Happy St. Patricks Day! Okay, so the other night I was in the kitchen and my son walked in. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes." I laughed and then I realized it was a line from the movie Braveheart.
I think I mentioned before that he likes a band called The Dropkick Murphys. They play traditional Irish mixed with hard rock and punk. So Eric decided he wanted to learn to play the bagpipes. Where do you get bagpipe lessons in Santa Clarita, California? I don't know, but we're looking.
In the meantime, Chuck found a music store with a knowledgeable person to talk with. He took Eric to Santa Monica and they came home with a book and what's called a chanter. A chanter is the pipe part of the bagpipe, without the bag. It costs considerably less than a full bagpipe and you can learn to play the tunes on it. So Eric has been spending hours on end picking out tunes on the chanter. He can play the Braveheart theme song already.
I'm sure he'll be getting the bag to go with the pipe soon. If you know anyone who teaches bagpipes near Santa Clarita let me know, okay? In the meantime my son is "Playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes."
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4 comments:
hey.. i'm from Australia and i play the bagpipes and have for nine years. its great fun!! encourage him and he will get much better. it is so much fun to play and actually not as hard as it looks.
i play the pipes, and first you cant teach yourself to play, big mistake its not like a regular instrument you've got grace notes birls, turluahs, grips, cronaluahs, bubly notes and doublings and half doublings, secound the brave heart theme was written for small pipes not great highland pipes you cant play it on great highland pipes because the register doesn't go that lowand third unless he bout a chanter that either came with the pipes or the chanter is like thirty years old its not gonna fit inside a set of pipes. but to help you out ill ask my pipe major if he knows any pipers or pipe bands in cali (the piping community is very small only about 50,000 great highland pipers in the world) but a good idea would be to run a search for california pipebands, most pipe bands dont charge for lessons or atleast on the eastcoast we dont.
hi, have you any idea where i can find the right notes to play the braveheart theme on my chanter?iLOVE the song but am only starting out. thanks very much
Depending on which set of pipes you're talking about might make the world of difference in finding lessons. Most of the music from Braveheart was played on Uilleann pipes. I'm pretty certain that's what the reference to "small" pipes versus "big" pipes. Anyway, whichever pipes he's learning, keep him encouraged!
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