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Bagpipes and the United States Military

From its origin in Scottish clans and culture, the Great Highland Bagpipe has long been associated with the military.

Especially in more recent history, the Highland Regiments of the British Armed Forces, and some of the Lowland Regiments as well, have had bagpipers since their first formation.

The United States Armed Forces has historically had a very close relationship with the British – so the spread of the bagpipes was inevitable.

It’s an Opera, It’s a Pop Tune, It’s “The Green Hills of Tyrol”

In my part of the world, “The Green Hills of Tyrol” is a staple of massed band performances. You can count on hearing it at some point at the beginning and end of each games day. It’s also used frequently for pipe band tuning—the second part is quite effective, since you are basically playing down the scale from High A. But this little workhorse of a tune is one of the oldest pipe band tunes in our repertoire today, and has quite an amazing story.

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