Cracking Bagpipes

A customer calls me and is a little distraught. “”I’ve only had my pipes for 18 months and I found a crack”” he says. Let me just say that any good reputable bagpipe maker is going to use the best blackwood available in the market place...

Are you on the 20 year plan or the 5 year plan?

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...

Do I need a bagpipe teacher or not?

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...

The traveling bagpipe student

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...

How much air is enough?

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...