All beginnings …
… does not have to be so difficult! Those who learn piping in Scotland (or elsewhere) are first given a practice flute – the Practice Chanter – which accompanies every piper for life. This soft and somewhat ‘squawky’ sounding instrument, blown only with the mouth, is always used first when learning the melodies and ornaments. Only then learned melodies and sets are played on the pipe.

So with a Practice Chanter (PC for short) you can still practice at home later in the evening, and in the pipe band the practice evening goes much more effectively when everyone can confidently master the repertoire on the PCs and play rhythmically with each other in the right tempo.
A plastic reed is used in the PC, which copes well with the moisture generated by the game. It is always recommended to have one or two spare reeds, because the life of these reeds is limited.
If you don’t have a pipe teacher (yet), you are well advised to start with a textbook: MacEge’s textbook for the Scottish bagpipes is the best-selling German-language (!) textbook for the Scottish pipes and comes with a practice CD.
Please note our inexpensive starter sets (PC and textbook) in this webshop!

Courses and teachers
Those who have made their first learning successes should take part in a course as soon as possible and/or look for an experienced teacher. Experience has shown that this is the fastest way to make progress and avoid many initial mistakes. Please inform yourself here:
– Our course events
– Visit the homepage of the Bagpipe Association of Germany e.V.
The BAG organizes courses and competitions and offers a list of important addresses on the subject of pipes. Here you can also find sheet music and sound samples for the Highlandpipes. As a Piper, you too should become a member of the BAG!
Caution: cheap offers!
Buying Scottish pipes is a matter of trust! In probably no other area are so many bad and actually not playable cheap products on the market as with the Great Highland Bagpipes. The experience of countless customers proves that you really can ‘ t make music on the ‘guaranteed ready to play bagpipes’ offered by mail order (often priced at less than 200 euros).
These instruments are not made in Scotland and the effort to make them playable after all quickly adds up to over 500 Euros. And even with such an investment, the owner still doesn’t have a good bagpipe, despite all the work, expense and hassle!
We do not service such instruments and ask their owners to deal directly with the seller!