FAQ

The Bagpipes

How do I learn to play the bagpipes?
You need lessons. Period. End of story. Don’t try to learn on your own.

What do I need to start?
A recorder-like instrument that allows you to first learn the fingering and music theory of the pipes. After a few months you’ll get your pipes and start to learn about everything else.

How much do bagpipes cost?
It depends. New or used. Top of the line or bottom of the barrel. Silver. Ivory. Plastic. Wood. Generally you are looking at between $900-$2,000 for a good set.

What is the bag made from?
There are several kinds of bags used by pipers. The traditional bag is made from sheepskin, but other types include “elkhide” (which is actually a variety of cowhide) and synthetic materials such as Gore-tex.

Are there different kinds of Bagpipes?
There is a very wide variety of pipes played throughout the world. The most popular is commonly known as the Highland Pipe or the Irish War Pipe, or sometimes as just the Great Pipe (Piob Mhor in Gaelic). Other kinds from Britain and Ireland include the Scottish Small Pipes, the Irish Uilleann or Union Pipes, and the Northumbrian Pipes. Nearly every culture in Europe and the Middle East has a native bagpipe, though some have nearly died out. For example, the Spanish play a type of bagpipe that they call a Gaita, and the Italians have a pipe called a Zampogna. The different kinds of pipe often have different numbers of drones and use different note fingerings on the chanter. Some, such as the Northumbrian and the Uilleann pipe, have a large number of keys on the chanter; others have few or none. A few pipes, such as the Uilleann pipe, even have simple valves (“regulators”) on some of the drones to allow the piper to alter the chord of the drones while playing.

Where were Bagpipes first invented?
Nobody really knows. The ancestral instrument clearly came from one of the ancient Mediterranean civilizations, probably before 100 BC, and was carried throughout Europe by the Romans. The earliest examples consist of just the “chanter” portion, possibly with a companion “drone” tube, which was often played by the technique of “circular breathing” to maintain a constant tone. At some point, some unknown person got the idea that this could be made easier by attaching the chanter to a bag with a blowpipe. Various forms of pipes were played throughout Europe during the Middle Ages, until modern orchestral instruments started to displace some of the older traditional instruments about the time of the Renaissance. However the Bagpipe continued to be played in rural and more isolated regions to this day.

Can you make them play any louder or softer?
No, sorry. Most pipes, including the Highland pipe, have no way to play at different volumes without going off-pitch. A piper may set up the pipe beforehand to accommodate the location, but you can’t change the volume while you’re playing. This, combined with the fact that the bag produces a continuous stream of air, produces a need to provide more emphasis on some notes than others, and to separate different notes of the same pitch. Most such effects (including “staccato” effects) are produced by fingering techniques, which traditionally vary between the different kinds of pipe. The exception to this is the Uilleann pipe, which allows the piper to close off all of the holes in the chanter so that the chanter produces no sound. All other pipes rely completely on “grace notes” or similar techniques to separate notes and provide emphasis.

What kind of pipe does a pipe band play?
Pipe bands almost invariably play the so-called “Highland” or “Irish War” pipe; most other pipes are played only by soloists. A few bands in Ireland play the “Brian Boru” pipe, which is an adaptation of the Great Pipe that adds keys to extend its range; and some bands in Brittany in France play the French Biniou pipe along with Bombards, which are shawm-like instruments.

What is a Highland Bagpipe?
The Highland Bagpipe is the most familiar kind of bagpipe. It has three drones, two tenor drones each tuned one octave below the chanter, and one bass drone tuned two octaves below the chanter. The drones on the Highland pipe have no means for adjusting the pitch while playing, so they play a single background chord. The scale on the chanter is adjusted to make it blend against this constant chord. It is a mouth-blown pipe: the piper blows into the bag through a blowpipe to supply the air. A one-way valve in the blowpipe keeps the air from escaping.

What is the history of the Highland Pipe?
The Highland pipe was played by the Scottish army (and, later, Scottish regiments in the British army) as more or less their equivalent of the bugle. It was also played for dances and parties by both soldiers and civilians. The Irish War Pipe was originally a similar instrument but had only two drones, a single tenor and a bass. In more recent years, the use of the two-drone pipe has nearly died out and today the terms “Highland Pipe” and “Irish War Pipe” are used interchangeably to refer to the three-drone Great Pipe. Like the Highland pipe, the Irish War Pipe became familiar to the rest of the world because of its use in the British Army.

How much do those things cost?
You can pay anywhere from around $750 up to over $5000 for a new bagpipe. The cost will depend on the maker and the amount of ornamentation. The more expensive models tend to be heavily ornamented with a lot of silver and so forth; this has no effect on the tone, it’s purely for show. Some very nice instruments can be found at the lower end of the scale, and you can often get a bargain on a used pipe. You often see new bagpipes available for under $500; these are almost always inferior instruments that are never worth buying, especially if you’re a beginner and don’t know what to look for or how to deal with setup problems. Sometimes a good used pipe becomes available that is worth buying for that price or less, especially if it has only cosmetic damage that does not affect the tone or playability of the instrument. This is almost always a better deal than trying to get by with a poor instrument.

How do you learn to play the bagpipe?
Lessons are very important. Period. Don’t try to learn on your own. The best way to learn to play the bagpipe is to start out on the practice chanter, an instrument that looks much like a recorder. That way you can learn the fingerings and embellishments without having to worry about keeping the bag going steadily, which is a considerable distraction at first. It also means that you don’t have to make a big outlay on a pipe immediately. Good practice chanters cost from about $45 to about $150, though there is little advantage in buying one that costs more than about $75. Pipers continue to use the practice chanter throughout their career, to do fingering exercises and to learn new tunes.QCJPD will supply students, at a cost, with a good practice chanter.

Do I need anything besides a practice chanter?
 A teacher!
A metronome is also very useful, especially if you don’t have much prior musical experience. A recording device is also very helpful.

Can I teach myself to play the bagpipe?
This is not recommended. Many of the techniques used are unique to the pipes, and involve some fairly intricate finger work that few beginners seem to be able to find for themselves, even if they purchase a tutor book and tape. Moreover, if you ever want to play with a band, proper technique is essential so that you are able to play with the other pipers. It’s much easier to learn it correctly in the first place than it is to go back and fix later!

I can already play several instruments, shouldn’t I be able to pick up the pipe on my own?
Read the answer to previous question again. Because so many of the techniques are unique to the pipe, very few beginners are able to reach an adequate level of play on their own, even with prior musical experience. There are, of course, distinct advantages to knowing other musical instruments (or other musical experience, such as choral): reading music, learning to keep proper time with other players or singers, listening for tuning, and so forth.

How long does it take to learn to play the bagpipe?
That depends on how well you want to play it! Generally, most beginners require at least 6 months on the practice chanter before they move onto the full pipe; more is usually better. Once you move onto the pipe, it usually takes several more months before you reach an adequate playing level on some of the easier tunes. Some of the things that can affect how long it will take an individual to learn to play include:

*Age: Few beginners younger than about 9 have large enough hands to play the chanter. Teenagers will generally make the fastest progress, with young adults sometimes not too far behind. Older adults tend to progress more slowly but even then there are exceptions.

*Previous musical experience: Always a plus, even if you just know how to read music. Woodwind players may find that they have to unlearn some old habits when playing the pipe, though their previous experience is still helpful.

*Motivation: Obviously, the more motivated you are and the more you practice, the more progress you will make.

*Instruction:Proper instruction will prevent the student from falling into bad habits that must be unlearned.

*Aptitude: As in most areas, some people just seem to catch on quicker than others.

How do you move from the practice chanter to the full pipe?
Most students do not move directly from a practice chanter to the full pipe. Even if it’s only a pipe with the drones stopped up, most students find it best to move onto the full pipe gradually. Stopping up the drones makes it somewhat easier to keep the pipe going at first. Often a practice chanter is used in the pipe instead of a pipe chanter (this is often called a “goose”), or a “practice pipe” could be used. These are similar to a “goose” but do not have the full drones, so that a full pipe still must be obtained as well. Once the student is comfortable playing just the pipe chanter, then the drones are added one at a time until you’re playing the full pipe.

Do you have to be male or Scottish or Irish to play the pipe or drums?
No. The Great Pipes, as well as drums, are played in nearly every country of the world and by people of all ethnic backgrounds. Countries as diverse as Germany, Jamaica, Jordan, Japan, India, and China all have bands playing Highland pipes, often with adaptations of their own music as well as traditional pipe music. The only advantage that you might have by being Scottish or Irish is that you may be more familiar with some of the musical styles used on the pipes or drum before learning the instrument. Likewise, many women are quite accomplished pipers and drummers .Hopefully these old stereotypes are dying out!

Doesn’t that thing take a lot of air? It looks like it must be a lot of work!
It can, or it can be very easy. I’ve seen 10-year-old girls and 75-year-old grandmothers playing the Highland pipe. It’s all in how you set them up; the grandmother wasn’t playing a pipe that was as hard as one that a strong 25-year-old man might play! The big problem isn’t in the physical effort involved, but in learning how to set up the pipe for your playing strength and learning the coordination of blowing and squeezing at the same time to keep the tone steady. This is a little like rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time; it takes quite a bit of practice at first to get the hang of it. It also uses some muscles that most people are not accustomed to using much. Fortunately almost everyone who isn’t severely disabled can learn with practice. The main difficulty with learning the pipes isn’t with the physical effort required but with the fingering technique, which you learn on the practice chanter.

Drums

What kind of drums are played in a Pipe Band?
There are 3 kinds of drums normally played in a Pipe Band: the Side Drum, which is related to the snare drums found in a brass band; the Tenor Drum, which is a drum about the size of the Side Drum but without snares and played with mallets rather than sticks; and the Bass Drum, which is the large drum that makes the “heartbeat” of the band.

The Side Drum:
Isn’t the Side Drum just an ordinary snare drum?
No, though it’s closely related. The Side Drum as played in a pipe band uses two sets of snares (an upper set and a lower set) as opposed to a single set of snares used on a typical snare drum. A “snare” is a band of wires and beads that make the sound of the drum sharper than just a simple drum head. The drum heads on a Side Drum are also much tighter than the heads on many snare drums, so that the sound is much “sharper” than most snares.

I can play the snare drum, how hard is it to learn the Side Drum?
Like the Snare Drum, the Side Drum uses “rudimental” drumming techniques. This means that the drumming technique is built up from a set of standard “rudiments” like a flam, a roll, and so forth. Many of these techniques transfer directly from the Snare Drum to the Side Drum, however rolls used on the Side Drum are almost always “closed” rolls rather than the “open” rolls used on the Snare Drum. The drum scores played on the Side Drum also tend to be more ornamented than those usually played on the Snare Drum, and have a much more “pointed” and syncopated style than typical Snare Drum scores. However previous experience on the Snare Drum is very helpful when learning the Side Drum.

What do I need to buy to learn the Side Drum?
A drumming student needs to buy a set of drum sticks and a practice pad. These will cost a total of about $40-60. The drumsticks commonly used for the Side Drum are heavier than those usually used for a Snare Drum. You will continue to use the sticks and pad throughout your drumming career. QCJPD will supply, at a cost, drum sticks and pads for students.

How long does it take to learn the Side Drum?
If you have previous experience on the Snare Drum and a good aptitude for the drum, you may be able to pick up the Side Drum in 6 months or less. If you have no previous drumming experience, count on as much as a year or more before you are ready to play with a band. As in anything else, it is impossible to make a general statement because of differences in aptitude, amount of practice and motivation, and so forth. Some of the things that can affect how long it will take an individual to learn to play include:

*Age: Few beginners younger than about 9 have large enough hands to hold the sticks. Teenagers will generally make the fastest progress, with young adults sometimes not too far behind.

*Motivation: Obviously, the more motivated you are and the more you practice, the more progress you will make.

*Instruction: Proper instruction will prevent the student from falling into bad habits that must be unlearned.

*Aptitude: As in most areas, some people just seem to catch on quicker than others.

The Tenor Drum:
What is a Tenor Drum?
The Tenor Drum is a drum that looks much like the Side Drum (often slightly larger) but has no snares and is played with mallets rather than sticks. There are two styles of playing the Tenor Drum: Flourishing Tenor and Rhythm Tenor. The former puts more emphasis on twirling the mallets and only occasionally hitting the drum head; the latter puts more emphasis on using the mallets to complement the rhythm of the Bass Drum.

How would I learn the Tenor Drum?
QCJPD requires all students to learn to play rhythm with sticks and a pad first. Once these basic rhythms are learned the student can move on to the tenor drum and learn flourishing. Tenor Mallets, at a cost, will be made available for students.

Bass Drum:
Like the Tenor Drum, students interested in learning Bass will be required to learn to play rhythm with sticks and a pad before moving on to the Bass Drum.