Pipe Band - Military Pipes and Drums

Military Pipes and Drums

In military and para-military organizations the term "pipes and drums" is used when referring to an ensemble of Highland bagpipes and drums, but the majority of modern military bands are quite similar to their civilian counterparts in their instrumentation and music. Many of the same standard tunes are found in both the military and civilian pipe band repertoires, and many similarities exist in terms of musical style, historical and musical influences, and dress and deportment.

Unlike civilian pipers, however, pipers in British military bands have additional military responsibilities. Nowadays, musicians in British Army bands are normally required to take on a secondary role in the battlefield as medics. However, in most cases the pipes and drums in a Scottish or Irish infantry regiment constitute a machine gun or mortar platoon (as the Corps of Drums does in an English or Welsh infantry regiment). As a result, in addition to being musicians, members of the pipes and drums must also be qualified fighting soldiers. Unlike musicians, who belong to the Corps of Army Music, the pipers and drummers belong to the regiment in which they serve and are soldiers first and foremost.

The British Army runs its own pipes and drums training facility, the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming, in Edinburgh, Scotland. To be qualified as a Pipe Major or Drum Major in the pipes and drums of a regiment of the British Army, candidates must successfully pass a series of courses at the school.