Welcome

Hello and welcome to Às an Tobar – From the Well! In this blog I will share with you my Scottish Smallpipe playing, inspired by the song traditions of Gaelic Scotland.

The title is Gàidhlig, Scottish Gaelic, because this language has come to be center of my musical development and is the heart of the music I wish to share.

The title is also a reference to Tobar an Dualchais, a tremendous resource of Gaelic language recordings. The many Gaelic song recordings there have provided me with endless musical inspiration and I will be playing them on the pipes in this blog.

I started learning bagpipes about 16 years ago, and played with pipe bands throughout the US. My time with pipe bands concluded with a trip to the 2018 World Pipe Band Championships with the City of Chicago Pipe Band. Since then I have focused on the bellows blown Scottish smallpipes, exploring the repertoire of Gaelic tunes and its connection to song tradition.

Each post in this blog will focus on a Gaelic song. I’ll include the original vocal performance, my interpretation of it on the smallpipes, and some sheet music to follow along. I hope you will enjoy the songs, and the pipes, and join me on this musical journey.

Cheers,

John Charles