Playing bagpipes properly is a journey. There are no pills or magic potions to make someone a better piper. No Fairy Godmother with Pixie Dust. It’s hard work. Progress happens in small increments. Exercises and rudiments are practiced over and over until your fingers synchronize with the music being played in your head. The goal […]
Author Archive for: Ron
Entries by Ron Bowen
Years ago, I penned a time-management training program called “Time for Life” which I licensed to Day-Timers and their parent company, ACCO. It’s a long story that needs a pint or two for the telling. I’m very impressed to see that Andrew Douglas (Pipers DOJO) has published a “Practice Planner” for pipers. I’ll be having […]
The Bagpipe Museum wouldn’t be what it is without contributions from around the world. Ronan Maguire of SLOT has been generous in the past and again surprised me with an outstanding addition. The little we know of William MacKenzie can be found here and in Jeannie Campbell’s excellent books on Highland Bagpipe Makers. As always, […]
Last night I arrived at band practice a bit early. Several people were already there. One piper was practicing bottom-hand doublings, slowly and deliberately. I asked how things were coming along. “Nobody ever taught me the correct way to play these. Now I’m having to go back and fix things.” This morning I had literally […]
I’d like to continue with the thinking I expressed yesterday. Many pipers are hung up on “fingers.” It’s not uncommon to witness young pipers slamming through tunes that they shouldn’t be playing at lightning fast tempos and generally making a mess of things. Equally so with older pipers attempting tunes and tempos that are unflattering […]
The question – Is it better to make a so-so job of a difficult tune and or a good job of an easier tune? The answer should be obvious however I consistently hear pipers attempting tunes or tempos that are beyond individual and collective (the band’s) abilities and I am left to wonder… “why?”. I […]
Often times I hear pipers crashing through a phrase not able to put specific notes where they belong relative to “the beat”. They start out OK but get tangled up inside the measure or phrase, primarily due to something that is challenging. Such is the case with the last phrase in One Hundred Pipers. To […]
Let’s get back on track today and head into the weekend with clear thoughts. We finished off the other day with the question “Do you hear what I hear?” I’ll follow that up with a couple more questions…When was the last time you asked someone to critique your playing? When was the last time you […]
I like to mix things up just a bit on Thursdays. I had fully intended to make this post on “stocks” and the various factors that impact sound and performance. That idea got pushed aside late last night when I received a very interesting email from Scotty at Gannaway Pipe Bags. An unusual item came […]
Do you hear what I hear? The answer to that question is more complicated than you might think. Last night at the pub I almost spewed my Guinness! I’ve been stressing use of the metronome and the importance of properly executed and timed GDE’s. The message was such that two pipers got together last weekend […]
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