Ciotach (lefthanded) Pipers

[OC Richard]

Came across this old album cover, probably from the 1960s (pre-amalgamation) of the Pipe Major of the Royal Scots Greys. Note that he plays with hands reversed, but not with the bag under the other arm



Here is another Pipe Major, Donald MacLean of Lewis, playing the same way



The story I heard about pipers who play this way is that they learned to play reversed (hands and bag-arm) but when they went into the Army they were made to switch their bag-arm. Don't know if that's true. They obviously have to use a different strike-in approach than most of us pipers do.

The Strathclyde Police Pipe Band has been known for having a number of ciotach pipers, hands and bag-arm reversed, the problem being in Full Dress that you have the plaid under the same arm the bag is.

[Nathan]

Interesting. As a former soldier, I can see how this would be encouraged for the sake of uniformity.

[pbutts]

There is a discussion on this topic going on the Bob Dunsire forum -- http://forums.bobdunsire.com/forums/...d.php?t=115141 As a lefty, It got me thinking about other instruments. In school I played the oboe and there really was no option as the keys are set for the left hand on top and the right hand on bottom. When I started on the pipes, it just made sense to keep the hand position I was familiar with. Curious, I did some googling tonight and it looks like modern woodwinds are made to be played right handed. Traditional flutes do seem to have some left handed players. From my brief search it looks like the trumpet lends itself to playing either way, and the stringed instruments can easily adapted to left handed playing (switching the chin rest on the violin).

[OC Richard]

Yes it seems that in modern orchestral instruments you're expected to learn to play righthanded instruments no matter what.

But I found this photo of a lefthanded clarinet!



Reminds me of a story told me by Casey Burns, a long-established maker of "Irish flutes": Back when he had only been making flutes for a couple years, he had a booth out at a festival selling his flutes and sure enough some guy picked up one and started playing it backwards! It had never occurred to him, and he had been cutting his embouchures with no allowance for this. From that day forward he cut his embouchures so that they played well from either side.

For sure it's common with Irish instruments like flutes and whistles which have their holes in-line anyhow. Only on keyed Irish flutes do you need a special lefthanded model.

An old friend- a very good guitarist- played backwards, but on a normal guitar! He taught himself how to play on his father's guitar, and being lefthanded had picked it up backwards, never thinking about the need to have it strung opposite.

[TheOfficialBren]

Being a Feadóg player myself, I play my whistle reversed. The traditional hand-position never made sense. I swapped my hands and play with greater ease now.

Great thread, Richard!

[Auld Creakie]

I've never been in a band with a left-handed piper but I've been told that carrying the pipes on the right shoulder can make for interesting countermarches.

[OC Richard]

We have one in our band, and true you have to be careful when countermarching. Strathclyde Police sometimes has four lefthanded pipers, the most I've seen in a single band.

Pipe Major Evan MacRae of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders told me that they used to get lefthanded pipers in their regiment fairly often, and sure enough you can see them in old photos.