Bagpipe humour!

[AbuMaia]

I play the pipes and would wonder which the order of dislike would be among: bagpipes, accordion and banjo.

I actually like all three. I took a bagpipe class my first semester of college, I have a banjo hanging on the wall (need to learn how to play it sometime), and this vid almost made me buy an accordion, until I saw how much they cost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlf_et1wxSs

[tripleblessed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzMdzp31wH8

[tripleblessed]

Another suggestion on a loftier view, brought to one of my jams this Christmas by a senior partner in a
rather major international law firm. We enjoyed the playing and singing of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMXCsLFi5o4

While some may decry the spreading infestation of a painful pestilence (banjo, pipes,accordions), some
of us find much joy in the beauty of these maligned members of the planetary sound mix.

[revdpatience]

I usually hear that one with the accordion landing on a banjo. As a banjo player myself, I take solace in the fact that the average person dislikes the banjo only slightly less than they dislike bagpipes. I happen to love them both, but don't have the lungs for the pipes.

On the subject of banjos, check out today's Google Doodle which honors Earl Scruggs.

[Oilverland]

There is a guitar maker near Seattle who had a long collection of musician jokes, but the list unfortunately disappeared when his Web site got upgraded. A couple I remember...

Why does a bagpipe player walk around when he plays? To get away from the noise.

What's the definition of a gentleman? Someone who can play the banjo but chooses not to. (I've applied this one to my yodeling.)

[KD Burke]

How do you get two pipers in tune? Shoot one.

What’s the difference between Highland pipes and Uillean pipes? Highland pipes burn longer, but Uillean pipes burn hotter.

What do you do if a piper rings your door bell? Pay him for the pizza, he’ll leave.

I don’t play a musical instrument. I’m a piper!

[Steve Ashton]

If you feel the need of an entire afternoons entertainment - Pass out packs of Double Bubble gum to an entire pipe band.

[kilted redleg]

Oliverland

I originally heard the gentleman joke as "How do you know a man in a kilt is a gentleman ?" There's no dandruff on his shoes!!

[AbuMaia]

"Pipes seem very odd when you first hear them, and a tyro practicing can set your teeth on edge -- it sounds and looks as if he had a cat under his arm, its tail in his mouth, and biting it.
But they grow on you. The first time our pipers kicked their heels out in front of the band, skirling away at "Alamein Dead," my hair stood up so straight it lifted my cap. It gets you; makes tears."

-Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

[Dollander]

Why does a bagpipe player walk around when he plays? To get away from the noise.

Or, because it's harder to hit a moving target.

I'm reminded of this video I saw a while back, which I admit I may only find as amusing as I do because I'm familiar with Bear McCreary's behind-the-scenes featurettes on the Battlestar Galactica DVDs, but anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJK9qAUQdAE

Seriously, though, do people really despise the bagpipes that much? I realize that not everyone shares the passion for them that some of us have, but I always thought that hating on them was just a cultural trope...not unlike making fun of men in kilts, when the reactions I and others here receive in public have certainly proven that one false.