Welcome to our website, which has separate sections for visitors, and members of the Piobaireachd Society. If you are not a member, why not join? The new member's area has many sound clips (see list HERE ), proceedings of all previous conferences, and articles about piobaireachd. The rest of the website is open to all visitors, as it was before this change. To join, see the "How to Join" button on the left of every page.

Annual Conference Details  HERE

When the Highlands and Islands of Scotland adopted the bagpipe, perhaps some four hundred years ago, they began to develop the instrument and its music to suit their needs and tastes.

What emerged was the instrument we know today and a form of music, piobaireachd, which is unique to the instrument.  It is a very stylized form of music. There is freedom in the theme or "ground" of the piobaireachd to express joy, sadness, or sometimes in the "gathering" tunes , a peremptory warning or call to arms.

Thereafter the theme is repeated and underlined in a series of variations, which usually progress to the "crunluath" variation where the piper's fingers give a dazzling technical display of embellishment or gracenotes.

Why not listen to a tune.

R U Brown plays The Old Womans Lullaby

You can hear more tunes in the "Sound Clips" on the left in the main menu.