The Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming is a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

training establishment that provides instruction on Scottish

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

music to military pipers and drummers.

History

Founded in 1910 as the Army School of Piping (later renamed the Army School of Bagpipe Music), the School was formerly located at Edinburgh Castle but is now located at Inchdrewer House near

Redford Barracks Redford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks is located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. Redford Barracks was built between 1909 and 1915 by the War Office and designed by Harry Be ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and is administered by the Infantry Training Centre, it is also affiliated with the

Royal Corps of Army Music The Royal Corps of Army Music (RCAM, widely known by its former acronym CAMUS) is a Corps of the British Army dedicated to the provision and promotion of military music. History The formation of the Corps of Army Music was triggered by a defen ...

. Generally regarded as the smallest unit in the British Army, the School is now commanded by a Director who is a qualified army

Pipe Major The pipe major is the leading musician of a pipe band, whether military or civilian. Like the appointment of drum major, the position is derived from British Army traditions. During the early twentieth century, the term sergeant piper was used ...

and who usually holds the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

(usually being commissioned from

Warrant Officer Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ranks, the mos ...

rank on appointment). The Director is assisted by a Chief Instructor, who is the Senior Pipe Major of the British Army. The School provides courses at different levels to pipers and drummers of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

throughout the year, and qualified instructors are drawn from the

pipes and drums A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

of various units in the

. The School accepts students from

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

armed forces, but not civilians. It has in the past provided instruction to various

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

band members, but this has not taken place for a number of years. The School forms part of the Piping and Drumming Qualifications Board, which is a collaboration among the Piobaireachd Society, the

Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) is an association aiming to oversee pipe band competition, and to promote and encourage the development of pipe band culture worldwidepipe band competition, and to promote and encourage the develo ...

, the College of Piping, and the National Piping Centre. Together, the Institute sets a standardised piping certificate programme for students from around the world.

British Armed Forces Pipe Bands

Massed Pipe Band, Edinburgh Military Tattoo, 2009 - geograph

Pipes and Drums A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a ...

of the

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest surviving Cavalry Regiment of the Line in the British ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Royal Dragoon Guards The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury Bar ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Queen's Royal Hussars The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish) (QRH) is a British armoured regiment. It was formed on 1 September 1993 from the amalgamation of the Queen's Own Hussars and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars. The regiment and its antece ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry The Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (SNIY) is a reserve Light Cavalry Regiment, formed in 2014, created out of the restructuring of the British Army's Territorial Army. It is operationally paired with The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, (SCOTS D ...

(Reserve) * Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion,

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

* Drums and Pipes of the 1st Battalion,

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has parti ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Royal Highland Fusiliers The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (2 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Prior to 28 March 2006, the Royal Highland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment in its own right, c ...

, 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland * Pipes and Drums of the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland * Pipes and Drums of the Highlanders, 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland *Pipes and Drums of the 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Reserves) * Pipes and Drums of the 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Reserves) * Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment) *Pipes and Drums of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment) (Reserves) * Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion,

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unite ...

* Pipes and Drums of the 2nd Battalion,

* Pipes and Drums of the

Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, also known as 10 The Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment or 10 QOGLR, is a regiment of the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps. History The regiment was created on 5 April 2001. It was formed as a mer ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Queen's Gurkha Signals The Queen's Gurkha Signals (QG SIGNALS) is a regular unit of Royal Corps of Signals, one of the combat support arms of British Army. Together with the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, the Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, a ...

* Pipes and Drums of the

Queen's Gurkha Engineers The 36 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army. The regiment trace their history back to before World War II as 36 Army Engineer Regiment. The regiment today is a general support engineer regiment pr ...

* Pipes and Drums of 19th Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

* Pipes and Drums of the Lancashire Artillery Volunteers (Reserves) * Pipes and Drums of the London Scottish (Reserves) * Pipes and Drums of the

London Irish Rifles The London Irish Rifles (LIR) was a reserve infantry regiment and then company of the British Army. The unit's final incarnation was as D (London Irish Rifles) Company, the London Regiment. On 1 April 2022 soldiers in the company transferred to ...

(Reserves) * Pipes and Drums of the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

* Pipes and Drums of City of Edinburgh UOTC * Drums and Pipes of Aberdeen UOTC * Pipes and Drums of Glasgow and Strathclyde UOTC * Pipes and Drums of Tayforth UOTC * Pipes and Drums of 102 Battalion REME (Reserves)

Royal Air Force

* RAF Halton Pipes and Drums * RAF Central Scotland Pipes and Drums * RAF Lossiemouth Pipes and Drums * RAF Waddington Pipes and Drums * Pipes and Drums of 2622 (Highland) Squadron

Directors

* P/M John MacDonald, Inverness 1910–1914 * P/M John Grant 1914–1918 * P/M Willie Ross (

), 1919–1957 * P/M George Stoddart (

), 1958 * P/M Donald MacLeod (

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

), 1959 * Captain John MacLellan (

Queen's Own Highlanders The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons), officially abbreviated "QO HLDRS," was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. It was in existence from 1961 to 1994. History 1961–1970 The regiment was f ...

), 1959–1976 * Captain Andrew Pitkeathly (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders), 1976–1981 * Major John Allan (Queen's Own Highlanders), 1981–1990 * Major Gavin Stoddart (

), 1990–2003 * Captain Stuart Samson ( The Highlanders), 2003–2007 * Major Steven Small (

), 2007–2016 * Major Gordon Rowan (

Royal Regiment of Scotland The Royal Regiment of Scotland is the British Army Order of Precedence, senior and only Scottish regiment, Scottish line infantry regiment of the British Army Infantry. It consists of three regular (formerly five) and two Army Reserve (United ...

), 2016–

References

External links

The Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming
– on British Army official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Army School of Bagpipe Music And Highland Drumming Training establishments of the British Army Bagpiping schools Arts in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1910 Military of Scotland British military bands Military music Organisations based in Edinburgh 1910 establishments in Scotland Scottish ceremonial units

History

British Armed Forces Pipe Bands

Royal Air Force

Directors

See also

References

External links