The great Highland bagpipe (Scottish Gaelic: a' phìob mhòr, pronounced [a ˈfiəp ˈvoːɾ], meaning "the great pipe") is a type of bagpipe that comes from Scotland. It is similar to the great Irish warpipes. The Highland bagpipe is well known because it is used in the British military and in pipe bands around the world.

Bagpipes were first mentioned in Scotland around the year 1400. Early records of bagpipes in Scotland were related to the military. This is also how the great Highland bagpipe became important in the British military and gained the popularity it has today. Meanwhile, other bagpipe traditions in Europe, from Portugal to Russia, mostly disappeared by the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Although the great Highland bagpipe is famous for its use in military and civilian pipe bands, it is also played in a solo style called pìobaireachd, ceòl mòr, or pibroch. Over time, the great Highland bagpipe likely developed into its modern version by the 18th century.

History

Although many people believe different dates for when bagpipes arrived in Scotland, clear proof is limited until around the 15th century. One Scottish family still has a piece of a bagpipe set that is said to have been used at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, but whether this is true is not certain. Many old stories and legends about bagpipes were shared by musicians and passed down through spoken traditions, though the origins of these stories are unknown. However, written records about Scottish bagpipes are clearer in 1396, when a battle near Perth mentions "warpipes" being used in combat. These references may show that Scottish bagpipes existed, but evidence of a specific Highland style appears in a poem from 1598, which mentions "Highland pipes" and other types of pipes.

In 1746, after the Hanoverian forces defeated the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden, King George II tried to integrate the Highlands into Great Britain by reducing Gaelic culture and the clan system. However, the claim that the Act of Proscription in 1746 banned Highland bagpipes is not supported by the text of the act or by records of any punishments for playing or owning them. The decline of bagpipes was also influenced by the loss of clan leaders and the movement of Highlanders to other areas. Later, Highlanders were found to be strong soldiers, and many regiments were formed from Highlanders in the late 1700s. Though early records of pipers in these regiments are unclear, there is evidence that pipers were present early on. Many accounts describe pipers playing during battles in the 1800s, a practice that continued into World War I but was stopped after early battles due to high losses.

The tradition of using bagpipes in battle was revived in 1943 during the Second Battle of El Alamein, when the 51st Highland Division used pipers to lead attacks. Each group was led by a piper playing tunes that helped identify the Highland regiment. Though the attack was successful, many pipers were lost, and they were not used in combat again during the war. In 1944, Bill Millin, the piper for Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, played his pipes on Sword Beach in Normandy while under fire. Similarly, the Calgary Highlanders had pipers play during their first battle in Normandy but stopped using them for the rest of the war. The last known use of bagpipes in combat was in 1967 during the Aden Emergency, when the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were led into a rebel area by their pipe major playing the regimental marches.

Design

The great Highland bagpipe is a type of woodwind instrument, similar to the bassoon, oboe, and clarinet. It is also classified as a double-reed instrument, but the reeds are enclosed inside the wooden parts called "stocks," unlike most woodwinds where reeds are played directly by the mouth. The great Highland bagpipe has four reeds: one on the chanter (double reed), two on the tenor drones (single reeds), and one on the bass drone (single reed).

A modern set includes a bag, a chanter, a blowpipe, two tenor drones, and one bass drone.

The chanter uses a scale called the Mixolydian mode, which has a flattened seventh note. Some older pipes use a different scale called the Ionian mode, which includes a half-step seventh note. The chanter’s range spans from one whole tone below the tonic (A) to one octave above it. The drones are tuned to the tonic note, A (specifically A4). The nine notes of the chanter scale are: low G, low A, B, C (sounds like C♯), D, E, F (sounds like F♯), high G, and high A. Most modern pipers and pipe bands use a pitch of A around 470–480 Hz, which is slightly higher than the standard B♭4 pitch of 466.16 Hz. Some pipes are tuned to match this standard pitch, with a scale that includes notes like B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, and B♭. These pipes are called "B♭ instruments" and are considered transposing instruments in D♭ major. Historically, Highland bagpipes had a flatter pitch, as shown in old recordings and instruments.

Highland bagpipe music is usually written in the key of A with no key signature or in D major, where the notes C and F are sharp. However, only some tunes are in D major. Because the bagpipe does not have chromatic notes, changing the key also changes the mode. Common modes include A Mixolydian (most common), D major, B minor, or occasionally E Dorian. In concert pitch (as on a piano), these modes are B♭ Mixolydian, E♭ major, C Aeolian, or F Dorian.

Traditionally, some notes were tuned slightly differently from perfect tuning. For example, on older chanters, the notes D and high G were slightly sharp. Forsyth (1935) noted that the C and F holes were often placed midway between other holes, creating a quarter-tone difference from perfect tuning, similar to a "blue" note in jazz. Today, chanters are usually tuned to perfect tuning for the Mixolydian scale, with the G note tuned to a harmonic seventh, which is much flatter than other tuning systems. The tenor drones are an octave below the chanter’s keynote (low A), and the bass drone is two octaves below. Forsyth recorded three traditional drone tunings: Ellis (A3–A3–A2), Glen (A4–A4–A2), and Mackay (G3–B3–C2).

Modern improvements include synthetic drone reeds, which are more reliable, and synthetic bags that handle moisture better than traditional hide bags.

The chanter reed is usually made of cane. Synthetic reeds are available but less common. Cane reeds change pitch as moisture levels change, causing them to go out of tune during play. Drone reeds were once made of cane but are now often replaced with synthetic reeds, which are more reliable and do not change pitch. Once tuned, synthetic reeds stay in tune and only need to be adjusted to match the chanter.

Materials

Highland pipes were once believed to be made from local woods such as European holly, laburnum, and boxwood. However, evidence from collections and records shows this is incorrect. Instead, pipes were crafted by Lowland craftsmen using imported tropical hardwoods, like cocuswood from the Caribbean, because this wood is better at preventing splitting or chipping. Today, man-made materials, especially Polypenco, are widely used, particularly in pipe bands where matching chanters are important.

The stands of pipes can be decorated with materials such as ivory, horn, nickel, German silver, silver, stainless steel, fake ivory (often made from catalin or bakelite, depending on when the pipes were created), or other rare woods.

Music

The great Highland bagpipe has fewer musical abilities compared to many other instruments. It can only play nine notes, cannot change loudness, and must be played in a smooth, continuous style because of the air from the bag. The bagpipe is a closed reed instrument, meaning the four reeds are inside the instrument and cannot be adjusted by the player’s mouth or tongue. Because of this, notes cannot be stopped or separated by pausing airflow or using tongue techniques. Instead, short notes called "grace notes" are used to create musical changes. These grace notes are often combined in complex ways, such as doublings, taorluaths, throws, grips, and birls. Specific grace notes, like the dare, vedare, chedare, darado, taorluath, and crunluath, are commonly used in a type of music called pìobaireachd. Some of these grace notes are also used in lighter music styles. These grace notes help emphasize important beats or musical phrases. The three most common grace notes (G, D, and E) are often played quickly in a row. All grace notes are played rapidly with quick finger movements, similar to how modern wind instruments use articulation. Since the bagpipe cannot stop or vary loudness, all musical expression comes from using grace notes and changing how long notes are played. Even though most bagpipe music follows strict rhythms, skilled players stretch certain notes to shape phrases and emphasize beats. The timing of notes within beats can be flexible.

Music for the great Highland bagpipe is divided into two main types: piobaireachd and light music. The word "piobaireachd" means "piping" in Scottish Gaelic and is often called "pibroch" in English. It is also known as "ceòl mòr," or "great music." Ceòl mòr includes a slow, simple theme called the "ground" (ùrlar), followed by increasingly complex variations of this theme, and ends with a return to the original theme. This style developed in the 17th century through families of skilled pipers, such as the MacArthurs, MacGregors, Rankins, and especially the MacCrimmons.

"Light music" is also called "ceòl beag" and includes marches, dances (like strathspeys, reels, hornpipes, and jigs), slow airs, and other tunes. A common combination for competitions is a march, strathspey, and reel (MSR).

The great Highland bagpipe is rarely played with other instruments because of its unique tuning. Most instruments are tuned to a standard pitch of 440 Hz, but the bagpipe is usually tuned to 470–480 Hz. Adjustments can be made using different chanters and reeds. Composer Graham Waterhouse noted that combining bagpipes with classical orchestras is difficult due to tuning and balance issues. In his work Chieftain's Salute, he placed the piper far from the orchestra to achieve balance. Another example is Peter Maxwell Davies’ Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise, which includes a bagpipe solo near the end.

Cultural role

The Highland bagpipe is used for both solo and group performances. In group settings, it is often played as part of a pipe band. A special role for the instrument is the job of Piper to the Sovereign, a position that began during Queen Victoria's time.

Popular music

The Highland bagpipes have had a small but important role in rock and pop music. Some well-known songs that include bagpipes are:

• "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings, featuring the Campbeltown Pipe Band
• "Are You Ready to Rock?" by Wizzard, played by Roy Wood
• "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" by AC/DC, played by Bon Scott
• "Come Talk to Me" by Peter Gabriel, played by Chris Ormston
• "Shoots and Ladders" by Korn, played by Jonathan Davis (plus many other songs in their discography)

Worldwide diffusion

The great Highland bagpipe is played by many people, including solo musicians and groups called pipe bands, both in civilian and military settings. It is now played in many countries around the world. It is especially popular in places where many people from Scotland and Ireland have lived for a long time, such as England, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

The great Highland bagpipe has also been used in many countries that were once part of the British Empire, even if those countries do not have many people from Scotland or Ireland. These countries include India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The great Highland bagpipe also spread to parts of Africa and the Middle East because British soldiers used the instrument, and people there liked it. It became popular in countries like Jordan, Egypt, and Oman, some of which already had their own bagpipe traditions. In Oman, the instrument is called habban and is played in cities like Muscat, Salalah, and Sohar. In Uganda, President Idi Amin stopped people from sending African blackwood out of the country in the 1970s to help local people make bagpipes.

The great Highland bagpipe was also used in Thailand. Around 1921, King Rama VI ordered a set of bagpipes to be used by the Sua Pa Wild Tiger Corps, a royal guard unit that had previously practiced to the sound of an instrument called pi chawa.

When the bagpipes arrived from the British Isles, no one knew how to play them. A bassoon player named Khun Saman Siang-prajak visited the British Embassy and learned to play the instrument from British soldiers. He then taught others in the Corps. The band, which plays both Thai and Scottish music, still practices at Vachiravuth High School in Bangkok, named after King Rama VI.

During the First World War, some Breton musicians in the French Army met Scottish pipers and brought Highland bagpipes back to France. Breton instrument makers later started making copies of them. In the 1920s, during a time when Breton folk music was growing in popularity, Polig Monjarret helped introduce the great Highland bagpipe to Brittany. He created the bagad, a type of pipe band that includes sections for large bagpipes (binioù braz), a type of horn called bombarde, drums, and later added wind and brass instruments like saxophones, trumpets, and trombones.

Well-known bagadoù (pipe bands) in Brittany include Bagad Kemper, Kevrenn Alre, Bagad Brieg, and Bagad Cap Caval. In Brittany, the great Highland bagpipe is called binioù braz, which is different from binioù kozh, the smaller traditional Breton bagpipe.

One important change to the Highland bagpipe in Brittany is the use of slightly shorter drones in the key of C (called "B" in Scottish tuning). This allows many songs in that key to be played with drone notes that match the main tune's key. Many bagad pipers own two sets of pipes: one in the standard key of B♭ (called "A" in Scottish tuning) and one in C. A full musical set may be performed entirely in the key of C.

Notable bands

Some of the most famous pipe bands in the world include the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band, Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band, Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, The Inveraray & District Pipe Band (the current world champions), The Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, The St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band, and Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band. All of these bands have won the World Pipe Band Championships.

Related instruments

• Border pipes are similar to the great Highland bagpipe, but quieter and better for dances and music sessions. They use bellows under the arm to provide air instead of being blown by mouth.
• Brian Boru bagpipes were invented by Henry Starck. They may have been inspired by the Great Irish Warpipes and are based on the great Highland bagpipe, but they have a keyed chanter to play more notes.
• Electronic bagpipes are musical instruments with a touch-sensitive "chanter" that changes sound based on finger position. Some models also make a drone sound and are designed to mimic the tone and fingerings of the great Highland bagpipe.
• Great Irish Warpipes were an instrument believed to have existed in Ireland until about the 1700s. They were similar or nearly identical to the still-existing great Highland bagpipe.
• Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes with one chanter, usually with keys and four drones.
• A practice chanter is a bagless, droneless double-reeded pipe with the same fingerings as the great Highland bagpipe. It is used as a portable and less expensive practice tool.
• A practice goose is a small, single-chanter, droneless bag used to help transition between the practice chanter and full pipes.
• Reel pipes (also called "kitchen" or "parlour" pipes) are smaller versions of the great Highland bagpipe, designed for indoor playing.
• Scottish smallpipes are a modern version of smaller Scottish pipes that no longer exist. They were revived in the late 20th century by pipemakers like Colin Ross.