St. Andrew's Legion Pipes and Drums  

Richmond, VA   

Practice Suppliess

The first thing you’ll need to know is what type of practice supplies to purchase followed by where to purchase your supplies. We’ll start with the reputable dealers first:

The Tartan Thistle Henderson Imports The British Shop Everything Scottish

These are a few of the best dealers that the band deals with. You’ll find them all helpful and knowledgeable.

Piper's Needs

A student starts out on a practice chanter. It is a quieter, easier to play version of the bagpipes, just without the bag and drones. Your practice chanter will be with you your entire pipe playing career as most tunes are first learned on the chanter and then moved over to the pipes. Practice chanters come in several sizes and makes. The Pipe Major recommends the Dunbar LONG chanter, as the finger spacing is closer to the actual bagpipe chanter. Prices range from $45 to $65 depending on the source. Other polypenco and blackwood chanters are also very good.

There are several good tutor books to choose from. We recommend the College of Piping Vol 1 other wise known as the green book. This book will be used in conjunction with our own student workbook to guide you through the learning process.

Once you are ready to progress on to the pipes there will be several knowledgeable resources in the band and at the above mentioned shops to help you in your decision making process.

A quick word about electronic chanters. While good for helping to get your fingering down and practicing quietly you should not solely use them as a practice instrument. There is something to be said about the traditional methods and building your lung and lip stamina.

Equipment	Books
Long Practice Chanter Electronic Chanter	Highland Bagpipe Tutor Book The Piping Centre A step by step guide as taught by the Piping Centre. Includes CD software for both audio and instructional video clips Pipe Teacher's Assistant - Vol 1 w/ CD 62 Classic bagpipe tunes played on the practice chanter.

Drummer's Needs

Pipe band drum sections have three types of drummers: side or snare, tenor (flourishing or rhythm) and a bass drummer(s). If you are interested in learning to play, the best advice is do not go out and immediately purchase a drum.

Consider what instrument you are interested in and give it a try, we are glad to allow you to try all or any of the drums. You may be determined to learn a particular type of drum, but, you may decide on another type and this way, you have not made an expensive investment in the wrong drum.

Once you have decided on your drum, the next investment is pair of well suited sticks for a snare drum, or beaters./mallets for the tenor and bass. An inexpensive practice pad is recommended to keep you from damaging your own furniture.

There are many, many instructional books and DVDs that will teach you how to play. The drummers in the band are always available and eager to help you get started, while we are not world class musicians as featured in the DVD's, we can certainly help you get started correctly and work you into the band's drum line.

Constant, correct practice will make all the difference between you becoming an accomplished and contributing member of the band or just another "woodchopper" who is never on the beat.

Talk with and observe the current drummers and you'll get off to a great start.

Equipment	Books
Drum Pad Drum Sticks	Doug Stronach's Pipe Band Snare Tutor Learn to play the snare drum from one of the best. Includes CD software for both audio and instructional video clips Massed Band Drum Scores w/ CD Massed band scores included 4/4, 2/4, 3/4 and 6/8.