A schools charity has started what it calls “the biggest free bagpipe loan scheme in the world”, in an attempt boost the number of pupils taking up Scotland’s national instrument.
The instruments are being loaned out for up to three years at a time, to help build the popularity of what is often an expensive instrument to learn.
The move comes at a time of widespread concern about the future of instrumental music tuition in Scotland.
More than 160 sets, costing about £700 each, are already being played by pupils in schools from Orkney to the Borders. Eventually, 500 bagpipes will be available for loan at a total cost of over £350,000.
The initiative is being run by the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust, which is involved in 18 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas and supports the teaching of more than 2,500 pupils each week.
Chief executive Alexandra Duncan said: “We recognise that the big cost of pipes is a barrier to people progressing with the instrument - hence the free loan scheme.
“The idea is to give our young players time to get to grips with the pipes and let them be certain of their ability before taking the plunge and buying their own.”
Fears of a decline in music tuition
Ms Duncan added that a lot of the trust’s work was being carried out in schools in poorer areas where the cost of pipes is a big challenge to parents. Instruments are being sourced from a number of Scotland’s leading bagpipe makers, after a tendering process. Schools and councils can apply for the loan of pipes through the trust’s website.
“Piping and drumming is extremely popular with youngsters and too few are being offered the opportunity to take it up in schools,” said Ms Duncan. “Pipe bands help young people to build resilience, teamwork, friendships and confidence and to achieve better outcomes when they finish secondary education.”
One recently launched piping and drumming programme is based in Whitehill Secondary School in the East End of Glasgow.
Pam Black, Glasgow City Council’s head of instrumental music services, said: “Historically Whitehill has been extremely difficult to get take up for instruments like strings and brass.”
However, the new programme is oversubscribed, with over 100 pupils wanting to join in.
Another school to benefit is Tynecastle High in Edinburgh, where pupils such as Maya Watson (pictured) have received help with their new bagpipes. (She is pictured receiving her set of new pipes from Craig Munro, director of Wallace Bagpipes and a member of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers group.)
The future of instrumental music in Scottish schools has been a cause of much concern in recent years, with Tes Scotland revealing figures in 2016 that showed it faced a “fight for survival” in parts of the country”.
In May this year, first minister Nicola Sturgeon warned in the Scottish Parliament that cuts must not stop poor pupils from learning musical instruments.
However, the introduction of charges for music lessons in Scotland had led to huge falls in the number of pupils learning to play instruments, campaigners warned last month. In June, the EIS teaching union said that cuts and increased charges had “contributed to a significant erosion of music in schools” and placed it “at risk of extinction”.
