THE JEFFERSON PIPE BAND - HOME
Note: This site is no longer updated!
Please visit THE NEW JPB HOME PAGE: http://jeffersonpipeband.org/
"For those who understand, no explanation is needed;
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible"
- John Cairns, speaking of the Great Highland Bagpipe
I must apologize for the nearly two years of no updates on this page, but things have been busy.
Many changes have occurred with the Jefferson Pipe Band, which I will work on detailing on the NEWS page and the ABOUT US page. We are a growing band and are becoming stronger every day.
Below is a selection from an article called THE POWER OF PIPES: A Personal View,
written by our very own Pipe Sergeant, Bob Elrick in 1999 for the Shasta Celtic Society's newsletter.
Click here to read this and more articles by him. Other articles written by band members
are Pipe Band 101 by Pipe Major Bob Skinner, and two
drumming articles by Drum Sergeant Glenn Smith.
"Well folks it's been a long time since I've put digit to keyboard for our
illustrious little Celtic rag. But July's article by our esteemed then-president,
Derek Fasking, entitled "Celtic Serendipity" has energized me to get off my
dufus and write a kind of rebuttal, this time from the point of view of the
piper. I enjoyed reading his article and immediately related it to my limited
experiences as a piper.
I still have a long way to go before I feel I've earned the term "piper" in it's
true sense of being proficient at the instrument. That, of course, may never
ever happen. I started way too late in life, and the everyday business of life,
work, family, etc., tends to eat away at what little spare time one has left.
There is an old saying: "seven years in the learning, seven years in the
practicing, and seven years in the playing, to make a piper." I don't think I
have that long! So unlike Mr. Stewart Liddell, a true master of the pipes, I
just don't seem to be able to find five hours each day to practice my chanter,
so a master piper I shall not be.
I am, however, an avid fan of the Great Highland Bagpipe, and have been
listening to them since I was just a nipper up in Scotland. However, at an
early age I was told by my "elders and betters" that "ye'll never mak a piper
looney -- ye're ower wee ye ken." I took that as gospel, and never even
thought of learning the instrument, that it was beyond me. Well, with that and
the mystique of the pipes, I just put it behind me. I suppose I was about 11
when all that happened. It wasn't ’'til thirty-eight years later my wife had
ideas about me needing a hobby. She signed me up for Pipey Skinner's piping
lessons, and I've been playing ever since -- and having a helluva fun time with
it, too!
So with the history lesson behind us, let's talk of POP, the Power of Pipes, and
what it seems to do to folks. When one learns the pipes, one starts off on the
practice chanter, an instrument that looks like a recorder and is very quiet to
play; hence you can practice indoors and not disturb anyone. You learn all the
fingering techniques and all the exercises and tunes (a modest 2000) on the
practice chanter. One never finishes playing the practice chanter; it is your
soulmate; you are always practicing on it: scales, doublings, gracings, grips,
shakes and a myriad of finger techniques and movements, as well as the tunes
you need to know for the pipe band, weddings, funerals, memorials, parties and
rock bands! The practice chanter becomes a part of you -- leastwise if you're
serious about being a better piper. It is with you all the time...." Read the rest.
If you have any questions or comments about the pipe band, please email P/M Bob Skinner
or P/S Bob Elrick. If you have any questions or comments about the
web page, please email the webmaster.
Last revised on: 30 September 2002
Jefferson Pipe Band web pages created and maintained by Paul Green.
