Learning_the_Bagpipes_CT

Here's the tune i'm working on. I almost have it down.

2010-06-07T15:30:00.002-04:00

Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band Worlds Medley 2004

2010-05-28T20:12:00.002-04:00

I liked this video, thought you would too.

Rant Video

2010-05-28T20:01:00.001-04:00

Going Home

2010-05-26T19:10:00.002-04:00

Amazing Grace take 2

2010-04-11T12:27:00.005-04:00

This week

2010-04-01T11:43:00.004-04:00

I haven't been practicing as much this week as I should. With Easter coming up and my brother coming down, it's just been a busy week. So I will pick up practicing again next week. I'm going to start doing 1/2 hour every day again. I'm practicing, but not as much as I should. I think I have the tunes down but we will seen next week.

Practicing everyday

2010-03-25T12:22:00.002-04:00

Hey... well, it's Thursday. I practiced every day for at least a half hour to 45 minutes and will continue through out the week. I must say it's a good break from doing nothing. Here's the routine. I wake up at around 8am. Then I do my workout at 10am, after the work out I take a shower then go right to practice. I don't really touch the computer until about 1pm, so half the day is gone by then.

I start out with Amazing Grace. Then I move on to the other tunes that I have. I'm working on Set 1 for the MRPF band. The tunes are The Minstrel Boy, Let Erin Remember, and The Wearing of the Green. I have the first two tunes almost down. I do go back to Going Home to work on some stuff that Mark and I went over in the lesson. A good point he made a while back is to stretch the fingers. Get them ready for the workout. That way it's easier to hit the grace notes and the throws and the Taorluath(which for the record have never heard of until I started playing the pipes) those are pretty tough. I work on them everyday too.

There's a pipe band competition coming up soon in North Hampton Mass on July 17th. I'm hoping to at least go and check it out. I e-mailed the MRPF band to see if they need me, but to be honest I don't think i'll be ready to be at that point yet. This year is practicing, next year is joining the band, or at least by the end of the year. We will see how that goes. I'll keep you posted on the practicing. I might even take some pics of the new pipes when they come in. Heck I'll even throw in a pic of me in a kilt. You get to see my sexy white (stop traffic in a bad way) legs, woohoo for you, lol. On another note i'm really enjoying playing and hope to grow as the years go by. Like I said before I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading. Oh and if your bored too.

If you are at home wondering what to do with your time and you're reading this. I would recommend to pick up an instrument. Not necessarily the pipes, but something that you would enjoy. Perhaps the pipes, I love the sound and the tunes of the pipes obviously. So pick something up. It's a nice break especially if you're unemployed like myself. Which by the way I hope to have a job by the end of next week,, yay! Ok well on that note, take care.

Found an interesting article on bagpipe history.

2010-03-23T16:07:00.002-04:00

http://www.visitdunkeld.com/bagpipe-history.htm

Lesson

2010-03-19T16:02:00.000-04:00

I had my lesson today. I got the band tunes. Going to start practicing and getting ready for next year.

Still no pipes yet or kilt. I should be getting that in soon I hope. I'm no where near ready to play them. Thanks for reading.

Nice break from computer stuff.

2010-03-14T18:36:00.001-04:00

I tell you, practicing my chanter after a day of computer stuff is a nice break. I feel more relaxed then tense. I don't think about other things going on like a job, or like what am I going to do for the day. I just sit and relax. I can practice anywhere. Now that it's getting nice out I plan to practice outside. Maybe go to a park with my dog Malcolm (westie, yes i'm a Scottish at heart) and just hang out and play.

I was at Star Bucks just the other day and someone walked up to me and asked me what I was playing. I brought my practice chanter with me and they where glad to hear it was a bagpipe chanter. I get some cool reactions from people when I practice outside. Luckily they can't hear me when I play my electric chanter and hear how bad I actually am.

I should have my Bagpipes that I ordered from Mark soon at Pipelander.com. I'll take a pic and post them up too. It's a Nice set of Mccallum Bagpipes. I will be back later in the week to keep you updated.

Practicing and Practicing and Practicing...

2010-03-11T13:45:00.000-05:00

Well I practiced today and the last three days for about half hour to 45 minutes. I'm getting better but I can feel the reed in the back of my throat when I play. I'm not sure why. I'm thinking it's me, but when I make corrections it still happens. My conclusion is I need a new reed. So I'm going to buy one next time I'm at Marks.

Well I'll post more next week. St Patties day is a wash. Doesn't look like I'm marching. I'm going to head down on Tuesday to see if they need me, but I haven't heard from anyone so probably not. Maybe next year. Tell next week, take care all.

Ordered the Bagpipes!

2010-03-05T15:15:00.002-05:00

I got some great news. I ordered my pipes yesterda!! I got them from Mark who is my instructor here in Connecticut at pipelander.com. I have my kilt coming too. I'll have a picture up of myself in uniform and with my new Mccallum Bagpipes, I cant wait!

I'm going to head to some of the highland games next month in New England to check them out. I hope to compete towards the end of this season possibly. I'm just getting warmed up though. I have a ton of work to do.

Posting

2010-03-03T21:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I'm busy with school and training. I'll be back posting regularly tomorrow. I'm going to try to practice a half hour every day. It's going to take a commitment from myself to do that. Now it's a matter of finding the time. I have my lesson with Mark tomorrow, and then Friday i'll start practicing again. Oh my god is it Thursday already?!

Going Home

2010-02-26T15:41:00.001-05:00

Here's Going Home. I hope to have more tunes up later.

Amazing Grace

2010-02-25T14:58:00.001-05:00

My first live attempt

Twitter

2010-02-24T17:51:00.003-05:00

Hi,

I'm on Twitter now too. You can follow me @learningbagpipe.

Learning the Bagpipes in Connecticut

2010-02-24T11:25:00.002-05:00

Let me start off by saying how I started instead of saying what I do every day. I wanted to learn a new instrument. Now I live in Connecticut as before I was in California. I use to play the Trombone and the Piano. I picked up several other instruments like Bass Drum, Trumpet, and Tuba. I appreciated playing in big jazz bands. I love just to sit and jam and play with friends some times as well. I am keen on Playing in orchestras.

When I first started playing an instrument I was about ten years old. My Mom used to force me on to the piano every damn day and I hated every minute of it. I should thank her for doing this because now I like to learn how to play new instruments. I was a kid in high school when I did my first competition. I played Moonlight Sonata for a high school talent comp. I must've practiced so many hours on the piano when I was in high school. I listened to the recording over and over, played for hours and hours. I played for eight hours every day. I went into the comp and played and blew everyone away. My grandmother and grandfather was there, and so was the rest of my family. Now I’m known in high school for playing that peace. . Now granted I was nervous as hell and it ended up being the fasted Moonlight Sonata ever played, but I still blew everyone a way and nobody knew the difference anyway. Well I'm sure my music teacher did, but that's beside the point.

I find it irresistible to play and learn new instruments. I thought that bagpipes would be a nice change of pace. I met Mark Basset who owns Pipelander about seven months ago, and he's been my instructor ever since. I practice about two hours a day and go over the band sets, one song at a time and just practice and practice.

I live in Connecticut like I said earlier, and there are a few bands out here in New England as one would imagine. I am joining the MRPF band here in CT and hope to one day be marching with them all over the state. I just ordered my kilt through Mark and it should be here soon.

Well that's pretty much my background as far as music goes. I can’t get over playing the chanter and hope that one day I'll move on to the Bagpipes. That might be at the end of the year, but in the mean time I’ll just play the chanter and get my Bagpipes at a later time. I am enjoying learning. However it does get frustrating at times and I want to break my chanter, but I hold back. I don't want to buy another one anyway. $200 is a lot of money on that electric chanter. So stay tuned for more info. I should have my Kilt by the end of the week and I'll post a picture of myself in full uniform in a couple of weeks. I'll keep posting every day though. I'll see you soon and thanks for reading.

Oy,,, Kilt time baby!

2010-02-21T21:02:00.000-05:00

Hi I'm back, sorry for the few days I didn't post. I've been busy with getting kilt sizes, school, and all the life crap. And I got fitted for my kilt and sent the info on to my instructor to get my kilt started tomorrow. I'm going to definitely be marching in one of the parades come St. Patties Day. I'm REALLY excited about that. I hope to have the full uniform in hand and ready to go by then.

I did do some practicing today for about an hour and a half, going over grace notes like I always do first, then going over the tunes. I went over Amazing Grace a few times a long with Going Home. One of these days I might get ambitious and post it on my bog, so you can see me in action with the electric chanter. I might even do my regular chanter, we will see. I'm going to start working on the band tunes more seriously after my lesson with Mark on Wednesday. I just want to make sure I'm playing everything right.

I'm getting excited that the highland games are approaching. Maybe I can talk Mark into taking me to a few and help him out with his shop in return. Hmmmm,,, maybe :). I hope to be able to play at least in one of the parades too, we will see if I can get some band tunes down. More then likely next year for that, or by the end of the year. I can't tell you how excited I am to get my kilt on and start marching. I thought spring would never be here! Stay tuned for uniform pics coming up soon. I'll post me in my kilt :)

I'll post some more later in the week. Until then take care!

practice

2010-02-19T11:39:00.000-05:00

I didn't post yesterday because I slipped and fell on black ice. I did still practice; however I was up resting all day. I'm fine now. I hope to be back into practicing more frequently today. I practice for a couple of hours every day now that i have the chanter. I hope to post more tomorrow. We will see how everything goes.

Practice

2010-02-16T13:03:00.001-05:00

I practiced for about half hour. I don't know, just didn't have it in me to practice more then that. I love to, but today just not feeling it. Do you have that feeling sometimes? Does anyone read my blog?

working on The 79th Farwell to Gibraltar

2010-02-14T10:34:00.000-05:00

I started working on this tune the other day. I have all the notes down, and now it's just a matter of putting in the grace notes. I found it easier to learn the regular notes first then add the grace notes. Just like when I use to play the piano. I would learn the left hand then move on to the right hand notes, then put them together. Doing this not only helps me memorize the tune, but it makes it so much easier for me to learn.

I use to play the piano through High School and College. I played the Trombone for about five years too. I loved being in the band and marching. That's what I hope to accomplish this year is to at least practice with the MRPF and march. Maybe next year I'll go to the Highland Games and play in the competitions. We will see where the wind will take me.

On another note, i'm getting a kilt soon. I'm going to post a pick up once I get the uniform for the band. I'm learning all the different pieces of the kilt as well. It's going to be interesting. I don't really want to play the base, but they need they need a base player right now, and I get to get to know everyone in the mean time. We will see what happens in the near future. Until tomorrow...

practice

2010-02-12T22:22:00.002-05:00

I have going home down now so there's two tunes. I'm working on the others. I am trying to get through the tune without the grace notes, then I bring in the grace notes later. It seems to help when I practice new tunes. I'll see how it pans out later on. I'll post some more.

I think my practice chanters batteries blew out. After a few minutes of playing it stopped working again. It's done this a few times. I'm not sure if it's the batteries or if it's the chanter itself. We will see. I'm going to radio shack to see if I can purchase new batteries.

Going Home

2010-02-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

I practiced over and over all the grace notes and everything else. I think I finally have it down. I love the practice chanter since it's just me that's hearing myself and not my neighbors. It makes it so much easier with the electric chanter to practice.

I hope to have going home down by next lesson then move on to another tune. So that would be two so far, and I have eight more to go. I'd said it once and I'll say it again, I love the electric chanter! Makes it SO much easier to practice!

Electronic Practice Chanter

2010-02-10T13:41:00.000-05:00

I must say I'm impressed. I love that chanter. It's the best thing since I built my computer. I can practice and not have to listen to my fiance' bitch on how lowed the regular chanter is.

On-another-note I got Amazing Grace down finally and it sounds great on the electronic chanter. I also got Going home down too, well almost. I still have some work on it. I figured once I get those two tunes down then i'll move on the the others.

Well, the MRPF band doesn't need me right now, they have four new base drummers, so I don't know if I'll be marching with them or not. I'm going to still get my kilt and all that next month from Mark, so when we go to the Highland Games I will fit in. I hope to check out a few competitions this year so I can see how they are. I'm going to talk to Mark about it sometime this week or next if this stupid snow lets up.

Practicing

2010-02-08T15:44:00.000-05:00

I practiced again today and worked on The Marquis of Huntley's Highland Fling, and I'm getting it down I think. I'm just getting frustrated because I hear how it's supposed to sound and I can't even get that close yet. I'm taking it day by day though and just going over it step-by-step and hoping eventually it'll come all together. Well tell tomorrow. I have to go and actually be responsible and go to the grocery store. I'll post some more tomorrow.

Oh and almost forgot that tomorrow is the first day I start learning the base drum with Ox the pipe major, so we will see how that goes.

Till then have a good one!

The Weekend.

2010-02-06T13:46:00.001-05:00

Well here I am on the weekend and can't practice because my fiance thinks it's too lowed. There's only one solution to this, either go somewhere else when it's really freaking cold out, or get an electric chanter. Yes that's right an electric chanter. You can use head phones. Very convenient for traveling and also for practicing anywhere one goes. I'll be picking one up at my instructors place in the next week when we have the lesson.

On another note, you can find the chanter at Pipelander if you are looking for a practice chanter, or even an electric chanter. If you would like to call Mark his number is on the site as well. Till I have the electric chanter probably will not practice on the weekends. Until next week when I get one. I'll post more up for next week.

practicing

2010-02-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

I'm practicing yet again today as I do everyday. I'm still working on the same tune as the other day. Just in-case you didn't read it the name of the tune is The Marquis of Huntley's Highland Fling. I see on You Tube that it's a competition tune, and it doesn't seem to be that difficult. I'm sure with more practice today and over the weekend I should get it down.

I'm hoping to have a lesson sometime next week, so I can get a feel for the tune and make sure I'm playing it right. I hope to have a few down in the next couple of months.

I hope to be in one of the upcoming parades with the MRPS playing the base drum. We will see what next week brings. If you've been following along I was asked to help out with the drum until I get the other tunes down. It gets my foot in the door and helps me get familiar with the band tunes, and with the people that are in the band.

practicing update

2010-02-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

I practiced for about four hours this morning. Why you ask? Well because it's better then being bored and I love to play. I got all the pipe tunes for the band and I'm working on those now. I'm working on The 79th Farewell to Gibraltar. It's fast passed tune, and a lot of grace notes to get down. I found a few videos on YouTube which I'll post up for you, so you can get an idea. I'm going to work on it some more later today or tomorrow to see if I can get going on it. I'm just taking it measure by measure and slowing it down by the metronome to about 40 BPM. My instructor said to play the tune it has to be at generally 80-84 beets per minute. I'm practicing it at 40 BPM, so I can get a feel for it. I'll keep you posted. Oh here's the tune, here's the tune

Practice

2010-02-03T14:02:00.000-05:00

I practiced again today for about forty-five minutes, or I think It was an hour. I worked on G, D, E, grace notes and throws as well. I am getting used to switching notes with the grace notes, and making sure I do it at the correct time with a metronome. I also worked on not slurring and making my notes nice and clear and sharp. I believe I've improved on it, but we will see at the next lesson if I did.

I worked on Amazing Grace and I worked on Going Home. I got through the first half of Going home without and issue, the second half needs work and I plan on making them both workout. Amazing Grace I have down, and I'm just fine tuning it with a metronome so I can make sure it's being played right. I will post again tomorrow on the practicing.

I hope this actually helps you if you are thinking about starting up yourself. Please let me know if you are. I'll try to help out the best that I can, but keep in mind I'm still a newbie. It's a slow crawl, but the practice is worth it. I'd recommend to get an instructor like I did and work with them. Mark Basset is mine and he has a site pipelander.com. You can contact me, or contact him if you're interested in learning. It's HIGHLY recommended that you take lessons. Do not try to do this on your own.

My instructor also does lessons remotely. We just did our lesson with Skype and it worked out pretty well. It's a little laggy, but otherwise OK. Again if you're interested, please contact myself or Mark at pipelander.com

Manchester Regional Police and Fire Pipe Band AKA MRPF

2010-02-03T09:12:00.002-05:00

I had a good time last night meeting everyone at the MRPF. I met the president, and drum major. I met a few band members who had me laughing like crazy last night. They're sick people. They love to joke around, but the are serious about playing too. It makes for a fun time.

I was getting a little worried because I am not going to be ready to play with them until the fall. Fortunately for me they needed base drummers and I have experience marching and playing drums through high school, and through college. Granted this was twenty years ago, but they didn't seem to care as long as I had the experience. The band is a great group of guys and gals, and I look forward to going to parades and possibly over seas with them next year.

I'm going to start practicing the base drum with Ox who is the bands drum major. He has been with the group for sometime now. I will eventually be able to play the pipes with them, but until then I get to play base and hang out with everyone.

I will keep you up to day and let you know how it goes. I'm going to practice later today and post about that too. I'm also going to post later on, on how to pick out your pipes (once I figure out what I'm going to buy) and will let you know what the best is in my opinion. Please stay tuned, and thanks for reading.

Practicing

2010-02-01T12:39:00.001-05:00

I practiced for a good hour today. I went over grace notes, and I went over Amazing Grace, and Going Home. I'm getting Amazing Grace down, but Going Home is being a challenge. It's slow and there's not a lot to it, it's just getting the embellishments down that is a little hard, but I'm sure with more practice I'll get it.

I'm getting frustrated because my chanter likes to cut out on me in the middle of playing. I don't know if it's because I'm blowing too hard, or if it's the chanter. I think it's me. I'll try some more tomorrow and see how I do. I have to actually get some homework for school done and speak to a couple of clients.

I hope to have ten tunes down by May. If not I can't get my pipes. I almost have Amazing Grace down like I said before, but I still need a lot of practicing. I've been told about six months on the chanter, which is about right. I've been practicing for four months. Hopefully everything will work out, and I'll be a pretty good piper by that time. I'll post some info up tomorrow.

Pub Crawl update...

2010-01-31T11:56:00.001-05:00

Last night was definitely a good time. My fiance and I went to the crawl,and met some band members. I heard that the band will help with the kilt and the only thing I have to worry about is buying pipes, but my instructor said to hold off on it for a while and just get the tunes down first.

My instructor if you're wondering is Mark Bassett. He owns the shop Pipelander. I put that site up for him and do some other stuff too. Mark put the Pub Crawl on too if you're wondering.

On another note, I'm going to go down to the band I mentioned in my last post and meet some more members Tuesday night. I hope everything works out and I'll be able to march and play with them at competitions. Please stay tuned to my post if anyone is following me, and I'll keep you updated as to my progress here learning pipes.

Amazing Grace

2010-01-30T13:11:00.001-05:00

Deleted this post. I'm not ready to post anything up of me playing yet. Maybe when I get my pipes :)

Pub Crawl

2010-01-30T10:16:00.002-05:00

Today we have a pub crawl in Boston. It's going from bar to bar in like a six hour time frame. Start drinking when we get on the bus and finish around 10 pm. This is a trip with all the pipers in the band I'm wanting to join.

The band is The Manchester Regional Police and Fire Pipe Band, or MRPF. MRPF has been around for a while. They are an organization, so you can wright off anything you do with them, so that's a nice perk. They also compete, and they do local parades. I'm getting sized for my kilt soon, and well post a pick once I get it. The reason I said that is because I'm hopefully going to start marching with them soon. I sent the director of the band an e-mail, and I'm waiting to hear back if it's okay to start practicing. Maybe this trip will be good PR and I'll get to know the other pipers in the band.

I'm hoping to have the pipes by May 2010. If you want to help out, click on the adds, and that money will help me pay for pipes. They're rather expensive as you might thing. I think they run around $1600 at cost, so I can use all the help I can get. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for pics from tonight.

2010-01-29T16:00:00.002-05:00

I just started to play the Irish Tin whistle today, and I have been learning the pipes for a few months. I come from a pretty musical background. I have played many instruments such as Piano, and Trombone. I love learning knew instruments that I can compete with, so one day I hope to compete with the pipes. I'm learning Amazing Grace on the pipes now and I will post a video of me playing once I have it down. Please stay tuned for more info. I just started the blog today, so I will add more as time goes on. I hope to start competing by next year some time. You will see my journey as a piper if you stay tuned.

Thanks
Your friendly neighborhood piper
Tromiano

Welcome to my site

2009-10-13T21:29:00.001-04:00