Vernon Morning Star – Piping bursary available:

“Piping bursary available”

The McIntosh Girls Pipe Band Society awards an annual bursary to a deserving piper or drummer who wants to attend Piping Hot Summer Drummer, a school that is held at every summer at Silver Star Mountain.

Preference is given to anyone who was ever a member of the McIntosh Girls Pipe Band, and their relatives and friends.

When there is no applicant from that priority group, the funds are awarded to other individuals so all interested pipers and drummers are encouraged to apply. The funds are usually awarded to children and the names of promising young pipers and drummers have sometimes been put forward by pipe majors.

The McIntosh Girls Pipe Band flourished from 1946 to 1966 under pipe major Hilma Martens (nee Foote), who started the band with her parents. Her dad had been in a military pipe band and took charge of marching and drills.

The uniforms were made by Mrs. Foote. Hilma was pipe major and took lessons from an eminent piper, Mr. Barry, who was stationed at the army camp in the post-war period. The young women travelled all over North America.

When membership dwindled in the mid-1960s, the band folded.

Members formed a society which awards the annual bursary of about $400, depending on available funding sources. Donations will be accepted toward the bursary.

“Pipers and drummers coming up now have to compete with much stiffer competition that we ever did,” said Jan Mattock, who was a drum major in the band.

“Piping Hot is taught by the Simon Fraser Pipe Band, world champions and great teachers. They have classes for piping, base drums and tenor drums, leading a band and more.”

The McIntosh Girls Pipe Band Society currently has about 40 members including active alumni Birdie Cooney, Joanne Georgeson, Gloria Trierweiler and Jean Wetherill. Hilma Martens is now in her 80s and lives in Kelowna.

She is active on the bursary committee with Maureen Soichuk, also a former pipe major, and Mattock.

The deadline for application is April 30 each year.

Interested pipers and drummers should phone Soichuk at 250-542-3088 for information on the application process.

The process includes a letter from the student detailing their piping or drumming background and why they want the bursary, and a reference check with the applicant’s pipe major.

(Via www.bclocalnews.com – Read Full Article.)

Dear Student,

It is now only a few weeks until our annual New York Piping and Drumming school to be held in St Josephs school, Babylon, Long Island. This year we have 5 excellent teachers giving instruction and we have given things a little shake up in terms of the piping options – a change which we hope will provide greater flexibility and choice.

This year we are offering 3 options:

Five day school with group classes rotating around instructors Mon – Fri

Half week workshop sessions. Mon – Wed for Novice/ Intermediate Levels and Wed-Fri for Intermediate/Advanced Levels.

The workshop programme and descriptors can be found in the PDFs at the bottom of this website page – http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/schools/new-york/workshops-individual-tuition/

Individual workshops can be signed up for as required at $40 per session

Those taking the group classes for the week will also be able to select workshops as they please through the week.

Each day will conclude with an Instructor recital. Also to round the week off the Invitational Metro Cup Solo Piping Competition is held in Newark which is a short train ride away from Babylon.

For more information and booking visit http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/schools/new-york/

Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity to enjoy a great week of piping and drumming with instruction from world class teachers.

Best wishes

Roddy

30-34 McPhater Street

Glasgow

G4 0HW

Tel: 0141 353 0220

Fax: 0141 353 1570

http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk

http://www.pipingfestival.co.uk

This year’s New York Piping and Drumming School will take place 15th – 19th February at St Joseph’s School, 39 North Carll Avenue and The Hibernian Hall, 27 Locust Avenue, Babylon NY.

View Larger Map

It is a fantastic opportunity to receive tuition from some of the world’s top pipers and drummers. Tutors on this school include: Pipe Major Chris Armstrong, Glenn Brown, Ryan Canning, Callum Beaumont and drumming instructor Graham Brown.

This year the school offers more tuition packages to suit everyones needs.

- Five day School for Pipers and Drummers (run as normal starting on Monday 9am – Finishes Friday 3pm)

- Two and a half day series – This is a series of workshops held from Monday 9am – Wednesday 1pm. The other option is to start on Wednesday at 2pm until Friday 4pm.

- Single workshop options - This is an option for pipers to attend workshop(s) of their choice.

For full details about the school, the different workshops and the content as well as an online booking form please go to The New York School page on our website – http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/schools/new-york/

This school links with the Metro Cup, one of the most prestigious invitational solo piping competitions in North America. This year it takes place on Saturday 20th February and features a number of the world’s top solo pipers, including some of the teaching staff above. Why not come for the school and stay for this wonderful event too!

Chicago Celtic Pipe band looks for new members:

“About 12 bagpipers gathered inside the Estelle Sieb Community Center in Norridge Nov. 23 to practice with Pipe Major Chris Boyle.

The Chicago Celtic Pipe Band meets at the Sieb Center at 7:30 p.m. every Monday (except holidays).

The Chicago Celtic Pipe Band had an open house for Ridgewood High School band students at the Sieb Center Nov. 23. Neil Hansen (left) and Paul McHugh play the bagpipes.

The Chicago Celtic Pipe Band had an open house for Ridgewood High School band students at the Sieb Center Nov. 23. Instructor Charles Reece (mirror, right) helps students with a traditional drum rhythm.

The Chicago Celtic Pipe Band had an open house for Ridgewood High School band students at the Sieb Center Nov. 23. Instructor Charles Reece (middle) helps students with a traditional drum rhythm.

‘We just sit at the table, we start walking through all the new tunes, breaking them down, working on it, building them up,’ Boyle said. ‘As we get further and further in the year we spend more time on pipes. We’re working on the technique of playing, blowing, keeping a steady tone with the bagpipe, and then work on the finger execution so that we get it as tight as we possibly can. That’s the ultimate goal is basically to sound like one.

‘Then the drum corps will be working on their thing,’ he added. ‘They write specific scores to the tunes that we’re playing. So we get a nice integrated balance between the two different corps and that we have a nice solid sound.’

Pipe band manager Jim Enright said Ridgewood High School band members were invited to observe the practice in hopes of becoming new members.
“

(Via www.pioneerlocal.com – Read Full Article.)

‘Dudelsak‘ follows Canadian bagpipe virtuoso Matt MacIsaac on his journey to find the little known origins of the modern day bagpipe. Matt’s musical adventure takes him from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to France, Austria, Italy, Spain and eventually the Middle East. Using his assortment of modern celtic instruments, Matt transcends barriers of language and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds.

Dudelsak from Matt Trecartin on Vimeo.

Roddy MacLeod • Piobaireachd: “New Music” – Press Release

I am pleased to tell you that 5 new manuscripts have now been added to the site. These are The Old Men of the Shells, The Old Woman’s Lullaby, The Prince’s Salute, MacLeod’s Salute and My King has Landed in Moidart.

This brings the website close to completion of its first stage which includes 46 tunes. I hope to be adding new recordings very soon.

Best wishes, Roddy MacLeod.

(Via Roddy MacLeod Website.)

Bagpipe, drum workshop held for first responders |
kvue.com
| News:

“A rare sound, not often heard at the First Baptist Church in Georgetown, is the snap of a snare drum and howl of bagpipes. 

It’s not a special church service, but a gathering of first responders — learning from the best.  To be the best, it all starts with fundamentals.  That’s what firefighters — turned students — learned Friday in this workshop.

The one day symposium included members from 26 fire departments from across the state — some from as far away as Lubbock, Denton and Corpus Christi.
‘The bagpipes are not a instrument where you can find instruction for in any city.  Luckily, we are fortunate enough to have Georgetown to be able to put on this conference for us — for people like us from College Station who don’t have world class training in College Station,’ said James McNeely, College Station firefighter and bagpiper.”

(Via KVUE.)

New York School 2010

15th – 19th February 2010

In 2010 we have made some changes to our school to allow you more flexibility in the schedule.

As normal we have an option for piping and drumming students to be taught throughout the entire week in groups of similar ability where instruction is given on all aspects of piping and a variety of new music is covered. The all inclusive cost of this option is $600.

This year we have also introduced the options of two half week piping packages (each priced at $300) which are entirely workshop based. From Monday to Wednesday we offer a series of workshops suitable for Novice – Intermediate standard pipers and from Wednesday to Friday we offer a second workshop series for Intermediate to Advanced level pipers. The workshops offered can be viewed on the New York School page on our website – scroll down to find a PDF brochure. I am sure you will agree there is excellent coverage of a number of major topics on offer.

In order to be as flexible as possible we are also making the piping workshops available as a pick ‘n mix option for $40 per workshop so that students can come to as few or as many as they wish. All of these options are available to book online here

We are offering an “early bird special” which will run from now until the 1st January 2010 where students will receive 10% off the quoted price. In addition to this we are offering a family discount of 10% (two or more people from the same family) and a band discount of 10% (five members or more of the same band). This early bird special is available online via the booking form page.

The school is held during President’s week so we hope that having it during this vacation will make it easier for you to attend. Also, we link in with the Metro Cup piping competition which is to be held on February 20th at the Holiday Inn, Newark. This event showcases some of the worlds top pipers in competition including some of our instructors so we hope this might appeal to you as a great way to end a fantastic week of piping.

I really hope that you might consider coming to our New York school. For more information on the school and booking please visit www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/schools/new-york/ and for information on the Metro Cup please visit www.themetrocup.com/

I would be pleased if you would pass this on to your band members and anyone else you believe would be interested in our school.

Sincerely,

Roddy MacLeod MBE,
Principal

The National Piping Centre Ltd.
Registered in Scotland no. 139271, Charity no. 020391
The Piping Centre Trading Ltd.
Registered in Scotland no. 162342
Glasgow International Piping Festival.
Registered in Scotland no. 256248, Charity no. 34875

Last chance this year to start learning to play the pipes with Capital Region Celtic.

Every journey starts somewhere and learning to play the pipes starts here with a 10 week course.

You will learn on the practice chanter to correctly play the scale, embellishments and a tune or two.

The weekly 6:30 to 7:30 pm class starts on Tuesday November 10th and runs for 10 weeks with Christmas and New Years off.

No experience is necessary. You don’t have to know how to read music. You don’t have to have huge lungs.

Read More and Contact Band

Parts of a Bagpipe — powered by eHow.com

Exercises for Bagpipe Practice — powered by eHow.com

Dear students,

I will lead “Ornamentation Boot Camp” — a workshop for tin whistle, low whistle and flute players — on Sunday, November 8 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at The Irish Arts Center, 553 W. 51st Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues in Manhattan.

The class is for musicians who are comfortable playing Irish dance tunes at a moderate pace, but who are new to ornamentation or who would like to review the techniques. The workshop will start with instruction in cuts and strikes, and then move on to long rolls, short rolls, and crans. Each ornament will be presented in the context of a tune, so you will not only learn techniques, but you’ll also come away with a series of new pieces to add to your repertoire.

If you have attended a previous Ornamentation Boot Camp, please note that I will be teaching all new tunes in this one. So if you would like to review the techniques and learn some new tunes, please sign up. Players of Boehm-system flutes are welcome to attend as always.

The fee for the workshop is $45. Irish Arts Center members, children under sixteen and seniors receive a $5 discount.

Space is limited. To register, please call Rachael at The Irish Arts Center: 212-757-3318, ext. 209, 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Friday.

Best,

Bill Ochs

467 W. 46th St.
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-247-3231
E-mail: billochs@pennywhistle.com
Web: www.pennywhistle.com

Bagpipe for Beginners is a popular group class offered for all ages over 8. Instructor Don Goller is the leader of the Harp and Thistle Pipe and Drum Band who performs at First Church each year for the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan service. Bagpipe classes are ongoing in eight-week sessions for $80 per session.

All classes take place on the campus of First Presbyterian Church of Bonita Springs located at 9751 Bonita Beach Road, east of U.S. 41.

For more information or to register for lessons and classes at the First Academy of Music, call Cheryl Bauer at the school at 239-992-3410 or visit firstacademyofmusic.org.

via Music classes begin Monday in Bonita Springs | news-press.com | The News-Press.

Dear friends,

I will teach “Rhythm & Phrasing Boot Camp for Tin Whistle, Flute and Other Instruments” at The Irish Arts Center, 553 W. 51st St., on Sunday, May 17 from 1 to 5 PM.

If you take only one master class ever, this is the one to sign up for. Why? Because as the saying goes, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” And this class will teach you how to get your Irish groove on.

Learn the secrets of the lilt, that magical quality that gives Irish music its unique charm and buoyancy. Learn where and how to accent. Learn where to breathe while maintaining the flow of the tune. Learn how to take a tune from any recording and play it in fifteen minutes. Learn how to take a tune off the printed page and make it come alive. Learn the secrets of playing for dancing. Learn about root-pedaling, the punch-and-drive style, offbeat emphasis, and much more!

While the class is designed primarily for tin whistle and flute players (Boehm system included), players of other instruments are welcome to join. The class is open to anyone who can play Irish dance tunes at a moderate pace and would like to improve his or her rhythm and phrasing.

Bring your instrument and a notebook. A recording device such as a tape, digital or mini-disc recorder is also highly recommended.

The class fee is $45. IAC members, teachers and seniors receive a $5 discount.

To register, contact Rachael at The Irish Arts Center: 212-757-3318, ext. 209, 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Friday, or rachael@irishartscenter.org.

For questions about the workshop, please contact me at 212-247-3231 or billochs@pennywhistle.com.

Sincerely,

Bill Ochs

************************
Bill Ochs
Web: www.pennywhistle.com
E-mail: billochs@pennywhistle.com
Address: 467 W, 46th St., NYC, NY 10036
Phone: 212.247.3231
************************

This is a tune composed by Angus MacArthur, piper to Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat, 15th Baron of Sleat.

The tune commemorates the death in 1789 of Sir Alexander’s wife, Lady Elizabeth Diana MacDonald, a native of Yorkshire. She had married Sir Alexander in 1768. Her mother-in-law was the beloved Lady Margaret MacDonald, also the recipient of a Salute.

via Lady MacDonald’s Lament .

How Bagpipes Are Constructed.

Almost everyone I know loves the sound of bagpipes. I love the sound myself even though I am of Native American and French origin. Let’s take a look at what creates the unique sound of bagpipes

All bagpipes are made with an air supply, a bag, and a chanter. More sophisticated bagpipes may also include more chanters and drones to enhance the sound.

The most common method of supplying air to the bag is by a blowpipe, into which the player blows. The blowpipe can be fitted with a non-return valve, or the player can close the tip of the blowpipe with their tongue while they breathe.

Starting back in the 6th or 17th century a bellows began to be used to supply air. The big advantage to using a bellows for the air supply is that the air has not been moistened and heated by the player’s breath which allows one to use more delicate reeds and also allows the instrument to be played longer…

Tags: bagpipe construction, how to

After several weeks of learning finger placement, note value and timing, the students in Terry McHugh’s bagpipe class advanced to their first tune, “Amazing Grace.”

Each of the students in McHugh’s fall class with the Orland Park Recreation Department took turns playing parts of the song while the others followed along, silently moving their fingers along their practice chanters.

“This is a song that everyone knows and it’s one of the easiest to play,” McHugh said.

Similar in appearance to the recorder, the practice chanter is a double reed woodwind instrument on which students learn and practice.

Veteran bagpiper to lead Orland Park’s winter lessons

         Dates: 16th – 20th February 2009

Venues:

St Joseph’s School, 39 North Carll Avenue, Babylon New York, NY 11702-2701

The Hibernian Hall, 27 Locust Avenue, Babylon, NY 11702

The daily program will cover all aspects of performance including practice routines, technique, musical expression, tuning and ensemble playing.

Students will be taught in a small group of similar ability for 3-4 hours per day. The remaining time should be used for productive practice. Students are encouraged to bring recording equipment to classes.

Beginner level piping students are advised to bring/ buy in advance a copy of The National Piping Centre’s Tutor Book, this can be done on-line from the National Piping Centre.

In addition a variety of evening workshops for pipers, individual tuition for pipers, pipe band sessions for pipers and drummers will be on offer. Pipers will have the opportunity to sit Piping and Drumming Qualification Board examinations. For more information on the exams please see the PDQB Syllabus page.

Timetables, student information and music packs will be issued at Monday morning assembly.

New York Piping & Drumming School at The National Piping Centre

New PDF files with Canntaireachd have now been to the site. Complete packages are now available for MacLeod of Raasays Salute, Lament for Mary MacLeod, Lament for the Only Son, MacIntoshs Banner and Lament for the Old Sword.

New PDF files – Roddy MacLeod • Piobaireachd.