Whats the difference between the Bagpipes and Uilleann Pipes?
Highland Bagpipes are played standing, uilleann pipes are played sitting. Highland Bagpipes are for the outdoors, uilleann pipes are for indoor playing. Highland Bagpipes are a military instrument. Uilleann pipes are a social instrument. The Highland bagpipes are usually taught according to strict methods with standardized ornamentation and learned by rote from written music and judged in competitions. By contrast, uilleann pipes are free of such standardization and are played in a wide variety of styles; individual players create their own versions of tunes and their own use of ornamentation, which will vary from player to player. Finally, uilleann pipers don’t normally learn from sheet music but learn by ear within their tradition. How do the uilleann pipes compare with other bagpipes? Among the hundreds of bagpipes that were once in existence, as well as those that survive today, uilleann pipes are the most evolved and the most complex. They play two full octaves, unlike any other b
