Tuition
Bucksburn & District Pipe Band are committed to keeping the arts of Piping and Drumming alive in North-East Scotland. The brainchild of P/M Jim MacDonald in 1984, our youth band has gone from strength to strength winning many top prizes and performing alongside internationally renowned artists including the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, Robbie Shepherd and the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland.
Beginners
Beginner students (age 7 - 13) are instructed on Bagpipes (Chanter), Snare Drum, Tenor Drum and Bass Drum throughout the school terms at St Machar Academy on Monday evenings from 7.00pm to 8.00pm. As all our beginners will progress in the Novice/Juvenile grade we can only accept under 18's into our beginners system.
Junior Band
Our Junior Bands competes in the Novice/Juvenile and Grade 3 Grades in RSPBA contests. The bands play on the local contest circuit as well as at the 5 Major RSPBA competitions each year, and are double World Champions amongst many top prizes. They also play at a number of engagements each year varying from galas, concerts, weddings and even radio shows, and host an annual fund raising ceilidh. The Junior Band has represented Aberdeen in places as far-flung as Taiwan and Belarus. The N/J band is seen as the first stepping-stone on the road to competing with the Senior Band.
Please get in touch with us to find out more about our Junior Band system.
Instructors
We encourage all our band members to contribute to the teaching of beginners from an early age. They are advised by our principal instructors below.
Bagpipes
P/M Ian Dallas - Ian has been involved with Bucksburn Pipe Band for many years, and was Pipe Major of the Senior Band from 1989 - 1991. Since retiring from the Senior Band, Ian has been Pipe Major in charge of the running of the Junior Band, leading the band to the World Champions title in 1997, and again in 2008. Ian teaches bagpipes in schools throughout Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.
Asst. P/M Nicole Niven - Nicole learnt to play the Pipes with former band member Ally Bremner before joining the Novice/Juvenile band in 1997 as part of the World Champion set-up. A member of the Senior Band Pipe Corps since 1998, Nicole has been helping to tutor beginners on Chanter for a number of years. Nicole is Ian's Assistant Pipe Major for the Junior Band.
Snare Drum
Scott Niven - Scott has been part of the Bucksburn set-up since joining to learn Snare Drum in October 1992. He was part of the N/J band that won the World Championships and Cowal Drum Corps Prize in 1997. Promoted to the Senior Band in 1998, he was Deputy Lead Drummer from 2000-2006, and has played a large part in teaching youngsters since his move up. Scott developed the "Introduction to Snare Drum" booklet which is used to teach all beginner drummers in the band and it has since been used by a number of bands across the World. Scott teaches the drummers who make up the Junior Band Drum Corps. He teaches drums for a living, working in Lathallan Schools, Gordonstoun Schools and Aberdeen City Schools Music Centre, and a number of bands in the North-East and is available to teach in workshops throughout Scotland.
Tenor & Bass Drum
Sophie Gibb - Sophie started learning Tenor Drum with the band in 1999 and quickly progressed to be an integral part of the band. Only a wee lass, she was brave enough to take on the responsibility of playing the Bass Drum for a couple of seasons as the band moved up into the Juvenile grade. In 2006 she moved up to the Senior Band and since helped the midsection develop its visual impact, while contuing her involvement with the Junior Band by teaching some very high quality bass and tenor drummers. Sophie has taught at workshops throughout the North of Scotland and has been invited to teach a number of bands.
Chris George - Chris is another member of the "Big Band" Bass Section to have begun his career in the Junior Band. Chris followed his brother Craig into learning Tenor Drum, proving to be a quick learner with a natural flair for the flourishing aspect of Tenor Drum. Chris also had a spell on Bass for the N/J band before stepping up to join the Senior Band in 2007.
Simon Davidson - Simon became Bass Drummer with the Senior Band in spring 2009, an impressive rise considering he only started drumming in late 2006! Simon takes our beginner Bass Drummers through their paces.
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