Thinking of Taking Up The Bagpipe

[george7]

Do not be tempted into anything that has to Pakistan and Bagpipes in the same sentence (paragraph, page, book, epic, encyclopedia). Get yourself a Gibson (or other famous Scottish pipe maker) practice chanter. Buy polypenco to save money. Get an instructor.

[davidlpope]

I highly recommend the Dunbar "long" practice chanter. It's made of Delrin, virtually indestructable, and the spacing of the finger holes will be close to the spacing on a real set of pipes. You should be able to poke around on the internet and find the best deal. Even if you decide you don't want to stick with it you could resell a good practice chanter like this on ebay or to a local bagpipe band (there are always new students looking for a PC) and recoup some of your money.

On that note, take advantage of any local pipe bands in your area. My experience has shown that trying to learn the pipes by yourself, even with a video or cd tutor will likely be unsuccessful. Even if you do manage to learn the rudiments of a couple tunes, you'll likely pick up many bad habits without a tutor. Most pipe bands offer free beginner's lessons to recruit new band members.

Cordially,

David