toeandheel.com

Thought I would post this as I have heard a lot of moans about the tempos at the Championships this year (and we are only in April!).

- complaints that one piper is playing too fast, another is too slow at every turn. . .

Whenever I think that the tempo might be a bit off I time the music and have to report that so far this year the tempo of EVERY dance that I have timed has been within the permitted range, as specified in the SOBHD text book.

Dancers, teacher, judges and parents will all have different opinions on the most suitable tempo (personally I like the music to be fairly fast) BUT as long as conditions are suitable and the tempo falls within the permitted limit then PLEASE do not moan at the pipers.

Playing for Highland Dancing at competitions, and especially championships, is physically and mentally demanding on the piper and hard on the pipes. We have only a few top quality pipers playing for our dancers and I personally do not want to see us losing any more.

Before criticising our pipers for being too fast or too slow - PLEASE check the tempo and only if this is outwith the permitted range then it should be brought to the attention of the organiser.

PS: might be worth sometimes just taking a small step back and enjoying some of the truly wonderful piping that we are privileged to hear