As you may all ready know, every Thursday night members of the Seacoast branch of the band gather to practice, learn new tunes or to improve there skills. This last Thursday (October 15)We had Betty, Cheryl, Kathy, Sally, Little Gunny and Tom. Jack also showed up which was a nice surprise for everyone. Some of us worked on scales while a small group practice Amazing Grace and Scotland the Brave working out the kinks in the grace notes of both of those tunes.
Betty had brought in her new set of pipes and Tom helped her turn it int a "goose" that she could practice on during the week. A Goose is nothing more then a pipe set with the drones removed and the stocks plugged. This leaves the player with only the chanter to worry about. This is one way to help develop good bag control and a steady tone without using a lot of air.
After a break down the hall from where we practice in, four of us (Tom, Jack, Sally and myself) fired up the pipes and worked on Scotland the Brave Set, Irish Set, 6/6 Set, Nation Set, and other tunes as the mood struck us. We also practiced counter marching and commands.
Next week the weekly session will be held at
Mel Flanagan's Irish Pub & Caf? .http://www.melflanagans.com/
The reason is that there is a Irish school group that is touring the country that will be there. Tom will be piping the dancers and this might help in raising some interest in learning to pipe.
So if you are reading this and think that you may like to learn to play, stop in and say hello.
The Ancient Order of Hibernians Pipes and Drums Band's mission is to play the pipes and drums to the highest skill level possible. A high communal spirit, endless good times, and above all, the joys of achievement are the rewards of hours of dedicated practice.
I like the summary of paractice! Thank you Bob :) Cheryl
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