Competitions
The National Piping Centre Junior Piping Competition
This annual event held at The National Piping Centre celebrates the best in young piping, from all pipers aged Under 18.Â
In 2021, The NPC Junior Competition celebrates its 25th edition. This year the event will be an online video submission competition, rather than an in-person event. As it is a special year, and a special event, TNPC have widened the event to include more categories, more events and a brand new Freestyle event, which will let competitors get creative with technology, other instruments and their own compositions.
This year the event will have
U12 Chanters - Slow Air and March events
U15 Chanters - Slow Air and March events
U12 Piping - Piobaireachd Ground, March, Strathspey and Reel events
U15 Piping - Piobaireachd, Piobaireachd Ground, March, Strathspey and Reel and Jig events
**UPDATE 9am 08/01/2021 - The U15 March and U15 Strathespey and Reel events are now full, so any entries recieved after this time will be refunded.**
U18 Piping - Piobaireachd, March, Strathspey and Reel and Jig events
**UPDATE 9am 11/01/2021 - U18 March and U18 Strathspey and Reel Events are now Full, so any entries received after this time will be refunded**
The Freestyle event is open to all competitors across all age categories. Competitors in this event are encouraged to think creatively about the production and musical content of their submission. Pipes or practice chanter must be the main feature of the perfomance but the use of additional instrumentation, multiple pipe parts, video editing etc are all permitted. Videos will be judged with due consideration to the whole package. Video submissions in this category must be between 3-5mins in length.
Event Timetable
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Event Registration is now open - scroll down to the green Enter Here button - from Friday 29th November 2020 and will close at the latest at 5pm on Friday 15th January 2021.
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Event Submissions must be recieved between 9am UK time on Saturday 23rd January until midnight UK time on Friday 29th January 2021.
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Results Announcement will be premiered by video on the NPC facebook page on Saturday 13th February at 8pm UK time. The results will be available to read in full on Bagpipe.News shortly after the video announcement
Full guidelines for the event are below with rules, guidelines and advice on submission all within the guidelines. A video about how to upload your recordings is below. Once you have uploaded your unlisted video, and got the email code, please email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
You can enter now until Friday 15th January at the latest at the link below.
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.Â
Find out more
Entry guidelines
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Entry Fees are ÂŁ7.50 per event
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Registration window will open at 9pm UK time on Monday 23rd November 2020 and close at the latest at 5pm UK time on Friday 15th January 2021. Registrations must be received within this window.
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Entries are capped, so events may close before this date if capacity is reached.
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Competitors may only enter one category, even if they could play in more than one, so competitors may only enter piping or chanter events, but not both, even if they qualify on age.
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Competitors must play their tunes from memory in all events.
Video Submission Requirements
- The Video Submission window opens from 9am UK time on Saturday 23rd January until midnight on Friday 29th January. Competition video submissions should be recorded in this date window. All Video Submissions must be received within submission window.
- All entries will be video submitted using the free platform, YouTube.
- Each video submission must be made in one complete take, no editing allowed, except in the freestyle event where editing and layering of video is permitted. For all events, competitors use as many attempts as you want.
- If a competitor has entered the March and Strathspey/Reel events in any age category, they should submit their recording for these 2 events as one video, rather than 2 separate videos. They can stop and retune between events, but should include March and Strathspey/Reel as one video.
- Other events should be submitted as separate videos e.g. U18 category a competitor entered across all events should submit 4 separate videos â Piobaireachd ; March and Strathspey and Reel, Jig for inclusion for the overall championship, then Freestyle event videos.
- Competitors must introduce themselves in the video including their Name, Event, NPC Junior Competition February 2021 and the tune names e.g. My Name is Joanna Smith, this video is recorded for the U15 Piobaireachd event at The National Piping Centre Junior Competition in February 2021 and the tune I am playing is Struan Robertson's Salute.
- Competitor's videos should show most or all of the body, including your head.
- Videos must be properly lit so your face and hands can be clearly seen. Videos with poor lighting or sound may not be accepted.
- Competitors are allowed to tune up prior to starting their performance, just as you would in a regular competition setting.
- Video submissions should be uploaded to You Tube and then competitors should email the video link(s) to both This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- The National Piping Centre recommends that competitors list their uploaded video submission as 'Unlisted'. 'Unlisted' videos allow you to control who can view your video and only those you share the link with can view the video submission.
- All video submissions must be emailed to NPC admin by midnight (UK time) on the closing date of video submissions. Please note that uploading sometimes takes longer than anticipated; please leave plenty of time to complete uploads in advance of the deadline.
- NPC admin will share each competitorsâ video submission link with their relevant judge for the adjudication process.
U18 category requirements
- March, Strathspey and Reel, Piobaireachd and Jig will all count towards the overall champion. In the event of a tie the overall award will be given to the competitor with the highest Piobaireachd placing. In the event of a tie with no piobaireachd results, the March will be deciding factor.
- The March, Strathspey, Reel and Jig must all be a minimum of 4 part tunes.
- The March should be 2/4 time signature
- To compete in this category a competitor must be aged 15-17 on Friday 29th January. If a competitor turns 18 before this date, then they cannot compete in this competition.
U15 Piping Category RequirementsÂ
- March, Strathspey and Reel, Full Piobaireachd and Jig will count towards overall champion. Piobaireachd Ground is not included for overall champion. In the event of a tie the overall award will be given to the competitor with the highest Piobaireachd placing. In the event of a tie with no piobaireachd results, the March will be deciding factor.
- The March, Strathspey, Reel and Jig must all be a minimum of 4 part tunes.
- The March should be 2/4 time signature
- Competitors may only enter the Full Piobaireachd OR Piobaireachd Ground. They cannot play in both.
- To compete in this category a competitor must be aged 12-14 on Friday 29th January. If a competitor turns 15 before this date, then they must play up to the U18 category.
Under 12 Piping Category Requirements
- March, Strathspey and Reel and Piobaireachd Ground will count towards the overall champion. In the event of a tie, the overall champion award will be decided on March preference.
- The March, Strathspey and Reel must all be 2 parts in length. This can be 2 parts from a 4 parted tune.
- The March should be 2/4 time signature
- To compete in this category a competitor must be aged 11 or under on Friday 29th January. If a competitor turns 12 before this date, then they must play up to the U15 category.
U12 and U15 Chanter Category Requirements
- March and Slow Air will count towards overall champions. There will be separate champions for the U12 and U15 chanter events. In event of a tie, the overall champion will be decided on March preference.
- The March and Slow Air tunes must be 2 parts in length. This can be 2 parts from a 4 parted tune.
- The March events should be in Simple Time (Acceptable March time signatures include; 2/4,3/4 and 4/4)
- The Slow Air events can be either compound or simple time signature
- To compete in this category a competitor must be aged 11/14 or under on Friday 29th January. If a competitor turns 12/15 before this date, then they must play up to the U15/U18 categories respectively.
Freestyle event
- is entered as a stand alone event.
- Performance can be on pipes or practice chanter, but the recording must feature pipes/practice chanter.
- Will be open across all age categories.
- Videos must be 3-5 minutes in length and can be made in more than one take/edited to include any takes or video overlays etc.
- There are no rules in terms of tune styles to play. This is a creative event, where competitors can write, arrange, include other instruments. It must include bagpipes or practice chanter.
For all age categories
- Highland Dress is recommended but not required.
- Any competitor may play up in any age category, but must enter only events in that new age category. The competitor may not play across age category events (E.g. U18 Piobaireachd and U15 March)
- Competitors may not move down age grades.
- Any event with too few competitors may be cancelled at the discretion of the organisers.
- Previous overall chanter champions at the NPC Junior Competition are ineligible to compete in the chanter competition and must move up to a piping category
- The Freestyle event will not count towards the overall championship in any age category
Results Announcement
The results will be announced by Video on The National Piping Centre facebook page at 8pm UK time on Saturday 13th February. You can find the page here. They will also be announced on Bagpipe.News shortly after the video announcement.
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