NYPBoS Question time with... P I P E R


Supported by


Youngstars Harris MacLennan


Q. Where are you from and how old are you? I am from Edinburgh and I am 12-years-old.


Q. How did you get into piping and when? I come from a piping family, both my uncle and my grandad


play, so most of the music I listened to from when I was very young was pipe music. At the age of seven, my grandad started me on the chanter.


Q. Who is your tutor and what pipe band do you play with? My solo tutor is Margaret Dunn, who is based in The National Piping Centre in Glasgow. I play with the George Wat- son’s College Pipe Band under the instruction of pipe major Iain Simpson.


Q. How many hours a week do you spend on piping and how much practice is on your own, with a band or on the pipes/chanter?


Every day I do chanter practice for at least half an hour on my own. I have two hours of instruction per week and band practice twice a week. Other than this, I blow my pipes at home every other day.


Q. What are your piping strong points and what do you most need to improve on?


I feel that my strong points are musical expression and phrasing tunes well, however I strive to improve my technical work.


Q. What do you want to achieve in piping?


I would love to achieve the standard of playing that would allow me to compete for a Gold Medal.


Q. What is your favourite tune and why? It is so difficult to choose only one but I think it would have


to be The Ness Pipers as once you hear it, you can’t get it out of your head.


Q. Have you written any tunes? I’ve started a few but never quite finished one!


Q. What make of pipes do you play, and are they set up with sheepskin and cane or synthetic?


I play a set of Lawries circa 1920 with a sheepskin bag and Canning drone reeds.


Q. What is the best trip or playing experience you have had with the NYPBoS?


I really enjoyed playing at the Next Generation concert last year in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.


Youngstars


PIPING TODAY • 19 PIPING TODAY • 19


Photo: John Slavin @ designfolk.com


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