What makes the Professional Bagpipes a Truly Unique Instrument
There are a number of things that set each instrument apart from another. Let us have a look at what makes the professional bagpipes a truly unique instrument:
Wind:
Higher air-pressure and greater volume is required for certain mouth-blown pipes. Contrary to common belief, most people experience greater trouble with the muscle around their lips compared to lung-power. It can be extremely difficult for beginners to play a bagpipe for more than a few moments. The solution lies in building up your stamina slowly – by first playing practice chanter or by playing with some or all of the drones plugged off.
Read also:- The Difference between Irish and Scottish Bagpipes
Steadiness:- Professional Bagpipes
When playing normally (not for an event or something), it is important that the chanter and the drones receive air at a constant and steady pressure. As air is blown into the bag through the blowpipe and player’s mouth, the amount of pressure applied by the player’s arm against the bag should be proportionately and smoothly diminished. Similarly, arm pressure must be increased to keep air pressure constant as the airflow via the blowpipe ceases.
Fingerings:
On a superficial level, it may seem to the ordinary man that (most) bagpipes are rather simple with respect to fingerings. There is no denying the fact that many other wind instruments require more contortions than most bagpipes when playing a simple scale. However, with some exceptions, a bagpipe chanter is always producing sound. Thus there are no sounds available between notes. A grace note should be interjected in between for you to be able to play the same note twice in a row. Grace notes are used to add colour and character to the music.
Read also:- How to Supercharge Your Bagpipe Drones?
Learning Tunes:
You cannot start and stop a bagpipe quickly and this is what makes learning a new tune more complex than on other instruments. It is tough to concentrate on a tune when the pipe is blaring away and easier to get ‘lost’ than with most other instruments.
Read our informative article about professional bagpipes:-
Everything that You Need to Know about Bagpipe Chanter Reeds