Where do we begin....
I believe that learning bagpipes correctly is about building a solid foundation
of fundamental skills and understanding. It does little good to teach difficult and complicated movements
if students are not going to be able to apply these correctly within the context of music.
I believe
that the essence of playing bagpipes is twofold:
1) to be able to produce a proper instrument in tune
2) to be able to present a pleasing melody at a steady tempo
Age has its advantages and disadvantages.
You don't have to begin lessons at age fourteen in order to become an excellent piper. At the same
time, you don't have to be an adult to advance quickly onto the bagpipes and be playing tunes. The learning
program presented herein is designed to allow you to progress very quickly through initial tunes and
onto the bagpipes.
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This program is based on my personal experience as an adult learner, a grade one piper, a Pipe Major,
and as a teacher of individuals and bands. Using this program students are able to progress rapidly
through the initial exercises and onto tunes within a couple of weeks. I encourage students to start
blowing bagpipes early. By the time we complete the Beginner Program (about four months) you should
be playing five tunes very nicely on a full bagpipe!
What's needed? About 30 minutes daily.
That's all!
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Let's get started!
You'll need a practice chanter. There are several on the market that will
serve you well. You should be paying somewhere between $60 and $100 for a suitable practice chanter and
reed. Make your purchase from a reputable dealer or maker. Do your homework. I recommend that you
limit your search to makers in North America or the UK. There are exceptions to this. If you don't
know what to buy, please email me.
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Take a look at the pictures below. This is the proper way to hold a practice chanter. Note that the
fingers are across the chanter. Do not play with your fingertips!
Hold the practice chanter
gently but firmly. Rest the base of the practice chanter on a table. Keep your elbows up and your wrists
straight!
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Now let's look at the correct finger placement for each note. Your fingers should remain relaxed and
relatively straight across the chanter.
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Staff notation tells us everything we need to know about how something is to be played. We're not going
to go into this in detail at this point however you should know some basic information right from the
beginning.
1) The exercise below is written in 4/4 time signature. This means that there are
4 beats to a measure and that each quarter note (1/4 note) gets a beat.
2) The small notes are
called gracenotes and these in particular are G gracenotes. There are other gracenotes however we won't
talk about them now. Gracenotes are played quickly to accent or embellish a melody note. Play the gracenote
on the beat!
3) The curved line above certain notes is a "tie". This connects notes to be played
as a single pulse. In this instance, each quarter note receives one beat. Listen to the sound clip
(see the treble clef below) to understand how it is to be played.
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This is a Nugget of Knowledge! Pay particular attention when you see one (nugget, that is!). Buy a
good metronome and use it ALWAYS. As a matter of fact, we want you to walk, talk, blink, and think,
to the beat! You can't do this without using your metronome. Don't kid yourself and think that you
can keep time with your foot. You'll just end up tapping your foot to your fingers and develop a false
sense of timing!
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When you see a treble clef (the symbol to the left) right click on it and download the sound file.
Save it to a folder called "Bagpipe Lessons" and refer to it as needed. Practice the lessons and compare
your playing to these sound clips.
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Set your metronome up to a comfortable speed for this exercise. Initially it might be about 50 beats-per-minute.
Increase the speed as your competence grows however the goal here is to play each note on the beat.
Remember, in a 4/4 tune, each quarter note receives a beat and there are 4 beats per measure. Your exercise
should sound like this.
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The pictures below represent the next three notes. They involve a change from bottom hand to top hand.
Carefully practice the transition between notes. Make sure there are no crossing-noises!
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The sound file to the left demonstrats a crossing noise. You DON'T want crossing noises. Instead,
you want a nice smooth transition, as in the sound file to the right.
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The last three notes are all top-hand notes. It takes a little practice to go from High G to High A
correctly. Study the pictures and the sound file and practice this carefully.
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Now here's a switch! We're still playing a G gracenote however when you play it from High A the approach
is very different. Rather than using your index finger to play the G gracenote, just brush your thumb
across the High A note hole. The result is a G gracenote from High A, commonly called a "thumb gracenote".
Again, listen to the sound file and practice it carefully.
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O.K!!! So there we have the nine notes that make up the scale for the Great Highland Bagpipe. That
wasn't so bad. Now let's put all nine together.
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You know what's next! Practice the scale to your metronome. Accuracy is the goal. Only increase the
speed of your metronome as you are able to without sacrificing quality.
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We practice exercises, phrases, and lines of music over and over. Why? To train our fingers to do
what we tell them to do and to develop all-important "muscle-memory". It's the truth. Practice the
same phrase over and over and your fingers will "remember" what to do. You won't even have to think
about the correct finger placement. You'll be able to concentrate on other important aspects of the
music!
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