Bruce Gandy launches “Essential Piobaireachd Foundations” program for newer players and fans of ceol mor

Highland piping supremo Bruce Gandy has unveiled his latest instruction service, this time aimed at the piobaireachd curious and more established players alike.

“Essential Piobaireachd Foundations” consists of 37 separate online lessons by Gandy that take students through embellishments, canntaireachd, playing styles, and full piobaireachds, with possible additional courses to come.

Rather than going with a pay-as-you-go approach, Gandy has offered a lifetime subscription to Essential Piobaireachd Foundations for a one-time payment of $127 – “less than the cost of a few private lessons.”

He described the program as “a complete learning course” with a fully printable book in pdf format so pupils can “have the music with them instead of staring at a small screen.”

“I realized that by developing a comprehensive program, I could assist learners in mastering all the primary embellishments, saving them time and money.” – Bruce Gandy

The videos feature Gandy in actual workshops conducted over the years, as well as new videos explicitly created for the program, and take students through not only the how of embellishments and features of piobaireachd but attempts to answer why and when it should be played in various permutations of the music.

“I chose to create this course for several reasons,” Gandy said. “Primarily, I engage in frequent teaching and often find myself recording various tunes and technical exercises. I realized that by developing a comprehensive program, I could assist learners in mastering all the primary embellishments, saving them time and money compared to my weekly teaching sessions.”

Essential Piobaireachd Foundations is the latest element of Gandy’s well-established Bruce Gandy Music business, which offers other instructional programs, individual instruction, and even a tune commission service.

Along with his son, Alex, also an elite-level solo piper and pipe band leader, The Gandy Bagpiping Foundation is a charity arm of the business, raising funds for pipers needing financial assistance to attend piping schools via scholarships.