The Great Highland Bagpipe
Captain Bruce Hitchings MBE BEM
Once the basic rudiments of the instrument are learnt on the practice chanter, and several tunes are memorised, the student will move from the chanter to the "goose". The "goose" consists of a bag, a blow stick and a practice chanter bottom tied into a pipe bag. This allows the student to get used to filling the air reservoir (bag) whilest playing the chanter and is a helpful transition before drones are added. All items that make up a goose can be retained for the practice chanter or incorporated into the Great Highland Bagpipe although it is possible to have a dedicated 'goose'.
Once a student is proficient on the 'goose' it is time to move on to the Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB). Main bagpipe components include a bag, a blowstick, three single drones with reeds and a chanter with reed. The piper produces sound by inflating the bag and applying pressure to the bag with the arm. The air escapes through the drones and chanter, via reeds placed within each pipe. The drones produce a constant tone in accompaniment to the chanter. The GHB has three drones: two tenor drones tuned an octave below the chanter's low A, and a longer bass drone tuned one octave below the tenor drones. The chanter has eight finger holes and a range of nine notes from low G to high A. Items which will require replacing are reeds and pipe bag although the piper will usually wish to experiment with other types of bagpipes, reeds and bags before these products reach the end of their useful life. Such is the bagpipers' quest for the Holy Grail of sound perfection!
Although the components of the pipes are always the same a wide range of bagpipes styles are available on the market ranging from plastic bagpipes, plain wooden mounts, the addition of nickel or silver to ferrules, slides and ringcaps, imitation ivory projecting mounts, real ivory projecting mounts, sterling silver mounts, even gold mounts. The retail prices differ depending on the style chosen.
A range of maintenance and peripheral items are also available for the GHB. These include bag covers, silk or wool pipe cords or tartan ribbons attached to the drones, pipe cases, pipe carriers, moisture control systems, drone valves, hemp, waxed hemp, corks, bag seasoning, beeswax, chanter reed protectors, chromatic tuners, ear protectors etc.
View range of Bagpipes:
McCallum Bagpipes>>
St. Kilda Bagpipes>>
David Niall Bagpipes>>
View related products online:
Practice Chanters >>
Pipe Chanters >>
McCallum Pipe Chanters>>
Balance Tone Reeds>>
Moisture Control>>
Bannatyne Pipe Bags>>
Tutor Books>>
Pipe Cases>>
Bag Covers and Cords>>
Drumming>>
View All Piping products>>
