I was very sad to learn that Tony Harris, former RSPBA National Councillor, passed away on Friday 10 April 2020 at the age of 89, writes Alistair Aitken.  Tony had been in a care residence for some time near his home in Toddington in Bedfordshire. Tony was born in Wootton Green, a small village in Bedfordshire.  He lived in nearby Stewartby, where his father, uncles and grandfather worked for the…

With the passing of Bob Shepherd MBE piping and the pipe band community have lost one of its legendary personalities.  Bob will be remembered as a successful pipe band teacher and leader, an innovative manufacturer of piping products as well as someone who played an immense role in the progressive development of pipe band music.  Among his greatest attributes were his depth of understanding of bagpipes and pipe bands, his…

In concluding his informative articles on pipe band adjudication former judge Alistair Aitken OBE identifies specific factors associated with pipe band assessment. This should serve as a ‘ready reckoner’ for all bands competing and non-competing. Mr Aitken splits his list of ‘requirements’ into three sections, drumming, ensemble and piping which where he begins. Introduction No sound from drones until 5th beat of 3-pace rolls All drones in together accurately and…

In this excerpt we explore in more detail some of the terminology the RSPBA expect its adjudicators to use in critique sheets which provide the feedback to pipe bands on competition performances.  The aim is to help pipe band personnel to better understand adjudicator comments and learn from the experience. Please be aware that these comments are from my time working on adjudicator training for the RSPBA and details and…

Pipe band expert Alistair Aitken OBE continues his detailed analysis of the judging of pipe bands. Read his first instalment here. The effective pipe band adjudicator should, sub-consciously, be taking the following aspects into account whilst listening, analysing and ranking different performances. Rhythm: This is defined as ‘the regular recurrence of strong and weak accents arising from the division of music into regular metrical portions‘.  In making a rhythmical assessment,…