BAGPIPES and chanters are hardly something you can try quietly or subtly, plus how do you get your hands on them? Well, make your way to the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, where its Meet the Piper Tours are back for Summer 2024.
The pipes are synonymous with Scotland, yet many Scots have never personally given them a go. The National Piping Centre is offering a wonderfully simple premise — visit the Museum of Piping where guests are nobly piped into the building to tour the museum, which charts the history of piping through the ages, from its role on the battlefield to its place in Scotland’s heritage.
Then, with a bagpiper host, everyone can try the practise chanter, which is the starting instrument for the pipes, before moving onto the bagpipes themselves. Each individual is allocated their own chanter, and the pipes are shared but cleaned and sterilised between turns. Anyone who had to battle with the recorder at school will probably fare relatively well!
The tours run at 12 noon on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, until Saturday 10th August 2024. They last approximately an hour, and roughly 30 minutes is set aside for playing the instruments.
These tours are included in the cost of entrance to the museum so you may as well try your hand. Larger groups (tourist groups, corporate away days and school trips etc.) can book Come and Try the Bagpipes workshops that can accommodate up to 120 people.
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The centre has a lot of strings to its bow so it’s easy to make a day of it. The National Piping Centre’s museum is home to 300 years of history and piping artefacts.
One particular highlight is the Iain Dall MacKay Chanter, the oldest Highland chanter in the world — it once belonged to Robert Burns. The pipes, manuscripts and medals of renowned piper and composer John MacColl are on display, alongside exhibits from musicians and pipe-makers John Ban MacKenzie and Pipe Major Robert Reid.
Instruments from across the UK and the world highlight the global popularity of the pipes, and how they developed in different regions, from small Northumbrian pipes to Polish, Hungarian, Spanish and Italian bagpipes.
After taking in the history, take a break in The Piper’s Tryst Restaurant. It promises traditional Scottish food with a modern twist, from breakfast through to dinner. The Pipe Major’s Breakfast sounds particularly filling. Visitors can even make a night of it by staying at The Piper’s Tryst little known eight-bedroom hotel, rated by VisitScotland as a 4-star “Restaurant with Rooms”.
The pipes are such a recognisable, admired and iconic part of Scotland’s heritage that it’s worth connecting with them at least once in a lifetime. If any visitor does get the piping bug after playing the instruments, then the centre provides tuition across various courses.
If your own caterwaul doesn’t quite cut it, world class piper hire is available for special events, weddings, parties or functions. This summer, Glasgow is the one-stop-shop for all your piping requirements, and remember, he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Meet the Piper: thepipingcentre.co.uk/visit/museum/meet-the-piper. Try the Bagpipes: thepipingcentre.co.uk/visit/museum/try-the-bagpipes.
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