Number 2 of My Five Favorite Things - The Bagpipes

My last post I shared the first of five of my favorite things, now this is number 2. Bagpipes....

The haunting and mysterious sound of the bagpipes reaches deep into my soul and spirit. Perhaps the familiar sounds knock at my heart because of my Irish and Scottish ancestry - as if maybe somewhere back in time a great relative stood on the Highlands and boldly played his pipes for the brave who defended their Country.
A bagpipe is a very complex instrument with many parts and pieces. To be a good bagpiper, it takes a lot of practice, practice, practice....and a lot of AIR!!!!! Now add in the other factors of fingering the chanter, blowing into the bag, squeezing the bag, keeping the drones in tune, keeping in tune with the others in the band - and then memorizing all of the songs - AND add in the marching and keeping in step! Oh my!!!

I started taking bagpipe lessons five years ago and learned three songs on my practice chanter. The Pipe Major told me that if I learned three songs, then I could move on to getting a set of bagpipes. For many reasons, I stopped taking private lessons and set my chanter aside. To this day, it rests in a drawer and calls to me every so often to pick it up again - which I sadly do and try to remember the tunes I learned. Someday I am going to pursue it again...
This is a practice chanter. You can actually by a CD and book and teach yourself. It isn't hard, it just takes a lot of WIND from the depths of your lungs, and I mean alot of WIND!! I also learned that in the beginning, you will discover you have muscles in your face that you did not know about.

As I have shared before, our little Scotty Dog, Duhgall, was born on St. Patrick's Day. For his first birthday we had a "dog party" and our friend, Jared, played his bagpipes for an hour. It was wonderful! Jared has quick fingers and played beautifully AND told us the story behind the songs. The picture above is of Duhgall giving Jared a kiss for playing on his birthday!!~~
Jared is an award winning bagpiper and belongs to a local pipeband.
For more information on pipebands, you can click here.

I also found a wonderful site called Cops In Kilts. This is a pipeband from the Chicago Police Department. The site gives you the history of bagpipes and some other wonderful links. The New York City Police Department also has a beautiful site. I remember watching hundreds and hundreds of pipers play tribute to those killed in 9-11. Each time I watched them march and play, I cried and could not stop crying.

On a lighter "note,".....
Q: What does a bagpiper where under their kilt?
A: Their socks!

arrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! That is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!

I would like to thank Anna for giving me this wonderful award!! Anna is new to our blogging world, so give her a little visit! She has an adorable blog called The Rusty Cottage! Love the name!! Anna, I am honored and thank you so very much for sharing this with me. Now in the "blog tradition" we are to share this with other bloggers. It is so difficult to just pick 7, so I am giving this to all of you! Each blog is brilliant and I love them all!

Happy Day!!