Bagpipes
 

Anybody else play the pipes. Have been playing for a few years with the glen erin pipe band out of Lansing,MI www.glenerinpipeband.com Also play guitar/piano.

What?..... No one else plays the bagpipes...LOL

Rock On Sellener! I'm off to get a bottle of Scotch.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1iR2...eature=related

ha ha. Our Pipe Major was playing that tune on the boat back from Mackinac Island during the Tulip festival. I didnt know they actually had pipes in the music video! NIce

I'd love to learn the Uilleann pipes, but I can't swallow the start up costs... The cheap sets are pretty awful, and a decent "beginner" set puts you under a few grand...

We have one fellow in the band that also plays a half set of Uilleann's, and another guy that was trying to sell his "practice set" ( chanter and bellows) I got a hold of it for a few weeks to see if i wanted to buy it. Its quite a bit different than highland pipes thats for sure!! They sure sound sweet though.

I play with City of Chicago G2.

How difficult is it to pick up pipes and be able to play a few popular tunes?

It depends. It is not an instrument that you just pick up and learn a few tunes. The foundation behind learning bagpipes takes some time, and a lot of effort. I have been teaching players for over 13 years and have seen it take anywhere from 3 months to a year depending on the students age.

I don't know anything about bagpipes, although I attended the funeral of a friend and Tacoma Fire Chief yesterday and hearing amazing grace played by 3 pipers in unison was quite moving.

I first time I tried learning the pipes was as a senior in high school. The guy put an ad in the paper which simply gave his address and cost. I showed up at the retirement village at 8pm only to be told immediately that I looked like a moron playing it out of the side of my mouth and kept having my fingers whipped by this weird chalkboard pointer thing. He was drunk the whole time. Lasted one night. $40 down the hole.

The next time was as a freshman in college where the instructor proceeded to moan about how his girlfriend was about to dump him and all her crap was at his house so he was wondering if he should just sell it before she confronted him. Then he charged me $38 for listening. Awkward.

Q: Why do pipe bands always march?















A: They're trying to get away from the noise. ;)

I got interested in playing the bagpipes about 7-8 years ago. My wife got very sick, and had an extended stay in the hospital, and life just got ahead of me there for a while. I put them aside, and have been wanting to pick them back up. I have Scottish heritage, and can only surmise that it stirs something in my blood.....