By Robert Wallace I had the pleasure of attending the Scottish Schools’ Combined Cadet Force Piobaireachd Championship last Friday evening (Jan 17) to judge the senior section. The host was Merchiston Castle School, one of the most prestigious in the country and one which prides itself on the quality of its bagpipe tuition. Nine young men were forward and it really was heartening to hear their efforts. They were a…

Since its inception over 100 years ago – celebrated at that special ceremony on January 10 – the SPA has studiously stuck to its rules of providing open annual competition for all levels of piping: juvenile, amateur and professional. In the following picture galleries you will see some of the many winners over the years, and don’t be surprised if you notice a few changes in appearance. What is clear…

One wonders if the Scottish Government will mirror last week’s committment in England and Wales: ‘Ministers have pledged £80 million to ensure all children have access to music lessons and can leave school able to read and write music.’ Don’t hold your breath. At the moment it is up to cash-strapped Scottish local authorities to deem how much of their education budget can be spent on music. In most it is…

By The Editor There has been a considerable response to my article on bagpipe technique and how it has changed and moved on over time. The first of our comments is from Dale Brown in the US. Dale writes: ‘On a cold morning like this what could be more fun than to have a hot stove discussion on piping fingering methods.  ‘I started my piping journey as a youngster in…

Some time ago a reader alerted me to what he termed the ‘California D throw’, the ‘light’ throw. He said that he had noticed how modern pipe bands and soloists seemed to opt for this style. The correspondent thought the ‘light’ throw ‘sounded tidier’ in bands but thought it lost ‘importance’ when played by a soloist. By importance I took it that he meant impact or definition. He speculated: ‘Has the…