The Fergus Pipe Band is gearing up for the 79th Fergus Scottish Festival. The band and Festival organizers invited the media to their practice on Tuesday night.
Tyler Bridge is pipe major of the Guelph Pipe Band and co-chair of the Fergus Scottish Festival Pipes and Drums Committee. He explained how the instruments work and the different types of bands.
Bridge explained that the Fergus Pipe Band is considered a “street band” because it does not enter competitions. The Guelph Pipe Band is a Grade 3 competition band.
The first opportunity to hear the pipe bands will be Thursday during the parade. There will be performances on Friday, as well as the Tatoo.
Bridge says Saturday is when things get even more interesting.
“Every year, the Saturday of the Fergus Highland Games is one of the major competitions in Ontario,” explained Bridge. “It’s considered what’s called a ‘Champion Supreme’ game, so Pipers Society of Ontario puts on certain champion supreme competitions throughout the year that are all associated with different highland games in Ontario.”
Bridge said the Fergus Scottish Festival is one of the last opportunities for bands to earn enough points to win the overall title.
He also explained how the bagpipes are played. Every European country has its own type of bagpipe, and Fergus and Guelph pipe bands play the Great Highland bagpipe, which is “definitely associated with Scotland.”
The part the player blows into is called the canter. It’s very similar to a recorder, where the player plays the melody. Then, there are three drones, the bass drone and two tenor drones, that Bridge said provide a kind of accompaniment to the melody.
Bridge admitted that the bagpipe can be a difficult instrument to learn. Its four reeds need to be kept in tune and are susceptible to temperature and moisture. He called it one of the most frustrating and temperamental instruments on the planet. But he said it also brings people together and added, “If you meet another piper, you have an instant friend.”
Every pipe band is accompanied by a drum corps consisting of tenor, snare, and bass drums. The tenor drums use a fuzzy mallet that the player twirls in time to the music. The mallets have strings the player wraps around their fingers so they can twirl them in what’s called a flourish.
The Fergus Scottish Festival runs from August 9 to 11.
