St. Louis Caledonian, a Grade 4 pipe band based in St. Louis, MO.
Our mission is to Scottish pipe music in the St. Louis community and beyond through instruction, performance, and pipe band competition. And to have a lot of fun.
We teach piping to any and all. No musical experience is needed. Students start on an inexpensive practice chanter and continue to use that for learning as long as they play pipes. A practice chanter is the about same size and noise volume as a recorder. It can take a few months or even up to a year before a learner is ready for full pipes. The more the willingness and determination, the faster it goes. Youth tend to move much quicker There is no upper age limit. And no minimum age, other than a practical limit determined by hand size. By 7 or 8, most kids are big enough to give it a shot.
Pipe band drumming consists of three different disciplines. Snare, tenor and bass drum. We offer introductory through advanced instruction in each. Pipe band snare drumming shares the same rudiments as traditional band or drum corps drumming. The stick handling is slightly different. The primary difference is the music itself. Pipe band snare drumming explicitly follows or compliments the melody as opposed to the underlying rhythm or “beat”. Combined with the pipes, it makes for a exciting ensemble. No musical experience is needed.
We accept any and all players. As a band we try to offer access to all activities common to pipe bands. We compete, perform, and try to find a home for the interests of all players. Participation is not required in all aspects. We only ask that our members pursue our common goal of becoming better musians.
- Missouri