Memorial Day Semi-Annual Back-to-Basics … Part 1

It’s time for my semi-annual back to basics rant. Piping is a year round activity for most of us. We love to play most anytime and anywhere. We love to try new tunes and play old ones. Yet unless we stay true to our training, our musicality may slip. At a recent event, a Memorial Day performance, the band gathered at a Bay Area cemetery to play. We arrived, chatted, put on uniforms, warmed up our instruments, then took far too long to tune and hence we did not give enough time to gather with the drummers and run through a set of music. There were note errors, missed starts, missed pickups and cut-offs. Overall the performance was a ‘B’, but not the ‘A’ we should be performing at. There are many factors affecting a performance. By Memorial Day, every piper worth his, or her, salt should be hitting their stride, a plateau of performance, if you will. And if we’re not, then you need to attend my Semi-Annual Back-to-Basics blog!

The Highland Bagpipes are one of the most physically challenging of instruments to play. To play well a piper must be practiced confidently on his or her chanter (for the tune), have strong lungs and strong lips (to play steady and controlled), a strong arm (to play steadily and well) and a well-tuned instrument. When one of these (chanter, lungs, lips, arm & instrument) is off, the others will (not may) suffer.

A piper needs a strong lips, strong arm and a lot of breath to keep the pipes going. Practicing daily for twenty to thirty (or more) minutes helps develop the strength and stamina a piper needs to play well. You can tell a lot about a piper’s practice time by how long their lips last until he starts to sputter and loose air through his lips. The more you practice on both practice chanter and pipes to the point of sputter, then recover rest, the stronger you will become. Add strong breath support and a strong arm, both gained through practice, and you can then maintain strong and steady pressure keeping the tune, both chanter and drones, playing with an even sound.

Truth be told, it is just what my parents told me when I decided to take up alto saxophone in elementary school: practice and you improve; skip practice and you don’t, your decision son. My parents are very wise. Did I heed their advice through high school: sadly no. I practiced sporadically, or increased practice close to a performance. I was never a star player. Years later, I found out that you don’t just try bagpiping. The bagpipes are a strong taskmaster if you want to improve. Play your chanter every day. If you are new to piping, play your practice chanter until your lips sputter, then return later that day for another session. Soon you’ll be practicing for 30 or more minutes. With strong lips then practice can concentrate on the music. When you are on the pipes (be sure to take time to tune), do the same thing. Your lips, lungs and arm will strengthen allowing you to, once again, concentrate on the music.

Happy piping.