Piobaireachd Studio

Welcome to Murray Henderson’s Piobaireachd Studio – buy here

Fifty years of playing, studying, performing and teaching Piobaireachd has culminated in the creation of this unique series of online material I started recording in 2020.

In video format, I describe the principles I use when playing or teaching Piobaireachd.

Videos are separated into grounds and variations covering the whole tune, describing each in detail and demonstrating exactly how I approach all variations.

Video clips are named and easy to find as individual variations, if you want to identify and focus on a particular section.

I also play the tunes on the practice chanter as separate variation clips.

In addition, current MP3 bagpipe recordings of me playing the full tune are also available for download.

Tunes will be released in volumes to include a mixed variety of length and difficulty, so each volume will have something for players of all levels.

I am very respectful of different styles, but in this series I will impart the style that has served me well throughout my competitive and teaching career. This is based on the MacPherson style, handed down through John MacDonald (Inverness) and continuing through the famous “Bobs of Balmoral” (Brown & Nicol). 

I have a passionate teaching style, which pipers find easy to relate to. My aim is to take you on a musical journey that will be comprehensive and concise. I recognise that players will mature and develop their own unique musical personality which is encouraged to enable the player to tell a story through music.  

Review by Dr Gary West – lecturer in Scottish music and its history, author, composer, performer and presenter of BBC ‘s Pipeline.

Murray Henderson needs little introduction to a piping audience: suffice to say he is one of the most successful competitors of all time, having won every award there is to win in piping, most of them many times over. That includes a tally of no fewer than six wins in one of the most prestigious piobaireachd contests of all, the Clasp at the Northern Meeting in Inverness, a feat that only four players in history have surpassed.

What is the secret of Murray’s success? There are no doubt many layers of answers to that, but spend a few minutes in his company, and it immediately becomes clear that here is a musician who thinks and feels deeply about his art, its transmission through the generations, and the subtleties and nuances of its expression.

Murray’s new series of piobaireachd presentations now gives us the chance to spend more than a few minutes in his company! This is piping tuition at its best, taking us way beyond ‘lessons’ into the deep well of understanding that comes with focused musical immersion with a master of his art. Through singing, practice chanter demonstration and full performance on the bagpipe, Murray guides us through the fine details of his musical interpretation with clarity, precision and purpose. By focusing on light and shade, colour, approaches to phrasing and pulsing he prizes open the door of musical understanding in a way that can benefit us all, whatever level we happen to play at.

And that it is a very fine thing indeed.