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Can you hear the pipes a-callin?
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Western Australia Police Pipe Band
The focus of the Highland Games is, of course, the bagpipes! And there will be many bagpipers and drummers walking around the games area. For these contestants, the entirety of their day will include practicing with their band, participating in the massed bands event for mid-day and closing ceremonies in which every band participating that day all play together and at the same time, and competing against other bands in their grade level.
There may be a variety of levels of bands at the Highland Games that you will be attending. The Eastern United States Pipe Band Association (EUSPBA) dictates the rules that all of the bands in this region to follow. These bands are ranked in order of ability from the lowest (Grade 5) to the highest (Grade 1). The Grade that the band is in dictates the type of tunes that they will play during competition. These sets of tunes can range from a March Medley (several traditional marches strung together), a regular Medley (a combination of different songs including Jigs, Reels, Marches, and Slow Aires), to an MSR (March-Strathspey-Reel).
The typical bagpipe band consists of several bagpipe players, a bass drummer, a couple of flourish tenors, sometimes a rhythm tenor, and several snare drum players. The type of bagpipe played is a Highland bagpipe and the drums used are similar to those used in typical marching bands except that the snare drums are configured a little differently, and the bass drum is usually bigger. The brands of drums that you may see could be Pearl, Andante, and Premier along with other custom made drums and specialty companies.
Each of the instruments that are in the bagpipe band may also be playing at their own solo competition at some point during the day. They are ranked in much the same way as the full bands, but the highest level is called “Open.” Each of these events has several judges who have to pass several tests in order to be a judge and at the end of the day, the winners of all of the band contests and solo contests are announced at the closing ceremonies.
What would a Highland Games be without the bagpipe bands? A very quiet place! If you are planning on going to your next Highland Games then be prepared to hear a lot of music and make sure to put a visit to the band competition circle on your list of things to do that day. Don’t worry if you don’t get to everything in just one day! There are Highland Games in our region all throughout the summer so you’ll be able to catch up on anything that you’ve missed, and also see the new events and demonstrations that change with every Games.
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