Bagpipes (well, Chanter I suppose) at age 7?!!

[movingnow]

DS (just turning 7) keeps asking to learn the bagpipes ! To put this in perspective it is on offer at school as a paid extra so not a totally impractical whim. Is the idea simply silly at his age or is it worth a try. I should add that we do not live in Scotland however I do have access to the free loan of a set of bagpipes/chanter.

Well, if you have access to a chanter and a teacher, and he's keen, then I reckon you should go for it. I think 7 is about the miniumum, and there's no guarantee he'll have enough puff, but the teacher should be able to work with him I'm sure.

I once taught a boy who was learning the chanter (outside of school) and he loved it. I'm not in Scotland either not a silly idea if he's interested.

I learnt from around the age of 10 but was doing piano and recorder from around 6/7.
Takes forever to be any good so if he's keen then go for it.

A more positive response than I expected . Thanks, I shall make tentative enquiries! I do keep trying to explain to him that it would be sometime before he actually moved on to bagpipes. DH & I are completely unmusical!