Pipes came in today!

[OC Richard]

I too remember well that feeling when I got my first set of pipes.

It was 1975. I had been playing practice chanter every day for a year or so. I never missed a day.

When I was about to graduate from High School my Dad said "you've gotten good grades and you deserve some kind of reward. What would you like?"

and I replied "bagpipes!" with no hesitation.

Though he was worried that I might not stick with it he bought me a set of Lawries. Boy when I got those things it was like Christmas morning felt when I was five years old.

In retrospect they were awful pipes, made just when Lawrie (who had been around since the 19th century and back in the 1890-1930 period had made some of the best pipes ever made by anyone) was going belly-up.

But at the time I thought they were grand. I couldn't put them down. Three years later I was playing in a Grade Two band.

About the learning to blow thing, there are a number of approaches used by different teachers.

Many recommend first removing the chanter and corking the bass and one tenor drone, so starting off blowing a single tenor, which takes only a fraction of the blowing strength required by the chanter.

When you can blow that one tenor steady (which might take a few days) then play two tenors. Now you can get practice training your ear by tuning those tenors to each other. Once you can quickly tune the tenors and blow them steady so they don't beat, you can add the bass, which takes as much or more air than both tenors. Now you can spend a few days blowing and tuning all three drones together.

It amazes me how many experienced pipers, ones with good ears otherwise, are incapable of tuning their drones with all three of them going. It's because they've never trained their ear to do it, I suppose.

One HUGE reason to learn to blow without the chanter is that it avoids the temptation to noodle around or play tunes when you should be focusing on blowing.

Then, once you can blow all three drones steady and tune them quickly, you can cork off all three drones and play the chanter only.

Do not play tunes or scales at first! Play long notes only. Start perhaps with E or D because these notes in the middle tend to be more stable oftentimes. If you can't hold E steady for five minutes you're not ready to play scales or tunes!

Once you can hold E and D steady you can work down to C, B, and Low A. Hold each note at least a couple minutes.

When you can do that (and many pipers who have been playing for 20 years can't) then you can do F, High G, and the most unstable note of all, High A.

Listen to even very good, experienced pipers play Amazing Grace and you'll often hear those long High A's go off at times.

Unless you can hold High A steady for a couple mintues you shouldn't be playing scales or tunes on the pipes.

Once you can hold any note steady it's time for scales and exercises like Low A to High A and back, Low G to High G and back, etc.

Some pipers never learn to blow steady without visual aid like looking at the needle of an electronic tuner, or the water in a manometer.

[Mr. Woolery]

Yeah, I was going to give you similar advice to what Ohiopiper said, but OCRichard covered a lot more.

As a note, there's no good reason to think you need to blow medium or hard reeds. I know the debates about stability and tone, but find out what strength people really blow who can play for a long time and you'll find that the best pipers don't play the hardest reeds. I'd bet money on that for 95% of the best solo pipers in the world, actually. Chris Apps, a very fine reed maker, sells a gauge (only worth getting for a band, not for solo) that measures strength of your reed in inches of water (you can make one from tubing and a cork for a lot cheaper - see Andrew Lenz's website for Water Manometer). He also sells reeds matched to a very specific strength and reports that of the pros who specify strength, they don't go for the high end. More for the easy/medium range.

And when you get a reed that is unplayably hard, keep it. These are great for learning how to carve a reed down to make it a proper strength. Some people will tell you never to whittle a reed, but those people are seldom reed makers. Use a reed you couldn't play already and thin it where it needs thinning so it plays well. I am merciless about it and have gotten favorable comments even from people who tell me never to carve a reed. I don't advocate doing to reeds that don't need it, but I do advocate whittling down reeds that don't work for you. Great learning experience.

-Patrick