Bagpipes/Bagpipe use in Jordan

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Expert: - 5/8/2009


Question
Bagpipes have been used in Jordan for a long time. When did they arrive there and who brought them there? Cant seem to find any information anywhere on the net about it.

Answer
Chad,

What a great question.  The history of the bagpipes is not very clear, and many people disagree as to their origin.  What we know for sure is that they do not have their origin in Scotland, however, it was the Scottish who turned it into the instrument it is today, with 3 drones.

The best I can tell you is that it is very likely that the bagpipes have their origin in the Middle East.  As far back as 800 B.C. there was an Assyrian stone carving of a man playing bagpipes.  It could have likely spread from there to Jordan very easily.  Very likely bagpipes have been played in that region for almost 3,000 years.

I want to be clear that I am not a historian, and this is my opinion.  Here is a page that begins to detail the history of the bagpipes and talks about that Assyrian statue.

http://www.hotpipes.com/history.html

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Arash Ebrahimi

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I can answer general questions about the Great Highland Bagpipe and the Spanish Gaita, how to go about learning to play the pipes, basic pipe maintanence and can point you in the right direction to almost any question you can think of. My main interest is piping influence in rock and roll and alternative music.

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I have been playing the Great Highland Bagpipe for almost 3 years and have recently starting learning to play the Gaita. I am a member of a Northern California pipe band.

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