This article was first published in Piping Today magazine in 2013 a few months following on FMM’s grand slam season where they won the Worlds for the third season in a row. It is published here by bagpipe.news following the announcement, less than a month ago, of Richard Parkes retiring from Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band.
By STUART CURNOW.
Piping Today
October 2013.
The inexorable rise of one enclave of piping has defied the odds of population and size, gaining momentum, taking prizes (and some prize scalps), across all the grades of pipe band competition; and then taking those prizes home on the Stranraer ferry.
Although Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band, have for the past decade, led this charge across the water, and are accepted as a musical colossus; the strength and depth of piping and drumming all through Northern Ireland is also a constant in the competition-piping world – and the history of Northern Ireland piping holds many of the secrets to the success of FMM.
2013 will go down as the season that Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band put a crease in the page of the history books. Three RSPBA Grade 1 World Championships in a row, the Grand Slam, Champion of Champions. The powerhouse of piping this area has become, however, goes further back than just the last 10 years; Northern Ireland has been a piping juggernaut, across so many of the grades, for so long that its reputation cannot be ascribed to one band, or even one area – and thinking otherwise risks doing a disservice to those who laid the foundations of this achievement.
What makes Northern Ireland pipe bands so successful, though? How does such a small geographic area manage to turn out great bands and soloists alike? What makes its pipers and drummers so successful over such a long time?
I looked at three generations of pipers — each of them separated by 10 years, across three decades. They share a common piping lineage, they are all successful and they are all from Northern Ireland — and from them hoped to find some answers.
Nat Russell GC OAM, foundation member and pipe major of the Royal Ulster Constabulary Pipe Band, 1998 World Pipe Band Championship pipe major of Victoria Police Pipe Band — the first overseas band to make the top six and highly regarded member of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) Adjudication Panel is as steeped in the history of Northern Ireland piping as anyone alive.
Richard Parkes was awarded an MBE in 2004 for services to piping and pipe bands in Northern Ireland. His influence on piping in Northern Ireland cannot be underestimated. Having been at the helm of one of the most successful pipe bands in history since 1981, Richard is nothing short of a legend in the pipe band world. The success of FMM is a phenomenon. Since 1990 and their first Grade 1 prize, the band have never been out of the top six, while finishing in the prizes in over 115 championship competitions consecutively. 2013 saw Richard take FMM to their third RSPBA Grade 1 World Championships in a row and secure the ‘Grand Slam’ (Scottish, British, European, World, Cowal, and RSPBA Champion of Champions in a single season) becoming the first pipe band in history to do so a record three times.
Ian Lyons is currently a member of FMM, a 1998 Grade 1 World Champion, current senior musician with Victoria Police Pipe Band and pipe major of current Australasian and New Zealand Grade 2 Pipe Band Champions, City of Moorabbin Pipe Band. A successful soloist and developer of piping products, his Australian band has recently been upgraded to Grade 1 by the Australian Pipe Band Association. His father William Lyons MBE was Pipe Major of the Irish Guards and Ian, although he now lives in Australia, is firmly a product of Northern Ireland piping.
These three men, representing three generations of pipers from Northern Ireland, their direct lineage of teaching, spoke of its history, its challenges and why such a small place brings such strength to the world of piping.
Despite the close proximity to the Scotland and the centre of the piping world, Northern Ireland has developed its own style, virtually putting its signature across the bottom of every medley and MSRs that comes from the region. Although Northern Ireland has its own style of playing, the teaching that has developed its musical style owes a significant amount to key individuals, a number of them from the British Army and the Army School of Piping.
Richard is certain of the lineage of his musical pedigree. “I received a lot of early tuition from Alexander (Sandy) Cumming, Billy Maxwell and John Garrett. Sandy, Billy and John would have been pupils of Wiliam (Willy) Wood and I owe a lot to their early tuition, but it was Jimmy Banks who gave me that final finesse in the MSR playing. Through this, Jimmy Banks had a huge influence on my playing and in turn that of FMM. A lot of how we express MSRs comes directly from the early years that I spent with Jimmy in Belfast while he was here with the Scots Guards. A lot of the teaching in Northern Ireland at that time can be put down to a number of players such as Sandy Cumming, William Maxwell (who were well known to me) plus W.E Lyons BEM with the Irish Guards, and a number of other teachers in different areas of the province.”
The teaching aspect is important to Richard, but no more important that the culture that supported it. He added: “Much of the early teaching, and insistence on proper technique, came from a few local tutors who had the knowledge of correct technique, plus players visiting Scotland and the army-based players bringing the correct technique back. These guys knew that without the correct technique, you wouldn’t be listened to seriously in competition.
“From what I’ve heard it just sort of happened in the early days of this era, the formalisation came later. Willy Woods, Sandy Cumming, Billy Maxwell and their pupils, plus those who later went over to Edinburgh with the Army came back with a great insight into the control, skill and methodology that would become their teaching approach for pupils.
“Further on from that in the early 80s, the Northern Ireland Branch of the RSPBA formed a school under Sam Baillie which created a fast track for intermediate and advanced RSPBA certificates. Many of the FMM at that stage were involved in those classes, along with other notable pupils, such as Tommy Robinson, and they all went on to become instructors in the newly formed NI Branch school.
“This school would have a major impact on the piping scene in Northern Ireland. As well as that, there were other notable teachers like Freddie Russell starting to teach in this period. Freddie came through the early FMM set-up under Billy Maxwell and subsequently the Robert Armstrong Memorial under Tommy Geddis, another giant on the pipe band scene in Northern Ireland.”
Nat agreed: “The strength of playing and the insistence on good technique flowed easily into the local solo competition and was one that was proven early. There was a local competition where a contingent of boys gave the judges a true dilemma. ‘We’ve got a problem, Nat,’ the contest convenor confided. ‘The judge can’t separate these boys.’ A small huddle formed and a certain amount of discussion ensued. There had to be a winner. ‘Which one can’t be separated?’ was the response. ‘Any of them’, was the answer.” It was indicative of how strong the Northern Ireland scene was. Not only could they not separate the top three boys in the MSR, the three of them were all from the same town and played the same MSR.
This was an indication to Nat of the success of the Northern Ireland programme. “I’ve lived away from Northern Ireland for 27 years and it’s always interesting when I return to see the continuing strength in the playing, but the principles stay the same. Solid basics. No progression to the next part of the tune or the next lesson until the previous one was mastered.”
The competition aspect of Northern Ireland piping in the modern era is well known. While the strength of the performance follows the same line as the teaching; the importance of community support of music may be somewhat lesser known. A staple of life for most youngsters in the 50s and 60s, organised music reached in to most homes.
Richard is a product of and a believer in this principle. “I started piping in 1969 at the age of nine. That era of street parades, marching bands and community affiliation is one of the reasons there are so many Northern Irish bands today. In that time there were over 50 competition bands and 150 marching bands. This figure doesn’t include the flute bands or the brass bands — music was everywhere then, in every town and every village. The pipe bands, many of them parade bands, developed into the competition pipe bands we see today. Northern Ireland had, and probably still has, per capita more pipe bands than any other country.”
Ian agreed: “Every boy played in a band of some sort. If it wasn’t a brass band, it was a flute band or a pipe band. There wasn’t really much to do when I was a boy other than music or sport and it kept a lot of the boys out of trouble. It was important then and can have a great effect today as well.”
Pipe Major Nat Russell and Ian Lyons both currently play in Victoria Police Pipe Band in Australia. Undertaking over 300 performances a year, many of them in country towns and industrial areas, they realise the importance of music in inspiring and offering an outlet for youth. Nat said: “Boys’ Brigade bands were a great start for many of the pipers of that era. I started with the Boys’ Brigade; they brought a great sense of community and pride to their home towns. It was important that you didn’t just play — you had to play well. In those early days, William Wood tutored all the bands in our area, and it was his insistence on proper technique that gave the young players the grounding to become what they became — good solid players. What we did then, teaching and promoting quality musicianship, is a little different from what we do today with Victoria Police, but we are still working at getting the message out about the value of music, played well, to help youngsters; whether it is with self-esteem issues, presenting a positive policing message, a sense of purpose or a creative outlet, often in depressed communities.”
Nat’s father was initially ambivalent about him learning the pipes, it was only after seeing the camaraderie and fellowship on display at a competition that he became a convert. Said Nat: “My father became a convert to piping and bands. A somewhat unknown fact from this period was the lack of sectarian issues within the pipe band community, and as a result, the pipe band scene was an oasis for many in Northern Ireland. If you brought 20,000 people of all political and religious persuasions in a park together, you would expect a certain amount of trouble, but there was none. People were there for the music, and the music alone.”
As the scene developed, and the bands became more focused on getting together, the competitions of the 1930s and 40s in Northern Ireland were played inside. The Irish thought the Scots mad. Why would you play outside? In the days before synthetic bags and moisture control systems and stable synthetic reeds, instrument control must have been somewhat easier indoors; especially with the local predisposition to modest amounts of precipitation. This tradition in later years rolled over to off-season competitions, particularly mini-bands, especially in the late 70s and 80s.
Ian Lyons remembers: “The mini-band scene in NI, even when I was a boy. It had a life of its own, really, separate from the band scene in some ways. It gave you the opportunity to experience what others were doing and to really get the chance to listen to a variety of styles and musical interpretation.”
Nat continued: “There was no ‘pipes under the bed’ time for us. Prior to and after the pipe band season, there were quartet, solo, mini-band competitions and, as this was the off-season for Scotland as well, they came on board. It was good competition for them.”
Richard remembers the time vividly, “The Vale of Atholl were one of the first bands to come over; and it was the excellence in Northern Ireland during this time, the fierce competition, that attracted these bands from Scotland. Easter weekends in long smoke-filled halls; really top bands providing their best. McNeilstown, RUC and Cullybackey – the strength of these bands brought over some of the best mini-bands from Scotland. It gave them a real competition and gave everyone a chance to try out new music in a truly competitive environment.”
The period leading up to the 1980s was not without challenges, though, as Nat explained: “Getting across to Scotland after the difficult period of the 70s and 80s was really when Northern Ireland pipe bands took off. Until then, the home competition was really the focus because our competition was strong — really strong. Financially, the trips were difficult, there was never a lot of money around, even to get across that short a stretch of water. The competition at home was one thing, getting to Scotland was another.”
Richard is proud of all the bands from Northern Ireland because of the closeness they develop in competition and when out of the circle. “We’re all proud of being Northern Ireland bands, and while the competition is fierce at home, when we’re away, we’re all supporting each other. It’s a real community, we always pull together for a band from home.”
Ian looks at the period in the late 90s, when he had moved to Australia and joined Victoria Police, as the start of the dominance. “Northern Ireland bands were taking sometimes 70% of the prizes. That period can be drawn directly from the excellence of the 60s. While the travel was difficult in those days, and life was generally pretty tough, the bands prepared for it, sometimes for years before. It was the focus and the natural progression of competition for the bands.”
Richard looks at the changes to competition in the 70s and sees a natural progression in how the new generation of pipers are taking a different path to success. “Developing as a soloist and undertaking piobaireachd seriously is becoming a staple for pipers now, especially now that Alastair Dunn, originally a pupil of Fred Russell [Nat Russell’s brother] has won the two Gold medals. This is an obvious path for many in Northern Ireland now. Piobaireachd was quite strong in NI, but the Gold Medal competitions in Scotland certainly show the mettle of the piper, especially on the big stage.
I think this has really helped a lot of the pipers in their own progression and that development and control of the instrument has flowed on to how they play in a band. There is a change happening right now, where solo players move across the water to Glasgow; in part to chase the Gold Medals, but also to develop their careers as well as their piping. That is the difference these days. It hasn’t hurt Field Marshal at all, I think, as we now have the Glasgow chapter of the band. Time will tell whether this has any effect on the development of the up-and-coming bands.”
The exposure and the experience of being based in Glasgow might help to develop aspects of a piping career, but the need to be consistently in front of the solo judges is almost becoming a necessity. As you progress throughout the Competing Pipers’ Association (CPA) rankings, to the Silver medal and hopefully, the Gold Medal competitions; the judges get a chance to hear and experience your style more, to see you develop and mature over the seasons. That exposure helps enormously, as must be the feeling of being in the centre of the piping universe.
Technique is one thing, music is another. Northern Ireland piping is also renowned for its music. The formation of a medley; whether it is FMM’s command of The Fiddlers’ Rally or the interpretation of Oran Mhor Mhicleod, the handling of key changes and tension and release is almost a Northern Ireland speciality. MSRs from this region, especially in the higher grades, are expressed a certain way.
Said Richard: “From a Field Marshal perspective, how we play our MSRs today, comes directly from the instruction I got from Jimmy Banks — Abercairney Highlanders, Susan MacLeod and The Sheepwife was the first MSR that he taught me and as a result, FMM was one of the first bands to compete with Susan MacLeod.”
Ian agrees: “The Northern Irish pipe bands are great borrowers of music. A lot of what these bands do in a medley has a real Irish flavour to it, but that flavour also comes from all parts of the musical idiom. With the MSR in particular, the development of what can be achieved is limited, but the subtleties, by their definition become more pronounced, especially when under such scrutiny. The bands of the 90s onwards were so close to what the top Scottish bands were doing, not much had to change. A lot of what Northern Ireland bands do so well is the taking of those subtleties and refining them to make them their own.”
A large part of what sets Northern Ireland bands like FMM apart is leadership. The question of leadership — good, bad and indifferent, can fill countless interviews. Books are written on it and beer tent discussions thrive on it. Often, though, the key questions asked are the same: What makes a great leader? Is leadership innate or can it be learned? How do you develop it if you need to?
One aspect of successful leadership is this — you lead people but you manage issues. Richard, through the strength of his personality, the excellence in his musicianship and his desire to bring out the best in his people, inspires those people to do what they do — for him.
In several interviews with current FMM players one statement is repeated often: “We do it for Richard”, and Ian Lyons is no different. “What I’ve found with Field Marshal is that it is a bit of an anomaly. The identity of this band, even with all the strength in its roster, is that its identity is intrinsically tied to its leader, Richard. That strength, though, inspires and flows to other bands. They learn from and try to emulate different parts of what he does.
“Leadership is a big part of the progression of a piper in Northern Ireland. The support you get, moving through band grades, when you became good enough to move up to a higher graded band, is often led by the pipe major. The band is usually happy for you to go. The pipe major almost pushes you out the door, rather than trying to hold you back. I think it was because he knew that you would come back to the band, to pass on that experience. When your time came, and you stepped out of Grade 1 or 2, you’d come home and pass on what you’d learned.”
In developing the skills and the style to become the pipe major of a top band, Nat and Richard are on the same page.
Richard is pretty blunt about it: “I didn’t really get lessons in being a pipe major — in being a leader of a band. I hope there are people watching me, the same way I was watching pipe majors like Nat, Tommy Geddis and Frank Andrews at home and Ian MacLellan, Tom MacAllister and Bob Shepherd etc in Scotland. Seeing what those people do, but not looking for the key to how they get their success. Emulating the things you love that they do and striving for your own style, that’s the goal. There is no magic answer.”
On his view of taking the helm of a band, Richard is clear: “Leadership, the inspiration and drive required to be a leader comes from within. I believe it’s something that you have innately. With pipers, especially, moving to Glasgow to develop their playing, there is a risk to us losing these future leaders to Scotland and the early experience they have. Although, the gaps that creates encourages others to rise to the top.”
Nat is almost exactly the same, “I get asked by people ‘How do you become a pipe major?’ I never had a lesson from Ian MacLellan in my life but I learnt a huge amount from him. Watching him, listening to his band. Seeing what he did and figuring out how he did it. We all remember superb performances, superb bands. It might be the individual aspects of the best of the best that influence you. How you give that to your band, how you get the best out of them, making all those small things that are special in a particular band come out in your band, and from that, defining your style. That’s important.”
One of the big questions with any successful leader, especially one who has been in pole position for so long, is that of succession — if the aura surrounding the leader is so great, how do you pass on the torch to the next generation? How do they find their own light to shine on the band?
Richard is quite candid on the subject of retirement. “It has never really been a thought of mine as to when it will occur, and to be honest, I haven’t planned for it. At Field Marshal, we don’t have a true succession plan for when I retire but it is something we’ll look at. We just keep doing what we do, and we do it as a band.”
Which brings us to The Future… The youth of today is much maligned in the media as being feckless and lacking in concentration — it has always been the lament of any older generation about the younger. However, the attractions and distractions available for today’s youth do present challenges and Richard sees this as a risk for the next generation of pipers.
“There are less young pipers, these days, coming through the ranks who are completely focused; even though the style of teaching is still there. Smartphones and iPads are so prevalent now, they can be a constant distraction for today’s kids. We used to more than look forward to piping — it was the best part of our week, something to hold out for. Maybe we risk losing some of the talented younger ones to these distractions with the development of technology.”
Ian agrees about the prevalence of technology but takes a slightly different perspective on the adverse effects. “I remember when I was doing my Intermediate Certificate I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come to get to the next level, the next part of the course. It was definitely the highlight of my week. I remember my father giving me the key to the band hall when I was young, so I could practise whenever I wanted. That was all I had, really; and all I wanted, but there is a positive side to all this additional stimulation. The development of these younger minds; their capacity to remember things and to develop their manual dexterity — kids today seem to pick things up so much quicker than when I was a boy, whether it’s in Northern Ireland or Melbourne. The younger players we see coming through the ranks now are just frightening in their capacity to learn, to master new things. Flying in for the 2013 Worlds campaign, I was amazed at the composure and skill of the new crop of young players in FMM. These young players are brilliant — composed, self-assured, talented. When you look at the leadership provided by pipe majors like Richard and the youth coming through, the future for Northern Ireland piping is bright.”
Northern Ireland has been blessed in having a formidable school-style of teaching and a remarkable history to rely on, but also, considerable strength throughout all of its grades, feeding into the higher ranks. None of this would have been possible, though, without the drive, vision and leadership of those who cut the path the future generations walk upon. Sir Isaac Newton may have summed it up best: “If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”