457 - Where Did Bagpipes Come From? (Dojo Conversations Episode 127)

Ever wondered why we play grace notes in a certain order? Or how we started playing with drones or a bag in the first place?

All the traditions, “rules” and musical techniques that we take for granted today evolved over many hundreds of years of innovation to create the sound and distinctive style of pipe music that we all know and love today.

In this episode, Andrew and Jim dive deep into the evolution of bagpipe techniques, exploring how reed tubes, finger movements, and drones came to be. They discuss the natural creativity and trial-and-error process that led to the development of gracenotes and embellishments. They illustrate how competition, play, and simple curiosity have shaped the bagpipe music we know today. They also cover the role of termites in all of this in quite some detail for some reason...

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Here’s what we cover this week:

• 00:00 Introduction and Name Confusion
• 00:24 Nicknames and Accents
• 01:34 Grace Notes and Embellishments
• 02:08 Recorder and Fingering Systems
• 05:32 Evolution of Musical Instruments
• 05:51 The Advent of Reeds and Tubes
• 18:24 The Birth of Bagpipes
• 27:18 Introduction to the Articulation Problem
• 28:04 Western Music Theory vs. Bagpipe Theory
• 29:49 Solving the Articulation Problem 32:03 The Evolution of Grace Notes
• 44:04 The Role of Competition in Bagpipe Music
• 50:23 Future of Bagpipe Music and Final Thoughts