Founded in 1991, the APG promotes the making and playing of bamboo pipes.
Our Pipes
Where Did Pipes Originate?
A British teacher, Margaret James, started making pipes in the 1920’s using a Sicilian goatherd’s pipe as a model. This enabled her young students to make music at minimal cost. Soon their parents became interested, and during the 20th century the pipe education movement spread to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the USA. They shared the philosophy of the Arts & Crafts movement that pipes should be well-made, useful, and decorative instruments. As the movement grew, big international courses were organised every five years, where pipers of all nationalities gather to make, play, and decorate their self-made instruments.
What are Bamboo Pipes?
Bamboo pipes are simple instruments resembling recorders but with a sweeter sound. Each piper makes their own instruments under the guidance of a master teacher. They range in size from an 8 inch soprano to a 6 foot great bass, alternating between G and D as the fundamental tone. The range is an octave and a third to an octave and a sixth, depending on the type of instrument. Carefully tuned, they can also be played with a variety of other instruments.
Why Make One?
Creating your own sound is a unique experience, and doesn’t lessen with the number of pipes made. More can be learned of acoustics and sound production from making a pipe than buying a ready-made instrument. In addition, when you make a pipe you become part of an international movement of pipe makers and players, engendering deep friendships that can last a lifetime.
About Us
Charlotte Elliott Poletti, founder and President of the American Pipers Guild, received a B.A. from Smith College and an M.S. in Music Education from the University of Illinois. She has studied extensively in Europe and is only one of two Americans to have attained Masters status in the making and playing of pipes. She is also an examiner for future Master teachers. Over the last forty years, she has taught students of all ages, both in the US and overseas, to make and play pipes. Presently she directs a playing group in New England, which gives periodic concerts in the area. She also composes, has published three music books for pipes, and loves researching music history.
Our music
The beautiful sound of pipes has drawn the attention of many good composers. Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a suite for pipes and eventually became the President of the Pipers’ Guild of Great Britain.
Others who have composed music for pipes include Imogen Holst, Michael Head, Elizabeth Poston, W. S. Lloyd-Webber and Betty Roe in Great Britain, Claude Arrieu and Claude Pascal in France, Tera Oyens in the Netherlands, Bernard Reichel and Curdin Janett in Switzerland, and F. X. Frenzel in Austria. Works are commissioned for various events, especially International courses. Recorder, krumhorn, organ, other instrumental, and vocal music from a variety of time periods is suitable or arranged for pipes. They have also been combined successfully with folk instruments: dulcimer, banjimer, guitar, psaltery, Celtic harp, and hurdy-gurdy to name a few.
Repertory
There is an enormous amount of music for pipes from the various guilds. For the American Pipers Guild, the following publications have been presented by Charlotte Poletti. In each case, where text has traditionally been part of any given piece, it is included, sometimes with historical references.
Lively Folk Tunes – created especially for use with pipes and folk instruments, especially limberjacks
Reflections on Water – American songs of inland waterways and of the sea.
The Nativity – A Musical Celebration – Christmas music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, from Europe and America.
Melody Migrations – traces the journey of certain sacred melodies, especially those of Martin Luther, through various cultures, countries and eras.
Spirituals – Includes extensive notes on the nature of spirituals – their history and common performance practices.
Musical Interpretation – musical and technical advice for teachers and players – on how to develop a good interpretation of any given piece, especially for those who play pipes and other woodwinds.
Over time, recordings of pipers playing have been made. The first selection below - Amazing Grace - was used to demonstrate the sound of different instruments, starting with a soprano pipe, then tenor, alto, bass, and contratenor.
Finding out more
Free open rehearsals are offered in Hartford, CT in winter and in Elizabethtown, NY in summer. For more information, get in touch via the link below:
Courses are offered periodically in Hartford, Connecticut and in the Adirondack Mountains of New York when there is enough interest. Please get in touch for more information.
Information on courses in other countries can be found here, including information on the 2026 International course in Viviers, France.
Did You Know ?
Bamboo is, in fact, in the grass family – Poaceaea. It is in the subfamily Bambusoidea. There are numerous varieties of bamboo, but the best for musical instruments because of density and strength comes from tropical climates.
Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak – Quercus suber. The bark of these trees can grow to a thickness of almost a foot and is harvested, without harm to the tree, every seven to twelve years. The trees themselves are evergreen, and can be found in southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa (our cork comes from Portugal). The trees usually live for more than two hundred years!
© 2025 American Pipers Guild