John Ford Highland Pipe Band

Hopefully, by now, you are seriously considering learning the bagpipes and just don't know who to ask for help, or indeed where to find good information. I get a lot of emails from beginners who are full of enthusiasm but are on their own and for whatever reason, unable to attend a practice session, or find an instructor. This information is aimed at helping beginners and advanced beginners to get the information they need to start learning and continue learning, properly, how to play the Great Highland Bagpipes. If you are completely lost then please use the "Contact Us" link to the left of this page, to send us an email

So if you are ready for some tips, let's get going.

Good luck to you all.

You've made up your mind that no matter what, you want to learn the Great Highland Bagpipes and you've heard about the practice chanter but nothing else.

Step 1. Find a reputable supplier. Please go to the links page for a list of suppliers to the John Ford Pipe Band. Please let them know how you found their name if you use any of them yourself. No! We don't get any discount or special deals by passing on customers.

Step 2. Buy your reading material. Recently, while on a visit to Edinburgh I came across a fairly new tutor, which was first published in 2001. It is called 'The Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book' and is produced by the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. I have to say, that it is probably the best tutor I have seen, for beginners, in a long time. The list of contents include a cd rom with instructional video clips for the pc. The video is of Pipe Major Gordon Walker, ex Royal Highland Fusiliers. Piobmaster player, which plays all the exercises and tunes in the book. Also for a pc. The output can be made to sound like a chanter or the bagpipes. 20 audio tracks that can be played on your computer or standard cd audio player. There is teachers and students worksheets and records that you can print out so you can keep track of where the students are. Lastly all the exercises and tunes can be printed out if required.

I grew up using the college of piping "green tutor" which has been completely updated. It now has a CD and you won't go wrong if you use this one too.

Step 3. Purchase a Practice Chanter. I use a short chanter. I tried learning on a long chanter but I found it was clumsy in my hands and so I went back to the short one. What is the difference? The short chanter has the holes spaced fairly close and it is easy for small hands and beginners to manage. The holes are very small and it takes some time to get the feel for where they are. The long chanter has the holes the same spacing as on the bagpipes. Further apart and larger than on the small chanter.

I would not say that either one is better than the other. Has it made me a worse player for using the short practice chanter? No. quite the opposite. Had I kept going with the long chanter I would have lost interest. I was missing more holes than I was hitting and it felt extremely awkward. I am still able to transfer all movements with ease to the bagpipes.

There are a lot of instructors who recommend that you use the large practice chanter to give you experience with the larger hole spacing. As I said earlier, it did not work for me. As long as you use a reputable dealer, you can always ask if you can return it, if it is wrong for you, or even try one out.

Two Example Practice Chanters The image on the left is of a Gibson Long Practice Chanter made in Polypenco. Sometimes referred to as "Plastic". The Practice Chanter on the right is the Shepherd Regular Chanter. Also Polypenco. See the difference in the hole spacing between the two chanters? I mention that these chanters are "plastic" or Polypenco, to give the material its correct name. The other material that is used is African Blackwood. This is what the most bagpipes are made from. Polypenco is the modern material used to make chanters, and recently complete bagpipes. Which is the best then, Polypenco or African Blackwood? I have to say that it is a personal preference. I have had my regular African Blackwood chanter for about 20 years now and it is going strong. Remember, even when you move onto the Great Highland Bagpipe, you will, or at least you should be, spending a lot of time practicing, using your trusty practice chanter. Make sure you buy one you will be happy with and feel comfortable playing. It is very important that you realize, that the sound is made by a reed in the top of the chanter. See both the pictures. The white bit sticking out the top. That's the reed. When you purchase your practice chanter, make sure you ask for a suitable reed. No, they don't all come with one. If you don't then you may as well get out the comb and tissue paper and make a kazoo.

DO NOT PURCHASE Pakistani made practice chanters or even consider Bagpipes. The wood will just soak up the moisture and crack. You will find these Bagpipes and Chanters very cheap. They are cheap because they are rubbish.

Advanced Beginners: I consider anyone who can read the tunes and exercises in any beginners tutor, and feel comfortable with playing the chanter, to be an advanced beginner. I have played for many years and consider myself an intermediate player. It will achieve nothing if you don't know your own weaknesses. If you think you are intermediate and can't play everything, in the tutor you are using, re-analyze your playing and perhaps, admit you may not be as good after all. Say to yourself, "OK! so I am a beginner" Then you can start to learn and progress.

I received a nice email the other day, asking which tutor to buy. It is of course obvious now, if you have read above, but this gentleman had already heard great things about James McGillivary's book "Rhythmic Fingerwork". I advised that he purchase the ' The Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book'. I received an email stating that this was the correct decision. Stick to this one as a starter book. You will not regret it.

Jim's book, and he states this himself, Is not for beginners. Advanced beginners and beyond can all benefit from Jim's book. He does not go into real basics, so you need to be able to play the notes on the chanter and understand grace notes and so on. Buy a beginners one first, then move onto this one.

It comes with a cd and you can hear exactly how the exercises should sound. There are no tunes to learn just exercises and lots of them. 141 to be exact. I have started to see improvements already by "going back to basics"

Don't rush anything. If you read both these books and follow their instructions exactly, you will become a good player. If you practice a great deal, you will become a great player.

Hopefully this will help you out with the basic decision making. I am not going to talk about Bagpipes as that is not what this article is about.