We have received the following comments regarding articles in this week’s Piping Press. Firstly this from reader Joe Hardy on ‘Remembering P/M Hamilton Workman, HLI’:
‘This is a truly wonderful memory of Hammie. So many pipers today don’t really know about him and don’t understand how important he was to piping in the U.S. I attended the North American Academy of Piping [NAAPD] every summer between 1985 and 2007.
‘Hammie was a huge influence on me. I still have most of my tapes of his piobaireachd lessons from piping school. On one tape, he went into a discussion of playing for [Lord] Mountbatten. I looked for that one when I was converting the tapes to digital but I can’t find it.
‘In July of 1990, I was asked along with Brian Yates and Jonathan Cook to play at the NAAPD concert along with Hammie and Sandy Jones. I will always remember Hammie’s words of encouragement just before I went on to play. It was the last time I would see him…he passed away not long after.’
- Read the original article here.
Pipe Band College
Now we turn to the Editor’s opinion piece ‘What is Wrong with the RSPBA’s Pipe Band College?’
Former Strathclyde Police Pipe Major, Ian Plunkett writes : ‘Excellent piece by the Editor. I have wondered for decades why there is not a stream of you kids attending that building on for example a Saturday morning learning to play bagpipes and drums.
‘Any action taken will be hampered by Washington Street itself which costs a small fortune to park at anytime. Setting that aside and trying to be positive, I would be willing to put myself forward for consideration as an instructor should a structured and co-ordinated teaching programme be put in place. I have all the RSPBA organisation’s qualifications and PVG clearance.’
We also received this anonymous comment on the same article. ‘You make some decent points – why have the RSPBA not set up regional schools or academies like the Scottish Football Association have?
‘They don’t need to buy property but do need to make a commitment to teaching and assessment around Scotland.’
- Read the original article here.
Donald MacLeod Tunes – ‘Play Along’ Lessons
Here is a selection of ‘play along’ lessons for tunes from one of the greatest pipe music composers of all time, P/M Donald MacLeod. They are played on the practice chanter by renowned tutor Robert Wallace. They include four piobaireachd, Field of Gold, Queen Elizabeth II’s Salute, MacMhurich’s Salute, Sound of the Sea and Cabar Feidh Gu Bragh. Ceol beag is played firstly at practice tempo and then closer to performance tempo. Students should play simultaneously with the recordings after…
