Alan-

I don't think it would be worth it to you to learn the pipes. This is not meant to be offensive, any more than your questions are meant to be.

Think of it this way. Some guitarists start playing the blues. And never play anything else. Ever. They might play only a few chords (look how much Mississippi John Hurt can do with only one chord in Spikedriver's Blues, for example). They might never want to play in more than one or two keys. That's the music that makes them tick. Some guitarists play Bluegrass and are totally fulfilled just using chords and a few runs in the keys of G and D. Sometimes C or A. It isn't a matter of breadth, but of depth. A narrow range of music that goes deep is the best way I can explain it.

In piping, I like marches and I like airs. I also am starting to enjoy piobaireachd, but I still don't really like to listen to it. Only to play it.

You play a wide range of music, with a huge variety. You probably get all the depth you want. And it isn't likely as deep as what most pipers find when they start to dig. No offense meant, just that you can either spend your time going across the idioms or deep into one. You can be fluent in several (many pipers also play another instrument - my teacher has played cello, accordion, concertina, and guitar, but now plays only pipes) but it is hard to be really deeply rooted in more than one idiom. Most people who speak fluently in several languages are only capable of writing meaningful poetry in one.

I'm trying to use illustrations to explain what I can't adequately put into words, here. In the end, it is all about what instrument really grabs you at the level of your soul. For me, it is the bagpipes. For most dedicated pipers it is the same. If the pipes don't get you deep inside, you shouldn't really bother with them. You need a different instrument, then.

And if you have to ask what is special about the bagpipes, well, they are not for you. Simple as that. Sort of like me and the electric guitar. Can't understand what anyone sees in such a noisy beast. ;-)

-Patrick