Information About Richard - Mold teacher -

(24 reviews)

Personal Description:

I have four children and two grand children and a black Labrador called Bryn. I live 1.5 miles from Mold. I am 61 years old.

I am a professional bagpiper who plays for weddings, funerals, St Andrews and Burns Nights.

Tutoring Experience:

I have been playing the bagpipes for over 37 years. I was first taught at the College of Piping in Glasgow, then by Willie MacKay in Crieff, Pipe Major Andy Renwick (Vale of Atholl Pipe Band) and I am currently receiving tuition from Dougie McCance (Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2017) and Kyle Howie, both former pipers with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

I played in the Gleneagles Strathearn Pipe Band for 8 years and often played at The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire for corporate and private events. The band competed in the World Pipe Band Championships and won both Grade 4 and Grade 3 whilst I was with them.

I am currently Pipe Sergeant in the Wirral Pipe Band, based at Moreton on the Wirral and part of my role is to give one to one tuition to band members, from complete beginners to accomplished players. In the absence of the Pipe Major, I will take the weekly band practice which means being responsible for up to 25 members.

I have played with the Wirral Pipe Band on stage in the M & S Bank Arena with Andre Rieu and his orchestra and on two occasions with the Irish folk group, The Chieftains. As a band, we were invited to play on stage with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers on two occasions.

I auditioned and was selected to play in the City of Liverpool Tattoo 2018 with the Massed Pipes and Drums. I have played on six occasions as a soloist at the P/M Joe Massey Recitals at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool and also compete in the North West England RSPBA solo and mini band competitions.

During COVID pandemic in 2020 I competed in a number of On-line Piping Competitions and was placed in the top three in 3 out of 4 competitions.

Tutoring Approach:

Learning to play the bagpipes is not something that you can do quickly. You need to learn the correct techniques right from the beginning. I offer an understanding approach to the learning challenges of playing the bagpipes and use a 'brick by brick' building approach to learning. I try to make the lessons fun and set small (but achievable) challenges for your home work. Every lesson and progress is tailored to an individual's learning ability. Some pick up the basics quickly, others not quite so fast, it really doesn't matter as I will teach you at your pace.

I have a huge experience of teaching a number of students with learning difficulties and also being challenged with severe PTSD.