Reeds Bagpipes
HELP! – Bagpipes!? Anyone!?
I’ve played the oboe for 10 years and I’m interested in learning the bagpipes. They’ve always fascinated me and I’ve loved them since I can remember.
I bought a practice chanter but am having trouble with this ridiculous, paper/plastic(?) reed that came with it. Where do I go from here? I know no one who plays the bagpipes to ask. I’m just wondering if perhaps since I play the oboe I may have more muscle control than the average beginner on the pipes…. and maybe that has nothing to do with it at all. Any info at all on reeds, bagpipes, technique, and bagpipe music would be GREATLY appreciated!
-the beggar woman
The basics are relatively easy for bagpiping. It’s implementing those basics that’s more difficult. Once a student has moved to the full set of pipes (often after 6-9 months), many wannabe pipers have a difficult time learning to correctly tune their set of bagpipes. For some that alone can take years. The best advice would be to find an instructor . . . it’s an instrument that is extremely easy to play poorly . . . hence the bad rap it sometimes gets. (The world is full of bad “bagpipers” who have taught themselves.)
You don’t say the make of your practice chanter. If it was make in Pakistan or India, it may be unplayable. As for the plastic reed, plastic reeds are highly common and can perform well for years and years. I only had to replace my last one due to mishap, it had lasted for well over five years after the last mishap!
Knowledge of another wind instrument certainly can’t hurt, but it may help less that you might think. Particularly read the article below about teaching yourself.
Some articles of interest:
Bagpipe Finger Positions.
http://www.BagpipeJourney.com/articles/finger_positions.shtml
Finding the Right Bagpipe Instructor.
http://www.BagpipeJourney.com/articles/find_instructor.shtml
Learning Bagpipes without an Instructor.
http://www.BagpipeJourney.com/articles/self_taught.shtml
Here’s the link to dozens of other helpful articles:
http://www.BagpipeJourney.com/articles/index.shtml
Here’s a fantastic bagpiping discussion forum:
http://www.bobdunsire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm
(The moderator team there boasts some of the famous names in piping.)
And Chris Hamilton at ToneCzar.com -is- a good guy and a good bagpipe supplier.
Best wishes with the bagpiping adventure! It’s an amazing instrument!
Fix a double-toning F on the bagpipe chanter reed
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