Category: Blog

Be a Better Piper: Dre and Edre and the Crunluath

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Reader Paul Eschenburg in Plymouth, Michigan: ‘A question from the trenches…I have always played the dre movement as instructed by my tutor. ‘When I mentioned to him that Jimmy McIntosh espouses the pre-1895 version as described in his ‘Ceol Mor in the Balmoral Tradition’, page 29, I was just told ‘we are not going to do it that way’. By Robert Wallace ‘Jimmy is very adamant regarding this movement as…

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Pipes for Aberdeen Pupils/ Lochaber Juniors Contest Entry

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Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust: Aberdeenshire pupils are on the road to a life-time of piping success, thanks to an award of new, on loan pipes. Fifteen pupils at Meldrum Academy and Rayne North Primary will benefit from the award. Pictured are some of the pupils at Meldrum Academy with their new pipes, alongside their piping tutor Andrew Gray.  Linda Moggach, Faculty Head of Performing Arts at Meldrum Academy…

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Pipe Band Workshop: Focussing on Melody and the Importance of Tune Selection in a Band’s Presentation

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Within the pipe band idiom there are a number of different melodic disciplines to consider, viz. tunes for competition march, strathspey and reel, tunes for medley construction, tunes for concert performance, tunes for parade and ceremonial occasions, certain tunes that are more sympathetic for tuning the bagpipe. With bands at different levels of expertise, tune selection becomes an art in its self.   By Barry Donaldson Many pieces suitable for…

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Senior Piper Claims Age Discrimination After Solo Contest Upholds Rule on Mandatory Jig Entry

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Piper Brian Mulhearn is claiming he has technically been barred from taking part in next month’s Duncan Johnstone Memorial competition on grounds of his age. Brian (69) is pictured above. He says he only wants to enter the Piobaireachd section. The Duncan Johnstone has a rule that all competitors must play in the Jig events too. This rule was instituted several years ago to ensure pipers stuck around for the…

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History: Pipe Band Association Meeting that Marked the Beginning of the International Movement

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This article is based on the minutes of a meeting held on Sunday, June 30th, 1968, at the Leapark Hotel in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire. The industrial town had been the venue for the World Pipe Band Championships the day before. The picture above shows the Robert Armstrong Memorial Pipe Band, Northern Ireland, on the contest field that day. All the big names from the then Scottish Pipe Band Association were in…

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