Lessons
Rosie O'Grady's is a teaching band, and we realized many years ago the importance of passing along the knowledge that we've acquired as pipers and drummers. The band has benefited by this policy, for so many students have become supportive members and even leaders of the organization. This is why we do not charge for bagpipe or drum lessons. We only require that when you have achieved your goal of learning to play the bagpipe or the drum you remain with the band as a playing member.
Currently the band conducts student lessons on Monday evenings from 6:00 to 7:00 at the Lake Highland Preparatory School, Charles Clayton Campus on the corner of N Mills Ave. and E Park Lake Ave. in downtown Orlando.
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If you'd like to see some pictures of a typical practice, click here for photos from a rehearsal.
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The Piping Student
To learn the bagpipe, students begin their lessons on a "practice chanter", a hand held learning instrument that is similar to a recorder. With it you learn proper fingering, scales, embellishments and the entry level tunes. When you've mastered several tunes on the practice chanter, we'll help you find your first set of bagpipes. A good set of bagpipes starts at a minimum of a thousand dollars and upwards, so be prepared. It generally takes a minimum of six months before the student is ready to begin playing on the bagpipes.
practice chanter
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The Drumming Student
You do not need to know anything about drumming and all are welcome, no matter your age. All you need is the love of drumming. Drumming lessons include written music, and instruction in how to read that music. You will learn flow, rhythm and movement. You will first learn the basic beatings or rudiments. These rudiments are then combined to make drum scores. The first tunes that you will learn are called Massed Band Scores. Once you have learned the four basic Massed Band scores, a drum is then issued to you. Scottish drumming is broken down into three main categories:
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Snare - Our Snare students begin with a device called a "practice pad" and Scottish snare sticks. A good set of Scottish snare sticks will cost fifteen to twenty dollars. We recommend the Andante Tom Brown's or the Alec Duthart's. A good practice pad will cost twenty-five to thirty-five dollars. Practice pads that we recommend are Andante's Tom Brown OR Hard Corp's by Woodshed Percussion. |
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Tenor - Our Tenor students begin with a pair of Flourishing Sticks. These are a mallet which has strings attached to them, which enable the drummer to flourish or play rhythm. We recommend the Lisa Frazier or Tyler Fry's Tenor sticks. These sticks will run you between thirty-two to forty-two dollars a pair. One pair of these sticks is all that is required to learn to play Tenor. |
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Bass - Our Bass students begin with a pair of Bass Drum Mallets. These mallets vary in cost. They can start as low as forty-five dollars and run upwards of seventy-five dollars. We would recommend Andante's, Batss, or M&G mallets. One pair of Bass Mallets is all that is required to learn to play Bass. |
If you would like to purchase any of these Scottish style drumsticks and practice pads, we would suggest going to drumsplus.com on the Internet or look up pipe band supplies on your search engine.
Welcome to the Rosie O' Grady Drum Corps. Happy Drumming! |
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Learn To Play
