The Piobaireachd Society has made the music scores from books 1-3 in its published series available to members free of charge on its website at www.piobaireachd.co.uk, writes President Dr Jack Taylor. After several months preparation, classic tunes such as the Unjust Incarceration, In Praise of Morag, Lament for the Children and the Lament for Patrick Og, and also smaller tunes, e.g. Battle of Auldearn, Lament for the Old Sword and Black Donald’s March now sit…

The PP Archives have a copy of the magazine ‘Piping World’ from half a century ago, 1968. This was a US-based magazine edited by the late Don Varella. There are a number of noteworthy articles, advertisements, results and photographs we thought would be of interest to PP readers at this quiet time of year for piping. The picture above is from the magazine’s front cover and shows judge John Wilson…

Congratulations to Dave Mason on winning the John Cruickshank VC composing competition. I think his tune is one that will be played and thus serve the memory of a true war hero. It was a very difficult competition to judge made all the easier working with legendary figures such as Ian McLellan, Richard Parkes and Stuart Liddell. On going through the entries one was struck by how difficult it is…

After an unbelievable 2,060 votes, we can proudly announce Culter & District Pipe Band (pictured above top) as our 2019 winners of The High Note! We didn’t expect nearly this many responses but goes to show how hungry these bands were for this type of teaching platform. The Grade 4 Culter & District pipe band was formed in 1983 and is based in Peterculter, Aberdeen. The band is linked closely…

Mr Dave Mason, of South Africa and Cincinatti, USA, has been declared the winner of the composing competition for a tune to commemorate World War 2 flying hero John Cruickshank VC. Mr Mason receives £1,000. The competition was for a suitable march to mark the life and valour of Mr Cruickshank VC of Aberdeen. Read more about his incredible bravery here. The competiton was sponsored by the Royal Northern and…