Start Off On The Right Foot



Common, everyday instruments like the Clarinet, Saxaphones, the Alboka and even more exotic instruments like the Chinese transverse flute called the Dizi have single reeds.

Well known double reed instruments are the Trombone, the English Horn, the Oboe and the Bassoon, to name a few.

The Great Highland Bagpipes is an instrument that has no less than four reeds. That's right, four! There is one bass drone reed, one chanter reed and two tenor drone reeds!

Most people definitely have to take lessons on Clarinets or Oboes, so why would the GHB be any different? Now, that is not to say you can't try to teach yourself to play the bagpipes. You may not have any choice because of where you live or some other personal reason. And there are a number of self teaching aids on the market that you can use to train your abilities.

But it is obvious, from the complexity of the Great Highland Bagpipes, that you can save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you find yourself a good teacher, even if only to start off on the right foot. Just tuning the GHB as well as maintenance on "The Great Pipes" can be quite tricky for the beginner.

Like any other complex subject, poor training can result in great difficulties that might be very hard to overcome. Poor fingering techniques, poor tuning of the instrument and even bad posture while playing, may become deeply ingrained bad habits. Bad habits can be very, very difficult to overcome before you can learn the proper methods.

Fingering techniques alone are impossible to pick up from just listening to a recording. And it is quite likely that the sheet music you are reading for the Great Highland Bagpipe may not play as you think, the embellishments and grace notes may look one way but be expressed in another. That can be quite common with the bagpipes. Having a teacher to interprete what you are seeing can be of great benefit in the long run.

If you find yourself anxious to get started and unwilling to wait for a few lessons, just remember the saying, "Seven generations and seven years to make a piper."

Do yourself [and the world around you] a favour and strive to get, at the very least, off on the right foot with a good teacher.

You will be glad you did!