Category: Tuition

John MacFadyen on the Art of Judging – Part 4

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Here we have the penultimate excerpt of John MacFadyen’s comments on judging from the recording made in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1973. In it he discourses on tune selection. He tells an amusing story of the Dunvegan Medal and Sheriff Grant and the confusion between MacFarlane’s Gathering and Too Long in this Condition. He says it is wrong for judges to give favourite tunes to their favourite pipers. He describes…

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Playing Requirements for Major Pipe Band Championships 2023 Announced

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The RSPBA have published playing requirements for the 2023 Major Pipe Band Championships. They have listed them as Major 1 to Major 4 plus the Worlds. They say the requirements are ‘subject to change due to circumstances’. No dates or venues are given for the championships. The Europeans, scheduled for July in Inverness have already been cancelled with a new venue being sought. The UKs have, for the past few…

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Editor’s Notebook: SPA Veterans/ Competition Marches/ Chanter for Sale/ Strathallan Success

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To the Piping Centre tonight to judge Scottish Pipers’ Association Veteran’s competition. SPA President Logan Tannock: ‘The members veteran’s competition is at 7pm tonight, Friday December 2, in the NPC McPhater Street. ‘If any member aged over 60 wants to enter then they should contact Secretary Melissa Jeffray at  melissajeffrey96@yahoo.co.uk. Entries also taken on the night. ‘If you qualify and would like to take part the playing criteria is a Slow…

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Piobaireachd Society Conference Returns After a Three Year Absence

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The Piobaireachd Society has announced that their Annual Conference, until recently an important fixture in the piping calendar, will return in March next year for the first time since 2019. The Conference provides a forum for interesting and important studies on ceòl mòr. Planned topics are: The venue is the Royal George Hotel, Perth, over the weekend of March 24 – 26, 2023. The Society will subsidise the conference –…

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Readers Respond to Competition 2/4 March Report: Judges Don’t Select New Music

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A selection of the responses to yesterday’s article by Dale Brown on the paucity of modern 2/4 march compositions on the competition boards…. Vincent Janowski: There might be a touch of light coming into your cave, but, again, your post and this list of great tunes ignores the obvious: at one point, most of these tunes were considered ‘modern’. Without today’s easy access to printed books and scores, it must…

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