Why compete?
In many small towns across the country - and big cities too for that matter - you will find pipe bands... Some compete in the summertime, some do not. We often get asked: "Why Compete? It seems stressful..." Well, sometimes it can be, that's true. But oftentimes, competition brings out the best in us, too. Here's a little bit more info on why we do it:
Goals: everyone needs them, even pipe bands. During a competition season we time the learning process of the music and technique to align with landmark events to ensure we're on the right track. For example, after a wee break in the fall we typically resume in October just after Thanksgiving. Our first "event" will often be timed around Christmas enabling us to do some sound checks and ensure that our core tunes have been mastered and our unison (pipes and drums together) is working well. In early April, our first BIG outdoor event is the Tartan Day celebration in April where the good people of Centre Wellington get their first taste of all the work we've put in. This is a very telling time for us: does anyone need to work on building confidence? Were the pipes steady? Do we need to work harder on key parts? This event is typically closely followed by the Toronto Indoor Competition in mid-April where we get our first taste of a judge's sheet: what do the judges feel we need to work on? From this time, we have approximately 2 months before the first summer games of the season: Georgetown, where we lay it all on the line and hope that our hard work has paid off! Every competition provides us with more feedback to continue to work on throughout the summer competition season, adding new goals or changing them as needed.
Constant Improvement: as anyone who has played the pipes or drums can tell you, there is always something new to learn about the instrument. In competitive bands, there is much more emphasis on playing well (for pipers, playing well includes blowing steady so there is no wavering in the tuning of the instrument, crisp and clean finger movements, and expressing the musicality of a tune by varying the duration of a beat; for drummers this includes crisp and clean stick work, ensuring accurate timing, and expressing the tune using dynamics - varying the softness or loudness - of the drum) than in most non-competitive bands. Each player has their own strengths to bolster and weaknesses to improve. As a group of players, the band uses the judging score sheets to determine what new bits of technique or expression we need to work on as a group, to put forward the best-sounding band possible.
Pride and Glory: we'd be lying if we said we didn't enjoy the occasional win here or there. But don't misunderstand us: it's not about the winning. It's about knowing that our hard work has paid off, that we've come all the way from point A to point B and someone else noticed! In our 2018/2019 season we started the band with 2 actual players, no drummers, and 3 people that were just starting out on the bagpipes... so we decided to take the 2019 competitive season off. When we take the field once more in 2020, even if we come in dead last, we will still have brought the band from near collapse to fielding a team (based on almost entirely new talent) on the competitive Ontario (PPBSO) circuit: that is definitely something to be proud of!
Goals: everyone needs them, even pipe bands. During a competition season we time the learning process of the music and technique to align with landmark events to ensure we're on the right track. For example, after a wee break in the fall we typically resume in October just after Thanksgiving. Our first "event" will often be timed around Christmas enabling us to do some sound checks and ensure that our core tunes have been mastered and our unison (pipes and drums together) is working well. In early April, our first BIG outdoor event is the Tartan Day celebration in April where the good people of Centre Wellington get their first taste of all the work we've put in. This is a very telling time for us: does anyone need to work on building confidence? Were the pipes steady? Do we need to work harder on key parts? This event is typically closely followed by the Toronto Indoor Competition in mid-April where we get our first taste of a judge's sheet: what do the judges feel we need to work on? From this time, we have approximately 2 months before the first summer games of the season: Georgetown, where we lay it all on the line and hope that our hard work has paid off! Every competition provides us with more feedback to continue to work on throughout the summer competition season, adding new goals or changing them as needed.
Constant Improvement: as anyone who has played the pipes or drums can tell you, there is always something new to learn about the instrument. In competitive bands, there is much more emphasis on playing well (for pipers, playing well includes blowing steady so there is no wavering in the tuning of the instrument, crisp and clean finger movements, and expressing the musicality of a tune by varying the duration of a beat; for drummers this includes crisp and clean stick work, ensuring accurate timing, and expressing the tune using dynamics - varying the softness or loudness - of the drum) than in most non-competitive bands. Each player has their own strengths to bolster and weaknesses to improve. As a group of players, the band uses the judging score sheets to determine what new bits of technique or expression we need to work on as a group, to put forward the best-sounding band possible.
Pride and Glory: we'd be lying if we said we didn't enjoy the occasional win here or there. But don't misunderstand us: it's not about the winning. It's about knowing that our hard work has paid off, that we've come all the way from point A to point B and someone else noticed! In our 2018/2019 season we started the band with 2 actual players, no drummers, and 3 people that were just starting out on the bagpipes... so we decided to take the 2019 competitive season off. When we take the field once more in 2020, even if we come in dead last, we will still have brought the band from near collapse to fielding a team (based on almost entirely new talent) on the competitive Ontario (PPBSO) circuit: that is definitely something to be proud of!
