Teach Yourself Bagpipes by Lindsay Davidson

bringing quality 'piping instruction to you for free
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HAND POSITION AND THE SCALE

Place your hands on the chanter left above right (some people reverse if they are left-handed),  knuckles in line with the front of the chanter and fingers straight. Your left thumb covers the hole at the back and your little finger on that hand rests away from the chanter.  Place your right thumb on the back of the chanter between your index and middle fingers. Your wrists must be straight. This helps you be sure that only your fingers move when playing, not your arms as well.



With the exception of your little finger and thumb (called by their own names),  the fingers are named after the note they sound when lifted off the chanter.  The first finger on your top (left) hand is called your ‘G’ finger,  middle finger is ‘F’ and so on.

In all of the diagrams that follow,  “X” represents a closed hole and “O” represents an open one.

Hand position


Crossing sounds

A 'crossing sound' is the additional, unintended sound that happens when changing from one note to another. This is one of the worst mistakes in 'piping and is to be avoided at all costs.

We avoid crossing sounds by making sure that we know which finger causes the change in sound to the note which we are aiming to play (i.e the thumb makes the high sound or not sound) and when going to this note, move this finger first (when going upwards to the note from another) or last (when going downwards from another note).

slowly with a crossing sound (this is how NOT to play!!!!)



slowly and correctly, with no crossing sound -  this is how to play correctly



quickly (normally) with the same crossing sound (this is how NOT to play!!!!)



quickly (normally) and correctly without the crossing sound  -  this is how to play correctly



Scale and Crossing Sound Exercises 

Please complete the following exercises. Remember to look at the how to practise page as this is key to making your progress as fast as possible.. Do the early ones at any speed which is comfortable.  At the end there are three exercises to play along with the video. When you are comfortable doing this, it is a good sign you are safe to move on to the next section.

Scale Exercise 1

scale exercise 1

Scale Exercise 2

Scale exercise 2

Scale Exercise 3

Scale exercise 3

Scale Exercise 4

Use the how to practise instructions and go through the five steps, speeding up so that you can play along with the video.

As chanters can often sound very different and be out of tune, there  are two versions - high pitch and low pitch.

Scale exercise 4

Low pitch play along video

High pitch play along video

Scale Exercise 5

Use the how to practise instructions and go through the five steps, speeding up so that you can play along with the video.

As chanters can often sound very different and be out of tune, there  are two versions - high pitch and low pitch.

Scale exercise 5

Low pitch play along video

High pitch play along video

Scale Exercise 6

Use the how to practise instructions and go through the five steps, speeding up so that you can play along with the video.

As chanters can often sound very different and be out of tune, there  are two versions - high pitch and low pitch.

When you can play along with this you are safe to proceed to the next section - gracenotes and strikes!!

Scale exercise 6

Low pitch play along video

High pitch play along video

If you can comfortably play long with these videos, please move on to the next learning section - gracenotes and strikes!

If you are struggling and want some feedback or advice, please make a private youtube video and send the link to Lindsay Davidson, and he will give you some feedback. This is free of charge, and can take a few days (please remember this is a hobby).


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