Resources

This is an eclectic collection of bits and pieces that has grown up over the years. Perhaps most useful is this small link directory:

bagpipe.news - The National Piping Centre’s news website, with regular archive content.
Piping Press - Scottish based independent piping news with a perhaps conservative slant
pipes|drums - Ontario based subscription website
The Dunsire Forums - The oldest piping forum around
Bagpipe Journey - a very useful reference site
The Pekaar Database - an electronic tune index. Indispensable.
Pipeline - Radio Scotland’s Pipeline program. Good coverage of different styles.
Crunluath - Radio nan Gàidheal’s piping program - in Gaelic, but recommended.
A' Mire ri Mòir - A weekday radio program with two hours of traditional Gaelic music, jokes, and the occasional recipe.
Spotify piping playlist - A Spotify playlist with enough piping to keep you going for a very long time!

Note identification - Use this to learn to identify the notes used in writing bagpipe music.
Note pairs - Generate random pairs of notes on the chanter to practice different techniques with. Hit “Skip Question” to get a fresh pair!
Birl exercises - A PDF with useful birl exercises. See also my Youtube video
Deconstruction - An example of how to “deconstruct” a tune to its basic techniques and build it back up into a complete tune.
Useful piping books - There’s a huge number of piping books out there, so here’s a beginner’s guide to the jungle.