The Music of Great Highland Bagpipes

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Bag pipes are not just a musical phenomenon, they are a cultural phenomenon. Scotts brought the pipes to the States in the 1700's along with other important elements of their culture. This page is basically an outline of how the Scotts came to American, and even includes the history of Scotts on the Brittish Ilse.

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This is what Great Highland Bagpipes sound like.

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 This page describes the different types of music that can and is played on Scottish Highland Bagpipes. The main types are Ceol beag and Ceol mor which mean "little music" and "big music" in Gaelic. What most people know about is Ceol beag which is played durring marches. This may be suprising because of the meaning of the word. This page also contains sound samples and sheet music which are intended to be learning aids.

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 This page names all of the parts of the Great Higland Bagpipe. The major parts being the chanter, bag, three drones, and blowpipe are labled on a blow up diagram. Other important imformation included on this page are how these parts work to create sound and how to properly play the instrument. Most of the information on this page is fairly comprehensive and beyond any non-musician or non-music student.

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 This page opens the eyes of the any reader who is interested in bagpipes to to the fact that the Highlander Scotts did not invent bagpipes. It is pointed out on this page that there are 200 types of bagpipes world wide, and that the scottish came around late on the bagpipe time line. In reality if it weren't for the Highlander Scotts and the spread of British military power many people would not even know about bagpipes

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 This webpage goes over all of the shared characteristics and parts of bagpipes from all around the world. Each part is named and a description of its function in the production of sound is given. Also include on this page are all the major types of bagpipes that can be found on the Brittish Isles.

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David Papian, musician and luthier who plays Irish pipes explains the important differences between Scottish and Irish Bagpipes. He names the two types of pipes as the elbow pipes from Ireland and Highland pipes from Scottland.

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This smithsonian informational page offers some basic information on scottish bag pipes. It outlines the history of the instrument such as how far back it has been mentioned in Scottish historical records, and names the various types of Scottish bag pibes and their mechanics.