I usually charge $75 /half hour, with a “free” half hour to hour for tuning etc. That is a price for Weddings and Funerals. A Funeral usually works out to a set in the chapel (1/2 hour) and/or a set at graveside (1/2 hour). Weddings, I charge from the time the show is supposed to go on, until I leave, with at least $300 paid up front, as I have been burned by parents. If I was playing a pub for an hour or so, like 3, 10-15 minute sets, I would go with $50-100, plus tab and tips, depending on how much I like the pub.

A party like that, $150 maybe, that’s $50 bucks an hour and you might get some other gigs from it. Remember, YOU learned how to play that darn thing and YOU maintain it and that’s worth something, if people want the pipes they need to pay to appreciate it and for the rest of us. A very wise old Scot told me once, if you will do it for free why should they pay me?