CEÒL BEAG - VOLUME 1

I was lost for words when I opened this book. As a piper taught by the legendary Pipe-Major Donald MacLeod, I have seen a number of piping books over the past 70 years. While all have helped me in different ways, none has inspired me to begin writing my own compositions, as has Ceol Beag (vol.1) by Lincoln Hilton. This book has everything: from a list of ‘unorthodox movements’, to a collection of innovative tunes that provoke, stimulate and boggle the mind. Who would have thought of writing a tune by eliminating the first note of an original melody and commencing the ‘new’ version by making the second note the base of the new tune? Startling, to say the least. Since receiving a copy of this book from my wife Jane, for my 81st birthday recently, I have written a number of my own compositions. These include a tune in mazurka time for my younger grand-son, who has Polish heritage. I have also begun modifying some of the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Vivaldi for the highland bagpipe. This idea works even better on my Blair digital bagpipes, where I have access to different keys and modes. And I was impressed by Lincoln’s embrace of relatively unused bagpipe notes such as C natural and F natural, which many pipers are either not aware of or have overlooked in their playing. To me, this book is the Bohemian Rhapsody of bagpipe music books and one which I will treasure for the rest of my days. Thank you Jane and thank you Lincoln.

The quality of printing and binding is exceptionally high. The material enclosed is world class. This is an opportunity to own a collection of tunes written by a new generation of piper, and a piper unlike any we’ve seen to date. You won’t regret adding this book to your collection.

This was a Christmas gift for my son. He is really enjoying the great selection of tunes. Thank you.🎶🎶🎶