Our Scottish Bellows Pipes ten week evening classes will run in our West End - Otago Street venue.
Suitable for everyone from complete beginners to advanced, these weekly classes in small groups will provide supportive and fun learning environment.
The next term is from Tuesday 22nd January - 2nd April.
For this 10 week course, the fees are:
The classes are available on Tuesday evenings from 7pm - 9pm.
We can take registrations once the course has started, however the full 10 week price will still apply. We can only take new registrations until week 2 of the new course.
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Hearing Protection
The National Piping Centre requires all students to use hearing protection at all times when playing pipes. Hearing protection is available for purchase in our shop or free of charge from the earplug dispenser in both our piping school venues.
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Individual one-to-one instruction will be available and, on request, the classes can focus on any of the following areas:
Beginners:
All levels of student can be catered to and special consideration will be given to students who have little or no prior experience with bagpipes. A structured course will be provided, based on the manual More Power to Your Elbow. (published by the Lowland & Border Pipers’ Society).
Bellows technique:
This is essential for pipers transitioning from mouth-blown pipes and this session will cover the development of a comfortable posture, a smooth winding style, steady pressure and tone. The bellows anatomy and basic maintenance will also be covered.
William Dixon tunes:
This refers specifically to the variation sets found in The Master Piper, by William Dixon, a collection of 18th century Borders tunes. Classes can be delivered using practice chanters if so desired, and may be of interest to players of the Highland pipes, or to musicians playing other instruments.
Pipe and Song:
Taught by an experienced traditional singer and smallpiper, the pipe and song classes will explore the task of using your smallpipes to accompany yourself or others singing. This is something smallpipes are well suited to and a range of stylistic approaches can be used to structure the pipe accompaniment sympathetically to the song.
Surviving sessions:
This is for pipers interested in participating in pub and festival tune sessions, these sessions will give some guidance on where to begin, including repertoire, playing and learning by ear, general session tips and etiquette, and if desired a piper’s introduction to the penny whistle (a very useful second instrument for any piper in this context).
Lowland/Border tunes:
These sessions will focus on the historic repertoire of the Lowland/Border pipes. The history of the bellows pipes can be at times mysterious and elusive, but nonetheless rewarding and fascinating. This course will include background reading for the student.
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