TUITION
Is the thought of learning to play the bagpipes both exciting yet daunting, not knowing where or how to start? My advice is to have a bagpipe tutor who can guide you through the process. From the initial equipment needed, which isn’t a great deal to begin with, just a practice chanter and tutor book, early lessons and then how to transition onto the bagpipe itself. If you have someone to guide you, it will be much less daunting.
With over 40 years of playing and teaching experience with both adults and children, I have successfully taught all levels of piper, from absolute beginners to prize winning solo pipers, and coached individuals to play in Pipe Bands at the highest of levels in Grade 1. I find that, where possible, a combination of face to face and online sessions works well, maximising the time with each person.
Being first appointed as a Pipe Major at the very young age of 17 and going on to play and compete successfully at the very highest level in Pipe Bands, I’ve a vast experience of teaching in band and group situations and can offer advice on musicality, technique, reed set up, tone and group dynamics.
My teaching style is to find a way that connects with the individual. Every person receives information differently, my job is to find the hook that works for you. I always leave every session on a high and try and find a ‘light bulb moment’ for the student.
AVAILABLE OPTIONS
I can teach both face to face whether that is one on one sessions or group sessions such as a workshop along with online via various platforms (Zoom, Teams, Skype, Facetime), teaching students in England, Scotland, America and Canada.
FACE TO FACE
WORKSHOPS
ONLINE
To discuss your piping career, be it as a beginner, someone needing a bit of coaching to get back on track or to push on to that next level of success, don’t hesitate to be in touch. It might be just the inspiration you need.
From £20 Per Hour
Testimonials
Being a musical bagpiper has always been a challenge for me. I’ve often struggled with finding the right way to express the different idioms of both traditional and modern bagpipe music. Good recordings are often difficult to find and when you’ve finally got one, you can often find it hard to identify areas that I need to personally work on.
Craig is a critical part of my learning experience because of his deep knowledge of the music and the instrument. He is able to quickly locate where I am struggling the most and provide easy to use instructions for fixing my issues. I often don’t get it right the first time and sometimes it can take a week or more for me to fully work out what Craig is teaching me.
He is additionally very patient with his instruction and continues to guide me while I learn at my own pace. My musical expression is now better on the tunes I know and I am able to learn new tunes more quickly with better expression.
There is no question that I have personally improved leaps and bounds from Craig’s tutelage. His advice on instrument maintenance has also made my bagpipe both easier to play and far more enjoyable.
He never makes it awkward asking him various questions, no matter how dumb I may feel asking it.
Thank you Craig for all your help. I look forward to continuing to work with you and improve in the future.
Dane Chambers
San Diego, California
Craig has been an integral part of my Piping development. His extensive knowledge of music and the Great Highland Bagpiper is second to none.
He is able to get the very best out of me and whenever I am struggling, he is able to break it down and advise with simple explanations on how I can improve and get better.
Craig is also a very friendly and approachable down to earth type of guy, who you can have a joke and a laugh with, which I find is very important.
I reached out to Craig as a tutor because of his excellent track record of developing talent, whether that is from beginners or to improved advanced pipers.
Craig also attracted me because of his own competitive experience, having played with the famous Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band and won every Major Championship title there is to win in Grade 1, was something that I had to tap into and learn from.
If I was going to be tutored and really want to develop, I wanted to be tutored by the best and Craig has not disappointed.
Without Craig, I wouldn’t be the Piper I am today.
Geoffrey Beaumont
Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
I have taken piping lessons from some of the best top pipers. They all have helped me get better. Each teacher has had a slightly different approach to teaching and styles.
My latest instructor was Stuart Liddell, and I absolutely love his style and way of teaching. Now that being said, taking lessons with Craig to get the music just right for the LA Scots was no different than getting a lesson from Stuart. They both have the ear to hear what is needed, that extra finesse that all the top players have.
I highly recommend taking lessons from Craig, your piping will improve.
Abe McCarty
Stockton, California
ROYAL DEESIDE BAGPIPER 