Sound Advice latest piping and drumming school to go online

The coronavirus situation is not preventing the Saskatchewan Pipe Band Association from carrying on with its annual Sound Advice summer school, which is the latest piping and drumming school to go all online.

Sound Advice will run from June 29 to July 3, inclusive, with a lineup of household names in the piping and drumming world, including Callum Beaumont, Alex Gandy, Bruce Gandy and Reid Maxwell. In addition to all pipe band instruments, Sound Advice offers teaching in Highland & Scottish Step-Dancing, Celtic Guitar & Bodhran, Fiddling & Keyboards, Irish Dancing and Whistle.

Of note, the school has a strong representation of female instructors, often overlooked in workshops and summer schools. Teaching piping are Dani Millar and Eilidh MacDonald, with Elizabeth Shaw one of the drumming teachers, Ryan MacDonald instructing Scottish smallpipes, and Barbara MacDonald the whistle teacher.

“We’re excited about the possibilities this offers,” says Saskatchewan Pipe Band Association President Wayne Rempel. “We have decided to make the school as affordable as possible for students, and also to offer some great learning options for dance and other instruments.”

The Saskatchewan Pipe Band Association has been conducting board of directors meetings and its annual general meetings online for several years, so implementing video technology is familiar.

Other piping and drumming schools have also announced a move to all online classes, including Piping Hot Summer Drummer and the Balmoral School of Piping & Drumming.

Rather than move to an online model, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association cancelled its July school outright.

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