Readers Respond to Article on RSPBA’s MSR Rule Change

A mixed bag of response to yesterday’s article by Ian Forbes. (Read it here.) Before we get to them the Editor writes: ‘I was interested in the comment in the rule change which states that four part tunes should be ‘where the tune was written as a four parted tune’. ‘This is misleading. If we look through our older collections we see that many standards we accept today as four…

The RSPBA Have More Pressing Issues to Attend to than this Unnecessary Rule Change on MSRs

The RSPBA have made a rule change for the Grade 1 MSR, distinguishing between four-parted tunes and six and eight-parted tunes. Why is this necessary? Can someone from the Music Board please explain? Before going any further, I have tried to simplify the hard to understand wording of the rule change as it appears on the RSPBA website. It will apply from 2023. Grade 1 bands to submit two MSRs….

Hector Russell 1945 – 2022

I am saddened to report the sudden passing of piper Hector Russell, writes the Editor. Hector suffered a heart attack at his home in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, and died on Saturday. He was 77. His death comes only a few weeks after the completion of his ‘Pipe Music of Alex M MacIver’, a book he compiled in tribute to his former teacher and which was recently reviewed with acclaim on Piping…

2022 Glengarry Cup Result

On Saturday, September 24, the Ottawa Branch of the Pipers’ and Pipe Band Society of Ontario held the Glengarry Cup. This event marked the first in person event for the association since February 2020 and drew a crowd of almost 100, filling the room at the Army Officers’ Mess, in Ottawa. By Karine Mayers, President, PPBSO Ottawa Branch The event was held this weekend as it coincides with the National…

Editor’s Notebook: Look Back at the Season/ Inverness/ Worlds MSRs/ BB Fears/ South West School

So summer’s lease has come and gone and I think we can look back on a very successful return to competition in both solo and band worlds. Next year will be even better I feel, all things being equal. I think the standards in the Grade 1 bands were every bit as good as before the shutdown – but maybe not so in the solos. A lot of weak interpretation…