The Italian Piper

The sounds of bagpipes were always a pleasant sound to me since I was real young. I never put much thought into how one learns the pipes other than it was more of a cultural thing passed down from generation to generation. In speaking with my buddy Dirty Copper taking up the pipes is not as complicated a task as I thought, meaning I don’t have to fly to Scotland for lessons once a week. Don’t get me wrong you still have to practice and put your time in just as learning any instrument but it is definitely obtainable. And thankfully there is only one octave.


Once I researched bag piping equipment I knew I was getting ready to pursue another instrument. This time instead of rocking out in a cover band till the wee morning hours I will be playing bagpipes at funerals, weddings and if I join a band, parades which is a little different venue than I was playing at approximately eight years ago. That’s okay, 2009 was a great branching out year for me when I joined Saint Mary’s Schola Cantorum (Gregorian Chant Choir) and in 2010 I will branch out a little further taking up bagpipes.


In mid November I received my practice chanter which is the first piece of equipment you purchase when just learning bagpipes. The only problem was my instructional book and cd were on backorder so I had to rely on my intrinsic musical skills plus a quick video on YouTube to give it a whirl. WOW, I had no idea what I was doing. My kids quickly wanted to give daddy a music lesson on how to play so they grabbed their recorders (another type of woodwind musical instrument) and started to show me what I was doing wrong. I really didn’t need them to show me I was a novice. It was clearly the sound of a dying duck in my living room which came from the practice chanter that gave me the slightest hint I needed severe help. Thankfully I play in my basement for my neighbor’s sake. I wish my chanter came with an aspirin because after about ten to fifteen minutes of trying to produce a melodic sound I got a crushing headache. The next day I hit the internet in search of bag pipe instructions to hold me over until I got my cd and book.


Now that I am about three weeks into practicing to become a bagpiper I must say I am having fun. It is different from playing bass guitar which is what I used to play but I will certainly be back doing what I enjoy most (except spending time with my kids), and that is playing an instrument. I am glad it takes about a year to learn the fundamentals of bag piping because it will take me that long to save for a set of pipes as well as the full set of highland wear. I also want to break my youngest daughter in slowly that daddy will be wearing a kilt. I can only imagine what her reaction will be when she sees me in full garb. Time will tell.