Wow… my NPU magazine shared the mailbox today with my copy of the “Voice” (Eastern US Bagpipe Assoc – GHB)… two piping worlds collide…
I have grown to really appreciate my UPs … ah, hell, I just like them better… I think it’s a better instrument in so many ways. Yet I keep up in my local GHB band and I have several GHB students.
It really is two very different worlds to keep a foot in…wonder how many of you do? And how has playing one affected your playing of the other? I know my highland playing has a few more slurs in it than it used to …
yeah; one really has to keep on top of it all to keep them seperate…
If one can claim as theirs the ‘home-territory’ of a pipe and yet find places for interstylistic crossover;
then one has transcended the oft-lamented (and indeed excoriable) ‘tunnel vision’ syndrome;
which so easily besetteth certain brethren (+ cistern)
conversely, getting a case of BAD (Bagpipe acquisition disorder) without proper consideration of the task one sets before oneself, is equally excoriable:
But I think, when all is said + done, we’re better all-around pipers & musicians for having a multifaceted dimensional viewpoint from which to pursue the art
I’m at the opinion, if you play more instruments the more flexible you are in small band sittuations. If you decide at some point to become professional, the more instruments you play the more employable you are. I’d keep your feet in both camps and enjoy both instruments (I do).
Cheers L42B
PS: For those who are interested I play UP’s, SSP’s, GHB’s and Tin Whistle. I also dabled in clarinet and piano for a little while.
I wanted to learn both…but I’m starting to think I should stick to just uilleann. For cost, for difficulty, for beauty. I had wanted to learn GHBs for police pipe bands/funerals/etc… Is it too ambitious to try to take up both, especially being totally new to any sort of piping?
I’d say that at this point, yes, it is too ambitious. Both instruments, though pipes, require very different approaches to playing. I feel that to be fair to yourself, learning to play one well and then taking up the other would be the most prudent decision… thereby rendering the risk of developing some bad habits and technique less likely.
