest guys in our band, so it was impossible to see our pipe major. We had 10 pipers and amazingly, when we were playing with the carillon, we drowned it out. So it was impossible to tell if we were playing with it...and more often than not, we weren't because the carillon plays a lot slower than a hyper charged up bagpipe band.

Afterwards, we went down and played a nice concert in a park at the base of the building. We could all see each other and we were sans carillon.

Pipe on!

Piping, Piping Girl, Where Are You?

You've got a blog to write now! (sung to Scooby Doo song)

I know, I know, I've been so neglectful of this blog. Blah, blah, blah, busy life, same excuses as every other blogger out there who lets so much time elapse between blog entries. And grrrr, it's so hard to get back into a blog once you've left it for a while.

So what has Piping Girl been up to in the world of bagpiping. Well of course St. Patrick's Day was a blast. I took the day off, slept in, and took my time getting ready. My new special bagpiping jacket arrived just a few days before St. Patrick's Day and I put it to good use. It was cold outside and I actually wore it a lot inside as well. After tuning we went off to our first two gigs, than we got onto the bus we had hired to drive us around from 5pm on. We played several sets at each bar, probably 15 minutes. The best part of the night was when the youngest piper in our band, a college kid, jumped up on the bar and led the rest of us in playing along with ACDC's It's a Long Way to the Top. Towards the end of the night I confess that I had to cork some of my drones, but after 6 hours or so of playing who can blame me.

Since than I played at a cancer charity event with the band and at this neat event welcoming veterans back from visiting war memorials in Washington D.C. I also had the opportunity to play in a massed band setting at a local Scottish fair. Playing in the massed bands was awesome! We marched forward and than, spinning on our heels, marched back through the lines behind us, I think it's called counter-marching. It was amazing!

Well, I hope to be a better and more consistent blogger.

Pipe on!

Wii Girl

This blog is focused on bagpipes and Scotland, but from time to time I thought it might be interesting for loyal readers of my blog (at least give me the illusion that are some of you out there!), to learn a bit more about Piping Girl. Being a bagpiper is kind of like leading a double life. It’s not a hobby that people traditionally associate women with, and it’s definitely a niche hobby, there really aren’t a lot of pipers out there. Readers of this blog see the one side of my life that is pretty unknown in my day to day life, so I thought maybe you'd enjoy looking in a little bit on the other side of my life.

So, when my fingers aren’t flying over my bagpipe chanter, I really enjoy playing the Nintendo Wii. It’s actually not my Wii, it’s my husbands', but I play it a lot more than he does, so I think it’s really mine, but don’t tell him that! As you know if you’ve tried to get a Wii, they are still SUPER tough to find. We’ve had our Wii for over a year, and they are still hard to find. You can sign up for different alerts from companies that sell them online, stake out your local Target, or find an inside person who can tip you off when a new shipment comes in. But even all of this really comes down to plain old simple luck.

I ran across an opportunity where you could potentially win a Wii, and I thought I’d pass it along to the rest of you. It’s being offered by Charter High-Speed Internet. They are offering this opportunity to you if you pre-register for their High-Speed Internet for Life Auction.

This opportunity is offered to legal residents of the 29 states in which Charter Communications provides Internet services, and you have to be at least 18 years old when you enter. So you do have to qualify for the offer by living in an area where Charter services are offered.

Once you do qualify, you can pre-register for the auction now, never place a bid, and still be entered into the contest for the Wii. So you don’t even have to bid if you don’t want to and you’ll still be entered into the contest.

But, since you’re there, you might as well read up on the auction itself because that too sounds like a fantastic opportunity. Internet for life! How awesome would that be! While you can pre-register now, you can’t bid until the auction starts which is on March 12, 2008. Bidding starts at $10.00 and the auction ends on March 26.

Like I said, it does come down to luck, and with St. Patrick’s Day coming up, maybe a bit of extra luck will shine down on you! So, Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!

No worries gentle readers, this blog won't become Wii Girl, but once in a while I figured it might be good to let you into the other side of Piping Girl's life.

Pipe on, or maybe I should say Wii on!

Bagpipes are Big!

Bagpipes are a big instrument, certainly not the biggest instrument out there...when I was trying to figure out what the biggest instruments in the world are I stumbled across The Oddmusic Gallery. A fluba, the serpent, a Harpsichord made out of LEGO's, this site has it all and than some.

But back to my point, the bagpipes are big and awkward to carry around. I have to be really careful when moving with my pipes from room to room because even though I am a mere 5 foot 4 inches, I can still knock my drones against the top of the doorway if I'm not careful. On that same note (no pun intended), the bagpipes are also a sturdy instrument, they're meant to be played outside so it has to stand up to the elements. So even when I do occasionally hit it against a doorway I don't worry too much. I do however live in fear of rooms with ceiling fans, I fear a fan vs. bagpipe battle would not end well for the pipes.

When carrying my bagpipes I have to break down the bass drone and carefully fit them into my styling yellow Menards tool box that I have fashioned into a bagpipe case.

I bought this case right after I bought my bagpipes. Like any quality musical instrument, bagpipes are expensive and at the time I didn't care to foot the bill for an expensive case as well. This case has worked really well up until this point but since it looks like I'm going to be playing this instrument for the long haul, I think it's time to invest in a long term case. Besides, I've seen my husband eyeing my big yellow tool-box, I promised he could have it if I ever upgraded. And I think I've had my fill of tool-box related jokes.

So I've been doing a lot of research. I want a sturdy case that has lots of pockets for storing all the little things a piper finds themselves accumulating, extra reeds, corks for my drones, ear plugs, and the like. I also really want a case that can accommodate my hard cover binder filled with my piping music. If I arrange everything just so, I can fit my binder into my yellow toolbox, but it'd be nice to have a special music binder pocket. Finally, I want to have flexibility in how I carry it.

So, after much research, including a discussion thread over on the Bob Dunsire Forum, I've narrowed it down to 3 options.

The first is the Bag Piper Case:


This one has 10 carrying points, it's airport friendly, and it has a lot of storage pockets. A couple of people in my band have this case so I have actually seen it, and they have nothing but goods things to say about this case.

Next up is the Piper Bagpipe Case:


It's similar to the first one, it's cheaper but shipping would cost more.

Finally there's the Bandpack Case:

I am impressed by how compact this case looks. It's designed for people that have to carry their pipes with them on the subway or bus, or I suppose on great rambling hikes into the woods. This case's sleekness intrigues me, I guess I like to think of myself eventually hiking off into the hills with my pipes...but for my immediate purposes it's probably not as practical. Plus, it seems like it wouldn't protect my pipes quite as well as the other cases.

So...now that I've narrowed it down to these 3, what do you think? I am leaning towards one of these cases, but I'd be curious to see what everyone out there thinks.

I've set up a poll for you to vote for your pick in the upper left corner of my blog.

And don't worry, I'll be sure to let you know what I end up with.

Pipe on!

Carnival of Bagpiping Blogs

I'm always looking for ways to get more people to check out my blog. I read about one such opportunity called a blog carnivals and decided to submit a few of my posts to some of them. If you've never heard of blog carnivals they are like reading a magazine. Each blog carnival has a theme, they promote it, other bloggers submit a post that fits within the theme, and than they publish it.

I submitted my post entitled Bagpipes Rock in the New Millennium to the Carnival of Rock and Roll. It's a monthly carnival put on by The Soul of Rock 'n' Roll and they accepted it. A nice way to spread a bit of Piping Girl across teh blogosphere.

I thought I would host my own version of a blog carnival by posting about some bagpiping blogs I've found. I've posted about bagpiping blogsbefore, but since than I've found a few more pipers out there in blogland.

First up is Jori Chisholm’s Bagpipe Lessons Blog. Jori is a professional and award winning piper. If you have an interest in learning how to play the bagpipes but can't find a teacher he offers a lot of different long distance options. This blog really compliments his Bagpipe Lessons site. It has loads of videos of Jori in concert and all sorts of great resources for pipers of all skill levels.

Next up is Keydet Piper. Keydet Pipier is a competitive piper who has been playing a lot longer than me, since 1998 to be exact. It's a newer blog but he posts regularly, you should read it just to find out what Keydet Piper is (it's in one of his earlier posts).

An even newer blog is Skirts and Skirls, put out by, yes, another piping girl! Twenty-one year old Kayla to be exact. Like I said, it's a new blog, but it has a lot of promise.

So there you have it, a piping carnival, thanks for coming along for the ride, and, as always, Pipe On!!

Travel for the Soul

In case you haven’t figured it out (American blogger writing about Scotland), I love traveling and learning about other countries and cultures. I lived and worked in Scotland for 3 months towards the end of my college career and that’s really shaped my life and who I am today. I thought about joining the Peace Corps for a period of time, but the 2 year commitment really threw me off. Who knows, maybe I will still do that sometime.

I’m sure there are all sorts of travel and volunteer opportunities out there, but I found one really neat volunteer program called Twin Work and Volunteer Abroad. It's a UK based program, but most of its voluteer programs at least, look like they're open to anyone.

The thing that I like about this volunteer program is that it offers something for everyone. You can work, do an internship, volunteer or learn a language abroad. The best thing is that there isn’t a two year commitment. You can teach English in Nepal for 2 weeks or 5 months. Or, you can help out the zookeepers in Songkhla, Thailand for 5 weeks.

Another really neat component is that whatever you’re interested in, you will probably find a volunteer program for you. You can be a music master in India or support elephant conservation in Namibia. If you’re looking for travel, flexibility, and variety Twin Work and Volunteer Abroad looks like a great opportunity. I can’t speak highly enough of my own experiences living and working abroad in Scotland, so whenever I see something that might help others do the same, I’m happy to spread the word.

Pipe on!

My Pre-St. Patrick's Day Fix

St. Patrick's Day is less than a month off, I can't wait! This past weekend I got to go and get a bit of a pre-St.Patrick's Day fix in the form of an indoors weekend Scottish fair. There were lots of great vendors selling everything from swords to fine china. I picked up a nice Scotland themed t-shirt. There was Celtic music, Scottish country dancing, and Highland dancing. Various clans also had booths set up advertising their lineage.

There was also a good sampling of Scottish food including one of my favorites: meat pies. Oh my gosh, I am just in love with Scottish meat pies. When I lived in Scotland I would have one for lunch every single day and if they sold them here, I would continue having them for lunch. They aren't like an American pot pie, it's just really, really ground up beef wrapped in the tastiest pastry you've ever set your taste buds on. The only time I get to eat them now is at Scottish fairs like this.

The other thing I really look forward to getting at Scottish fairs is the Glasgow manufactured pop called Irn-Bru. Unfortunately, they ran out of Irn-Bru, I was so disappointed. But on a positive note, my Irn-Bru deprivation compelled me to buy two cases of it from a US based company. It's just like the Scottish stuff, minus the FDA banned carcinogenic colouring Ponceau 4R and Sunset Yellow FCF.

Towards the end of the day I got to sit in on an open rehearsal of a local competitive band. The day was topped off by a performance by this same band who had a particularly impressive drum corps.

St. Patrick's Day is in sight everyone!

Pipe on!

A Piping Good Christmas!

Well I said I would post more here but than the Christmas holiday got the better of me. I had an excellent holiday and received a few bagpipe related gifts.

First, I received a couple of Dropkick Murphys shirts. Even though I'm not a huge fan of their music, it's hard to find clothing that features bagpipes, much less a skeleton playing the bagpipes!



These shirts also hold the distinction of being my only skeleton adorned clothing, skeletons aren't really my style either but I will make an exception when they're playing my favorite instrument.

I also got some Dropkick Murphys stickers to put on my bagpipe case. I plan on doing a future post on what I keep in my bagpipe case so you'll have to wait until than to see the stickers.

The only other directly bagpiping related item I received was the book, Bagpipe Brothers: The FDNY Band's True Story of Tragedy, Mourning, and Recovery by Kerry Sheridan. This book details the experiences of New York City's Emerald Society Bagpipe Band after 9/11. Now I just got the book so I've barely cracked its cover, but so far it's really interesting. When I'm done reading it I'll post a review here.

I do plan to use some of my Christmas money to buy myself some Ghillie Brogues, these are traditional band bagpiping shoes. Once I get the actual shoes I'll post a photo here, but here's a photo I found online that gives you a visual:


Since my band is not a competitive band, some of what we wear is uniform, and some is not. For example, our kilts, flashings (that bit of cloth you see hanging off the side of the socks), hose (socks), and Glengarry (hat) are all uniform. Our white dress shirts are basically uniform too.

But my belt buckle, kilt pin, sgian dubh (the knife that goes in the sock), sporran (bag that hangs about the waist), and a pin that I also have in my Glengarry are all specific to my husbands clan-remember I'm not Scottish so I have to steal from him.

Up until now everyone in my band has just worn black shoes, whatever kind and type we like. But we've decided to make the shoes uniform too. I've been putting off buying them because I want to get what I hope will be the more comfortable but unfortunately more expensive kind of Ghillie Brogues...I do have to march in them after all. But we have a performance coming up this at a local Burn's Dinner, and than of course St. Patrick's Day will be here before we know it. Plus it would be nice to get them broken in before parade season.

Anyone else get any good bagpiping related gifts??

Pipe on!

Bagpipe Tunes I'm Working On

It's been a while since I posted about the bagpipe tunes I've been working on. Since our band is in its off season, our pipemaster assigned us a bunch of new tunes. I start by learning them on my practice chanter. I try to get to the point where it's basically memorized and than I switch to playing it on my bagpipes.

The first tune I focused on is called Tenpenny Bit. This is a jig so it's a very lively tune. The only version I could find on youtube is a rock version of it but you get a sense of what it sounds like.


Lady Carmichael's Strathspey is the next tune I focused on. I couldn't find a version of this one on youtube, but a strathspey is a basically a 4/4 dance tune. Auld Lang Syne is another example of a strathspey. This tune has been pretty easy for me to learn.

I've just started to work on Lord Lovat's Lament. This is a march and I've learned plenty of marching tunes in the past so it seems like it'll be pretty easy to learn.


The one new tune that I've really struggled with is called Itchy Fingers. This tune has been crazy hard for me to learn. I am able to sight read most bagpipe tunes and at least play them slowly all the way through, not so much for this one. My fingers are really having to learn new moves. Other challenges with this tune are that it's a bit longer than I'm used too, and it's fast.

Well, wish me luck with these tunes and pipe on!

Nice Matters Award

My blog recently celebrated its 3 month anniversary. I've had a lot of fun developing Piping Girl and generally making my way in the blogging world. Reading your comments and just checking my site statistics to see all the people that pass through is so rewarding. Thanks to each and every one of you!

Another reward was given to me by JJ over at the Nature Shows and Dreams blog. JJ has awarded my blog the Nice Matters Award. JJ's blog is a great blog featuring nature writing and nature photographs and he's been kind enough to leave several comments here at Piping Girl. Thanks so much for this honor JJ!

So now I'm supposed to pass this award on to other blogs and after a fair amount of deliberation I'd like to pass this along to these 3 blogs:
Another of my interests is creative writing blog and the Eavesdrop Writer Blog is the epitome of originality and creative writing. It's basically a record of eavesdropping of random conversations. The detail and general insight into the human condition are amazing!

Another thing I really love is anything connected with nature and the Autofocused photoblog contains wonderful photography of Scotland.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't also pass this on to another bagpiping blog. So I'd also like to pass this on to the Piper Pride blog. This is an educational and inspiring bagpipe blog.

Congratulations to these blogs, and pass the "Nice Matters Award" on by grabbing the image from the top.

Pipe on!!

Finding my Bagpipes

I have written before about starting my bagpipe lessons on the practice chanter. After a year of playing I knew that bagpipes, kilts, and sporrans were in my life to stay.

A year of playing the chanter is quite normal. You never, ever want to just race out and buy a set of pipes after your first chanter lesson. Starting on the chanter helps you learn the notes and all of the embellishments like D throws, grips and doublings. Once you've got the notes down your on your way to learning tunes like Scots Wha Hae (my first tune!) and Amazing Grace (my second tune!).

Even though a year is a long time, I guarantee you that I needed every minute of it. Switching to the real thing requires more then just learning the notes and a few tunes, you also have to be really confident in your playing.

Once I was ready for the real thing, my pipe major borrowed a few sets of pipes from pipe stores he frequented (they wanted our business afterall), and we spent a night listening to him play each one. Although you might not think it, each set of bagpipe sounds different. Even bagpipes from the same maker can sound different.

The bagpipes that I chose really and truly seemed to pick me. The sound just hit me and I knew I had to have them. I know it seems strange to say, but they had a subtle mellow sound to them. The other pipes sounded big and bold, but my soon to be pipes sounded cleaner and sharper somehow. Or maybe I just had some strange existensial moment with my bagpipes, like I said, I think they chose me.

When myself and a few others were choosing our pipes, my pipe major was pushing for Kron bagpipes. Several other pipers in the band had them and liked them, and they were kind of hte next big brand when it comes to premier bagpipes. In fact, some people were able to get a really good deal on actual Kron bagpipes on e-bay. I was freaked out about buying something like this on e-bay. And, in general, most of the bagpipes that you see for sale on e-bay are pure crap. A while ago I found this great posting on youtube from this Scottish guy ranting about how so many people are being ripped off by sellers claiming to be selling real Scottish bagpipes on e-bay. This video is totally worth watching just for the Scottish brogue, but the video has real value if you are looking at bagpipes on e-bay:

And in this video he actually shows you a crap set of pipes he bought on e-bay just to prove his point:

This guy's so awesome!

The guys in my band that bought e-bay pipes were very careful to ensure that they were buying actual Kron pipes. And, the price matched. A lot of the poor quality bagpipes advertised on e-bay are less then $200. A good set of pipes is going to cost you upwards of $1,000.

The pipes I bought are Kintail bagpipes.

Their site goes so far as tell you how they hand-craft each set of pipes. They have quite a nice history on their company as well. They are made in Glasgow and one of my dear wishes is to go back to Glasgow and visit where my bagpipes were born.

Pipe on!

Carrying the Bagpipes

When you see a bagpiper playing live, you might sometimes wonder about some of the finer details. Where did they get that kilt? What's that funny purse thing hanging around their waist? Is that a knife stuck in their sock?? And here's a question you probably never even thought to ask-how in the world did that piper get their bagpipes here in the first place?

There are all sorts of fancy carrying cases for bagpipes. There are cases that come as backpacks, with shoulder straps, and on wheels. There are hard shell cases made especially for airplane travel and monogrammed cases for the styling piper.

But let's face it, bagpipes and all the things that make me into Piping Girl, cost a fair amount of money. I went the quality route where I needed to, my pipes are quality, as is my uniform.

But I found that I could be cheap in the case I carried my bagpipes in. This is a lovely yellow tool box that I bought for about $15 at Menards. As you can see, my bagpipes fit into it very nicely. I could add some extra padding, but I don't really need to. The bagpipes are a pretty sturdy instrument, the stocks are made out of African Black Wood, and the only thing you really need to be careful with is the chanter (where you put your fingers), and of course the reeds.

It would be nice to have a shoulder strap as I have walked several blocks carrying my case a time or two, but for now it works.

Plus, the expression on a person's face when I pull a set of bagpipes out of a big yellow tool-box is absolutely priceless. I will probably continue to carry my pipes in my big yellow case purely for the "face" value.

Pipe on!

Presenting Piping Girl

So how did I come to be the only girl in my pipe band, and, let's face it, one of only a few girl pipers in a predominantly male activity?

It started with just a general interest in Scotland. The brogue, the country and its history, and more importantly, the music. It moved on to a love of bagpipe music after going to some local Scottish festivals.

My love of Scotland and the bagpipes became a sealed deal after I had the opportunity to live and work in Scotland for three months when I was in college. There's absolutely nothing like actually living in another country and culture. It was an amazing experience-castles, the Royal Mile, bagpipers in the Streets, Robert Burns dinners-I came home immediately wanting to go right back. Unfortunately, I've never made it back but I have had one of my Scottish friends visit me on several occasions.

After I returned I started thinking about how I could create a piece of the country that I had grown to love in my own life. Of course playing the bagpipes was right up there on my list of ways to do that. But finding a teacher for this pretty unique instrument was not easy to do.

Finally, about three years ago now, I happened to be leafing through my town's community education catalog and it was like those epiphany moments you read about in books or see on movies. A class was offering six bagpipe lessons for $90.

I signed up and off I went to my first lesson. The lessons were held at a local church. About twenty people signed up for the course, only one other girl besides me. At our first lesson we were treated with a bagpipe performance and a general overview. Basically, the band was looking for a way to increase their numbers and if we stuck with it beyond the six lessons we'd paid for, they would continue to teach us for free. Yes, you read that right, FOR FREE. The $90 we paid for the class covered the cost of our practice chanter and an instruction book, so until we bought the actual bagpipes, there would be no other costs.

This was like a dream come true. Until I got my practice chanter that is, and tried playing it at our first lesson.

In the pictures at the top of the post you will see my practice chanter. The picture on the top shows my practice chanter broken down so you can see the reed inside of it. I had never played an instrument with a reed in it before and I couldn't get the blasted thing to make a single note!

The picture on the bottom is the chanter all put together and ready to play. It sits next to my tv chair so that I can play whenever the spirit moves me. But I make sure to pack it up with my bagpipes each week for practice, our Pipe Major gets angry when he wants us to have a chanter practice and we don't have our chanters-for obvious reasons. It has seven holes on the top of it and one hole on the bottom of it.

It isn't an exact replica of the chanter I play on the actual bagpipes, my bagpipe chanter's holes are a bit further apart. But I start out learning any new tune on the chanter, and after it's memorized, I typically move it on to the bagpipes.

And that's the origin of Piping Girl!

I have a question for anyone that wanders on to this blog that I'd like you to comment on:

Have you ever wanted to play the bagpipes? If you've been able to follow through and play the bagpipes now, what's your finding the bagpipes story?

If you haven't been able to follow through, what has stood in your way?

Pipe on!

Playing the Practice Chanter

I'm just back from bagpipe practice, we're actually supposed to call it "rehearsal" because we "practice" at home. Or so our Pipe Major says. But this week I've barely gotten any practicing in, so it really was practice for me.

Fortunately, we just played on practice chanters tonight. Sometime, maybe this weekend if I remember, I'm going to take a bunch of pictures of all my bagpipe gear so you can see some of the things I talk about on here. Like the practice chanter. You're probably wondering what that is. It's basically the glorified recorder you played in elementary school, except it has a reed.

At any rate, we're winding down our parade season so at practice/rehearsal we got a bunch of new tunes to work on. Whenever we get new tunes we always start on the practice chanter. It would be next to impossible to just launch into a new tune on the bagpipes. It takes a lot of energy and focus to play the bagpipes and I can pipe along on the practice chanter while I'm watching tv.

So I start out on the practice chanter and just learn the tune, then I start trying to memorize the tune and slowly start working on it on the actual bagpipes. All of the tunes have to be memorized and it's far easier to memorize them right from the start when I'm still on the chanter. And it's important to memorize them correctly which is also easier to do on the chanter. I've memorized a couple of tunes wrong on the chanter and it's so hard to unlearn wrong notes.

One more parade to go and then I need to get down to the work of learning and memorizing new tunes.

Pipe on!

Piping Reflections

My first parade season with my band is just about done. I have one more parade coming up in early September and then we don't have another gig until St. Patrick's Day. My first time playing in public with the band was actually on St. Patrick's Day, so that will be my one year anniversary of playing with the actual band.

I'm still very self-conscious of how I sound when I'm playing all by myself. When I'm with the band all my wrong notes and uneven blowing is masked by the pipers around me. But by myself, it's a different story. Since my ultimate goal is to solo at weddings and funerals I hope that the more I play the with band the more confident I'll get. Even when I practice at home I'm self-conscious. Even though the bagpipes are an outdoor instrument, I practice them inside. I don't want to bug the neighbors and I'm not sure how I sound to other people.

I will however play outside at my parent's cabin. It's fairly isolated with just a few other cabins, including a rental cabin, that are directly around it.

This weekend I was visiting their cabin and of course I brought my bagpipes. We had driven down into the town briefly and saw this group of four somewhat elderly people sitting all in a line on the steps of the rental cabin. We were in town for about a half hour and when we drove back they were in the exact same place. My Mom and I thought I should get out my pipes and play for them, maybe lure them off of their front step.

So I got my pipes set up and played through about every tune I knew-no response from the rental cabin. I started walking up the road closer to their cabin and decided to pull out the big guns and play Amazing Grace. So I ripped through the tune and sure enough, when I was done playing I could hear them clapping and whistling.

When I was done I realized that while I was conscious of them being there, I was playing for them and I knew that I was doing a pretty decent job.

I guess I'm more confident then I thought.

Pipe on!

Hot Pipes

It's beastly hot here today, so hot it feels like you're opening the door to a steamless sauna. This got me thinking about what hot weather issues there are with the bagpipes.

One issue that I know hot weather affects is tuning the bagpipes. Tuning the bagpipes basically involves shortening or lengthening the drones (those 3 stocks that stick out of the bag), and messing around with the reed that's in the chanter (the chanter being that thing you blow on).

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm pretty new to playing the bagpipes but I've learned two things about tuning: they have to be tuned well, and it's not easy for a newbie like me to tune them. I have a really hard time figuring out if what I'm playing is sharp or flat and even if I can figure that out, it's still tough for me to fine tune it. Even with a snazzy tuning device it's still not the easiest thing in the world.

I also know that the temperature you are tuning your bagpipes in also plays a part. If you tune them in an air conditioned room and than go outside into the heat to play them, they will often go out of tune. It seems that in hot and dry weather the pitch will be all over the place, moisture can even be lost, and the drones can potentially stop. And I know from experience that once you've gotten them tuned you want to try to stay in the shade to keep them cool.

Over on Andrew Lenz's web site he recommends using talcum powder or the powdered chalk to help with sticky fingers on the chanter. I've never had this problem but I think if I played outside today I would!

The hottest weather in Scotland is in July and August when it's 19 degrees Celsius or 66.2 degrees Fahrenheit so I don't imagine that they had to deal with too many hot and humid weather issues.

Pipe on!

A Pipers First Post

This is my first post, numero uno. While I am a very multi-faceted person, my focus here will be on my current favorite hobby, playing the Great Highland Bagpipe. Shhhh...I'm not Scottish! But I try to do everything I can to get people to believe that I am including marrying a Scot, living in Scotland for a time, trying to appear interested in the Celtic soccer team, eating Haggis, quoting Robbie Burns (famous Scottish poet) at random moments, and of course playing the instrument that, love it or leave it, is the ultimate of all things Scottish. That's about enough for my first post, I don't want to ruin all the surprises that I'm sure will unfold themselves in future posts. Thanks for reading and Pipe On!