Do you have to be Scottish to play the GHB’s ? (discuss) and.. more importantly where do you practice?
I play a few instruments (badly) but have always fancied a go on the wee beastie.. just bought myself a chanter after finding a bloke on my local dog walk playing the pipes and sounding pretty darn impressive. Going to give it a go with the chanter for a bit. Any Pipers out there in Berkshire/Hampshire who teach?
Cheers
Don (Donald is a Scottish name at least)
Most people wouldn’t say that you have to be in Scotland to play the GHB; but then again, maybe your neighbours will. (It’s not a wee beastie. The Scottish Highlands are quite sparsely populated; that helps.)
There are a lot of different kind of bagpipes, also ones with a more indoor volume. Ask yourself what you want to do with it!
But purely on ethnic ethics, I think you’re quite safe. I won’t tell on you, anyway.
To answer your first question, no.
You definitely do not need to be Scottish. Some of the good pipers here in the Eastern USA have Mexican and Asian backgrounds, to name a few. One of the guys in my band has a German father and a French mother (e.g., citizens of).
I like to practice in my living room, but if my wife is around I practice in our home office. Sometimes I go outside, but I usually practice fairly early, so indoors is probably best.
Definitely get lessons from someone decent. It’s a very difficult instrument to get started on (very steep initial learning curve).
I rather like that!
Check with a local pipe band. Sometimes they or some of their members will offer lessons and workshops to the public and/or prospects. I’m contacting my local band as they offer lessons. If I get in I will be the only Black person that I know who plays the pipes. 