BAGPIPE LESSON
  • Login
  • Beginner
    • Lesson 1: Introduction and Bagpipe History
    • Lesson 2: The Practice Chanter
    • Lesson 3: Practice Chanter Technique, Posture, and Blowing
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Music Theory 1
    • Lesson 5: Beginner Rhythm Exercises
    • Lesson 6: Bagpipe Low Hand Notes
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe High Hand Notes
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Scale
    • Lesson 9: Bagpipe Crossing Noises
    • Lesson 10: Easy Bagpipe Songs
  • Novice
    • Lesson 1: Time Signatures and Note Values in Bagpipe Music
    • Lesson 2: Dots, Cuts & Ties
    • Lesson 3: How to Practice Bagpipes
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Embellishments
    • Lesson 5: Bagpipe Grace Notes >
      • Bagpipe High G Grace Note
      • Bagpipe D Grace Note
      • Bagpipe E Grace Note
      • Grace Note Exercises
      • Songs With Grace Notes
    • Lesson 6: Bagpipe Strikes >
      • Bagpipe B Strike
      • Bagpipe C Strike
      • Bagpipe D Strike
      • Bagpipe Light D Strike
      • Bagpipe E Strike
      • Bagpipe F Strike
      • Bagpipe High G Strike
      • Bagpipe High A Strike
      • Bagpipe Strike Exercises
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe Doublings >
      • Bagpipe Low G Doubling
      • Bagpipe Low A Doubling
      • Bagpipe B Doubling
      • Bagpipe C Doubling
      • Bagpipe D Doubling
      • Bagpipe E Doubling
      • Bagpipe F Doubling
      • Bagpipe High G Doubling
      • Bagpipe High A Doubling
      • 7 Doubling Exercise
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Grip
    • Lesson 9: How to Learn a Bagpipe Tune >
      • First and Second Time Bars
      • Introductory Notes
      • Memorizing Bagpipe Tune
    • Lesson 10: The Practice Goose
  • Intermediate
    • Lesson 1: Buying a Set of Bagpipes
    • Lesson 2: Bagpipe D Throw
    • Lesson 3: Bagpipe Taorluath
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Birls >
      • Regular Birl
      • Low A Birl
      • High G Birl
    • Lesson 5: Bagpipe Triplet
    • Lesson 6: Intermediate Rhythm Exercises
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe Low G Grace Note
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Light D Throw
    • Lesson 9: Bagpipe High A Grace Note
    • Lesson 10: Pipe Band Terminology
  • Advanced
    • Lesson 1: How to Practice Bagpipes Efficiently
    • Lesson 2: Bagpipe Half Doublings >
      • Bagpipe Low G Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe Low A Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe B Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe C Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe D Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe E Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe F Half Doubling
      • 7 Half Doubling Exercise
    • Lesson 3: Bagpipe High G Strikes >
      • Bagpipe High G B Strike
      • Bagpipe High G C Strike
      • Bagpipe High G D Strike
      • Bagpipe High G Open D Strike
      • High G Strike Exercise
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Tachum
    • Lesson 5: Bagpipe Doubling Strikes >
      • Bagpipe B Doubling Strike
      • Bagpipe C Doubling Strike
      • Bagpipe D Doubling Strike
      • Bagpipe Open D Doubling Strike
    • Lesson 6: G-D-E Grace Note Movement
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe Strathspey Movement
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Music Categories and Tempo Guide
  • Maintenance/Tuning
    • Bagpipe Anatomy
    • Practice Chanter Maintenance and Tuning
    • Hemping Your Bagpipe
    • Bagpipe Pipe Bag
    • Bagpipe Blow Stick
    • Bagpipe Drones >
      • Drone Reeds
      • Drone Tuning
      • Drone Cords
      • Drone Problems, Solutions and Terminology
    • Bagpipe Chanter >
      • Bagpipe Chanter Reed
      • Bagpipe Chanter Reed Selection
      • Preparing your Chanter Reed
      • Making Reed Easier to Blow
      • Fix a Double Toning F
      • Taping Bagpipe Chanter
      • Cutting a Hole to Sharpen a Note
      • Pipe Chanter Pitch
      • Protecting Your Bagpipe Reed
      • Pitching Your Bagpipe Chanter
    • Bagpipe Case
    • Bagpipe Pitch and Tuning
    • Bagpipe Moisture Control
    • Bagpipe Stretching
  • Tunes
    • 2/4 Marches >
      • Mairi's Wedding
      • Brown Haired Maiden
      • Teribus
      • The Barren Rocks of Aden
      • High Road to Gairloch
      • Highland Laddie
      • The Earl of Mansfield
      • The 79th Farwell to Gibraltar
      • 42nd Highland Division
      • Sweet Maid of Glendaruel
      • 72nd's Farewell to Aberdeen
      • Liberton Boys Polka
    • 3/4 Marches >
      • Balmoral
      • Castle Dangerous
      • Green Hills of Tyrol
      • When the Battles Over
      • Colins Cattle
      • Bloody Fields of Flanders
      • Lochanside
      • Dream Valley of Glendaruel
    • 4/4 Marches >
      • Robin Adair
      • Scots Wha Hae
      • Scotland the Brave
      • Rowan Tree
      • Wings
      • Blue Bells of Scotland
      • Minstrel Boy
      • Were No Awa Tae Bide Awa
      • Lord Lovat's Lament
    • 6/8 Marches >
      • A Hundred Pipers
      • Bonnie Dundee
      • Steam Boat
      • Glendaruel Highlanders
      • Mucking of Georgie's Byre
      • Atholl Highlanders
    • Airs >
      • Amazing Grace
      • Mist Covered Mountains
      • Skye Boat Song
      • Going Home
      • Suo Gan
      • MacPhersons Lament
      • The Mingulay Boat Song
      • Road to the Isles
      • Loch Rannoch
    • Jigs >
      • Hag at the Churn
      • Rocking the Baby
      • Kesh Jig
      • Tripping up the Stairs
      • Old Hag at the Kiln
      • Paddy's Leather Breeches
      • Galician Jig
      • Paddy be Easy
      • Old Wife of Mill Dust
      • Floating the Flambeau
    • Reels >
      • Piper of Drummond
      • Sleepy Maggie
      • High Road to Linton
      • Gravel Walk
      • Jenny Dang the Weaver
      • The Owl
      • Itchy Fingers
      • Willie Davie
      • Crooked Bridge
      • The Wise Maid
      • Olive Branch
    • Strathspeys >
      • Loudons Bonnie Woods and Braes
      • Orange and Blue
      • A.A Cameron
      • Captain Horn
      • The Campbeltown Kiltie Band
    • Hornpipes >
      • Jolly Beggerman
      • Paddy MacGinty's Goat
      • Moving Cloud
      • The Boys of Blue Hill
    • Songs >
      • Auld Lang Syne
      • London Bridges Falling Down
      • Happy Birthday
      • Yankee Doodle
      • Flower of Scotland
      • America the Beautiful
      • Bridal March
      • O' Danny Boy
  • Contact
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Lesson 1: Introduction & Bagpipe History


bagpipe introduction
Introduction

Congratulations on taking the first steps to becoming part of an exclusive club. From now on you won't be known as 'Sally' or 'John' you will be known as the guy or gal who plays the bagpipes. This isn't just an instrument, it's a lifestyle. It will effect every part of your life both musically and socially. I began playing when I was 12 years old and not a day goes by that I regret picking up the instrument. It has shaped my life. It paid my way through College, has given me a profession that I love, has allowed me to see the world, lead me to my wife and most of my best friends are pipers. These statements hold true with most pipers I know. It is a total life changing experience and for the better. However, nothing easy is worth doing and nothing could be closer to the truth when bagpipes are concerned. I will leave you with a quote from the famous piping instructor Neil Munro who says it better than I ever could.

"To the make of a piper go seven years … At the end of his seven years one born to it will stand at the start of knowledge, and leaning a fond ear to the drone he may have parley with old folks of old affairs. Playing the tune of the ‘Fairy Harp’, he can hear his forefolk, plaided in skins, towsy-headed and terrible, grunting at the oars and snoring in the caves, he has his own whittle and club in ‘The Desperate Battle’(my own tune, my darling), where the white-haired sea-rovers are on the shore, and a stain’s on the edge of the tide; or, trying his art on Laments, he can stand by the cairn of kings, ken the colour of Fingal’s hair, and see the moon-glint on the hook of the Druids.
- NEIL MUNRO -

Many enthusiastic beginning pipers will go straight out and buy a full set of pipes because they are so excited to begin playing. DO NOT be one of these people. Go through these lessons for a couple of months with your practice chanter and make sure you really want to play the bagpipes before making a $1,000+ investment. It takes most people from 9-12 months before I would recommend they buy a set of pipes. Would you buy a car if you didn't know how to driven? of course not. Same thing goes with the pipes. Learn how to play before you buy a set. 



Bagpipe History
bagpipe historyEarly Bagpipe
The first recorded knowledge of the bagpipes was a sculpture found on a Hittite slab at Euyuk in the Middle East, dated to 1000 BC. By the 1st century AD, bagpipes existed in many countries including India, Spain, France and Egypt. At this time the bagpipes didn’t look as we know them today. It was simply a "reeded pipe" similar to the practice chanter you use for these lessons and similar to the image on the left. 

Bagpipes began to appear in European art and iconography in the mid-13th century. The Cantigas de Santa Maria, compiled in Castile around 1350 depict several types of bagpipes and is pictured below on left. 

They were also mentioned in The Canterbury Tales as seen in the image below in the middle. 

“A baggepype wel coude he blowe and sown, And ther-with-al he broghte us out of towne.” 

Evidence of the bagpipe in Ireland occurs in 1581, when John Derrick's "The Image of Irelande" clearly depicts an illustration of a bagpiper. The Battle sequence from My Ladye Nevells Booke (1591) by William Byrd, also contains a piece entitled "The bagpipe & the drone". However, the first clear reference to the use of the Scottish Highland bagpipes is in 1547 in the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh when George Buchanan (1506–82) claimed that they had replaced the trumpet on the battlefield.
bagpipe history 1
Cantigas de Santa Maria
bagpipe history 2
Canterbury Tales
bagpipe history 3
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh


bagpipe history 4Bagpiper Seventeenth Century
The gaelic word for bagpipes is "piob-mhor" and is pronounced "peeb-more". Bagpipes have been around for hundreds of years but the great highland bagpipes were first established around 1650. The general look and characterists of the bagpipes today are very similar to what they were in 1650. However, they has evolved greatly since then. Believe it or not if you think it's hard to play the bagpipes now imagine doing it 400 years ago with an actual sheep's stomach, crooked drones, and reeds made out of bones and hand picked cane.

The great highland bagpipe doesn’t really begin its journey until the story of the MacCrimmon family, the house pipers for the Macleod’s on the isle of Syke. In 1595 Rory Mor MacLeod of Skye was fighting a war over in Ireland and returned home with a piper named Iain Odhar MacCrimmon. Iain was the son of Finlay of the Plaid and the piper who first inhabitated the lands in Skye granted to the MacCrimmons by the Macleods for their services as pipers.

Donald Mor was the first hereditatry piper to the Macleods in 1620. He was an excellent piper and was sent to Ireland by the macleods to study piobairechd in Ulster. While he was there his brother Patrick Caog was murdered by a MacKenzie from Kintail. When Donald got to Kintail to avenge his brother he burned down the entire village and was forced to flee to Sutherland for the protection of Donald Duaghal MacKay. This is where the tune title of “A Flame of Wrath for Squinting Patrick” comes from. Donald eventually was pardoned and came back to skye many years later. While home he lived a life of peace and we don’t hear to much about Donald again.

Many of our classic piobaireachd are attributed to Patrick Mor. The most famous of which “Lament for the Children” composed after 7 of his 8 sons passed away from small pox. Patrick died in 1670 and the hereditary piper for the MacLeod’s became his son Patrick Og. Patrick was a great teacher and taught many of the MacCrimmon's to play the pipes. He established the College at Borreraig to teach piping.  He wasn’t the great composer that his father was but he still wrote a good number of tunes.

PictureBagpiper World War II
During the expansion of the British Empire, spearheaded by British military forces that included Highland regiments, the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe became well-known worldwide. This surge in popularity was boosted by large numbers of pipers trained for military service in World War I and World War II. 

In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Nations such as Canada and New Zealand, the Great Highland Bagpipe is commonly used in the military and is often played in formal ceremonies. Foreign militaries patterned after the British Army have also taken the Highland bagpipe into use including Uganda, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Oman. Many police and fire services in Scotland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the United States have also adopted the tradition of fielding pipe bands.

Now bagpipes are generally only seen at weddings, funerals, parades, graduations and highland games where they have pipe band competitions. You will also occasionally seem them used in modern music such as Gaelic Storm, Drop Kick Murphy's and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers. They also appear in movie soundtracks such as Braveheart and Brave.
bagpipe pipe band
World Pipe Band Championships
bagpipe red hot chili pipers
Red Hot Chilli Pipers
This is a very brief history of bagpipes and by no means am I a historian. So, if you want a better understanding of bagpipe history I suggest you look online. There is tons on information out there if you want it.
  • Login
  • Beginner
    • Lesson 1: Introduction and Bagpipe History
    • Lesson 2: The Practice Chanter
    • Lesson 3: Practice Chanter Technique, Posture, and Blowing
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Music Theory 1
    • Lesson 5: Beginner Rhythm Exercises
    • Lesson 6: Bagpipe Low Hand Notes
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe High Hand Notes
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Scale
    • Lesson 9: Bagpipe Crossing Noises
    • Lesson 10: Easy Bagpipe Songs
  • Novice
    • Lesson 1: Time Signatures and Note Values in Bagpipe Music
    • Lesson 2: Dots, Cuts & Ties
    • Lesson 3: How to Practice Bagpipes
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Embellishments
    • Lesson 5: Bagpipe Grace Notes >
      • Bagpipe High G Grace Note
      • Bagpipe D Grace Note
      • Bagpipe E Grace Note
      • Grace Note Exercises
      • Songs With Grace Notes
    • Lesson 6: Bagpipe Strikes >
      • Bagpipe B Strike
      • Bagpipe C Strike
      • Bagpipe D Strike
      • Bagpipe Light D Strike
      • Bagpipe E Strike
      • Bagpipe F Strike
      • Bagpipe High G Strike
      • Bagpipe High A Strike
      • Bagpipe Strike Exercises
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe Doublings >
      • Bagpipe Low G Doubling
      • Bagpipe Low A Doubling
      • Bagpipe B Doubling
      • Bagpipe C Doubling
      • Bagpipe D Doubling
      • Bagpipe E Doubling
      • Bagpipe F Doubling
      • Bagpipe High G Doubling
      • Bagpipe High A Doubling
      • 7 Doubling Exercise
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Grip
    • Lesson 9: How to Learn a Bagpipe Tune >
      • First and Second Time Bars
      • Introductory Notes
      • Memorizing Bagpipe Tune
    • Lesson 10: The Practice Goose
  • Intermediate
    • Lesson 1: Buying a Set of Bagpipes
    • Lesson 2: Bagpipe D Throw
    • Lesson 3: Bagpipe Taorluath
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Birls >
      • Regular Birl
      • Low A Birl
      • High G Birl
    • Lesson 5: Bagpipe Triplet
    • Lesson 6: Intermediate Rhythm Exercises
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe Low G Grace Note
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Light D Throw
    • Lesson 9: Bagpipe High A Grace Note
    • Lesson 10: Pipe Band Terminology
  • Advanced
    • Lesson 1: How to Practice Bagpipes Efficiently
    • Lesson 2: Bagpipe Half Doublings >
      • Bagpipe Low G Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe Low A Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe B Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe C Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe D Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe E Half Doubling
      • Bagpipe F Half Doubling
      • 7 Half Doubling Exercise
    • Lesson 3: Bagpipe High G Strikes >
      • Bagpipe High G B Strike
      • Bagpipe High G C Strike
      • Bagpipe High G D Strike
      • Bagpipe High G Open D Strike
      • High G Strike Exercise
    • Lesson 4: Bagpipe Tachum
    • Lesson 5: Bagpipe Doubling Strikes >
      • Bagpipe B Doubling Strike
      • Bagpipe C Doubling Strike
      • Bagpipe D Doubling Strike
      • Bagpipe Open D Doubling Strike
    • Lesson 6: G-D-E Grace Note Movement
    • Lesson 7: Bagpipe Strathspey Movement
    • Lesson 8: Bagpipe Music Categories and Tempo Guide
  • Maintenance/Tuning
    • Bagpipe Anatomy
    • Practice Chanter Maintenance and Tuning
    • Hemping Your Bagpipe
    • Bagpipe Pipe Bag
    • Bagpipe Blow Stick
    • Bagpipe Drones >
      • Drone Reeds
      • Drone Tuning
      • Drone Cords
      • Drone Problems, Solutions and Terminology
    • Bagpipe Chanter >
      • Bagpipe Chanter Reed
      • Bagpipe Chanter Reed Selection
      • Preparing your Chanter Reed
      • Making Reed Easier to Blow
      • Fix a Double Toning F
      • Taping Bagpipe Chanter
      • Cutting a Hole to Sharpen a Note
      • Pipe Chanter Pitch
      • Protecting Your Bagpipe Reed
      • Pitching Your Bagpipe Chanter
    • Bagpipe Case
    • Bagpipe Pitch and Tuning
    • Bagpipe Moisture Control
    • Bagpipe Stretching
  • Tunes
    • 2/4 Marches >
      • Mairi's Wedding
      • Brown Haired Maiden
      • Teribus
      • The Barren Rocks of Aden
      • High Road to Gairloch
      • Highland Laddie
      • The Earl of Mansfield
      • The 79th Farwell to Gibraltar
      • 42nd Highland Division
      • Sweet Maid of Glendaruel
      • 72nd's Farewell to Aberdeen
      • Liberton Boys Polka
    • 3/4 Marches >
      • Balmoral
      • Castle Dangerous
      • Green Hills of Tyrol
      • When the Battles Over
      • Colins Cattle
      • Bloody Fields of Flanders
      • Lochanside
      • Dream Valley of Glendaruel
    • 4/4 Marches >
      • Robin Adair
      • Scots Wha Hae
      • Scotland the Brave
      • Rowan Tree
      • Wings
      • Blue Bells of Scotland
      • Minstrel Boy
      • Were No Awa Tae Bide Awa
      • Lord Lovat's Lament
    • 6/8 Marches >
      • A Hundred Pipers
      • Bonnie Dundee
      • Steam Boat
      • Glendaruel Highlanders
      • Mucking of Georgie's Byre
      • Atholl Highlanders
    • Airs >
      • Amazing Grace
      • Mist Covered Mountains
      • Skye Boat Song
      • Going Home
      • Suo Gan
      • MacPhersons Lament
      • The Mingulay Boat Song
      • Road to the Isles
      • Loch Rannoch
    • Jigs >
      • Hag at the Churn
      • Rocking the Baby
      • Kesh Jig
      • Tripping up the Stairs
      • Old Hag at the Kiln
      • Paddy's Leather Breeches
      • Galician Jig
      • Paddy be Easy
      • Old Wife of Mill Dust
      • Floating the Flambeau
    • Reels >
      • Piper of Drummond
      • Sleepy Maggie
      • High Road to Linton
      • Gravel Walk
      • Jenny Dang the Weaver
      • The Owl
      • Itchy Fingers
      • Willie Davie
      • Crooked Bridge
      • The Wise Maid
      • Olive Branch
    • Strathspeys >
      • Loudons Bonnie Woods and Braes
      • Orange and Blue
      • A.A Cameron
      • Captain Horn
      • The Campbeltown Kiltie Band
    • Hornpipes >
      • Jolly Beggerman
      • Paddy MacGinty's Goat
      • Moving Cloud
      • The Boys of Blue Hill
    • Songs >
      • Auld Lang Syne
      • London Bridges Falling Down
      • Happy Birthday
      • Yankee Doodle
      • Flower of Scotland
      • America the Beautiful
      • Bridal March
      • O' Danny Boy
  • Contact