Grade 3, Unit 3, Lesson 1

Bagpipe b.r. PhotoDisc, Inc. / Getty Images

The modern bagpipe is a wind instrument. The instrument has a chanter. The chanter can be the shape of a cone or the shape of a cylinder. The bagpipe can have one or several drones. Drones usually have a cylinder shape and have sliding joints for tuning.

Many bagpipes have mouthpieces for the player to blow air into the bag. The bag is pressed under the player’s arm to force air into the chanter and drone. Bagpipes with mouthpieces are great for playing outdoors. Bagpipes that do not have mouthpieces have bellows. These bellows supply air to the bag. Bagpipes with bellows are usually better for playing indoors.

Throughout history, bagpipes were commonly used to play folk and traditional music. Bagpipes were also used in chamber music, operas, and ballets in Western Europe in the 1700s and 1800s. Today bagpipes are still being built and played all around the world. Strong traditions of bagpipe playing still exist in Great Britain and Ireland, among other countries.

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