Pipes A Blowing
From the Pipe Major
The "Pipes A Blowing" section is intended to provide each Band Member with varied opportunities and tools to keep learning about and enjoy Highland Piping at it's best, as a performer and/or as a new student. This section is intended to aid the Pipe Major:
Administer the band piping program
Coordinate and correlate the Piping Music across all grades of abilities of the individual band members
Communicate the musical programs for a variety of band events and civic functions at the request of the Executive Director or Event Requesting Entity
Organize and maintain a large inventory of instructional materials and music library
The Palm Springs Air Museum Pipe Band 2024- 2025 Tunes and Sets List, can be found on "OUR MUSIC" page. Below are an assortment of media to provide you with the tools to learn our music. As you see we have simple sheet music all the way through to the interactive "Bagpipe Player". If you have additional recommendations that will help in improving the dissemination of our music, don't hesitate to bring it up to Pierre McIntyre" the "Webmaster".
Beginners
Here are a few tools for our beginners. If your using the College of Piping Tudor Book the following is a link to the colleges videos that are a mirror image of the book. As you move from lesson to lesson you’ll find videos to support your ongoing efforts.
College of Piping Tudor 1 Videos
Find also a generic Bagpipe Tune Book should you become adventurous enough to try on new tunes.
Learners
Whether your new, working through your assigned music or far beyond that, such as cramming to learn a new tune, the following is for you. We use the Bagpipe Player which turns out to be a very powerful tool. It is freeware, so the price is right. Accompanying it are folders, with generic tunes that Rod Cribbes, one of our co-founders, programmed specifically for PSAMPB tunes, complete with all the accents or grace notes unique to our playing style. We recommend you upload the free ware from the net and download the tune files we are providing you. There are some minor issues, the free ware does not operate on Macs. Hence a separate link to a Mac App that does cost a couple of bucks. Tune Files are not compatible with this Web Site operating systems. Therefore, the files are currently stored on the PSAMPB Google Sky Drive and are accessible to you. You will need to download each file separately onto your computer. Another issue is that the music file is only accessible through the Bagpipe Player. So, open the player and open a tune through the Player itself.
Bagpipe Player Freeware
Bagpipe Player for MAC
PSAMPB Tune List
2025-26 Season
PSAMPB Tune List
in PDF Format
PSAMPB Tune List
in BWW Format
Seasoned Players
Those of you who have mastered your tunes, you may now need to polish up on your Medley’s. See the videos below to see our very own Pipe Major lead you through the intricacies of our tunes. Keep coming back and keep up with our tune list.
Lyrics of Our Music
A Little Something from Joe Branson
Joe being a Scotsman at Heart & Body, thought that knowing the words to the songs we play would go a long way in making the learning of these tunes easier. So here is a link to the lyrics of our tunes that we could find online.
Closing Notes From The Pipe Sgt
Tuners for Tuning of the Pipes
For your information there are free downloadable tuner apps for your usage. Recommend either the Braw Bagpipe Tuner app or the Accord Chromatic Tuner app. Both are free Android Apps and come with some limitations, but for a few bucks you can get a more complete app. For IPhones it appears, only the Braw Bagpipe Tuner app is Freeware but there are others at a reasonable cost. So, this should allow you to start tuning your chanters to 484 hz frequency for Low A prior to practice or showing up for a gig or parade.
Reeds
For those interested in trying new reeds, especially older pipers and those just coming up on the pipes, try Colin Maclellan reeds. Colin is a renowned piper, winner of the Highland Society of London Gold Medals, Silver Chanters and myriad other major awards, as well as the former pipe-major of top-grade bands. His reeds promise instant functionality, great robust sound, and most importantly, a class of reeds that suit the "senior" piper who is looking for an easy reed that delivers great sound. You can purchase the reeds directly from him at colin@pipereeds.com or from any bagpipe supplier.