Your chanter does not live at concert pitch
Before anything else about drones and reeds, the fact that makes every other bagpipe tuning guide confusing: the note a piper calls low A is not concert A. It is a name for a fingering. On a modern Great Highland chanter it sounds somewhere between 476 and 486 Hz — closer to concert B♭ (466 Hz) than to concert A (440 Hz), and above both.
So a tuner on its default setting will tell you that you are playing a sharp B♭. It is not broken and neither are you. It is measuring the pitch in the air, correctly, against a reference that has nothing to do with your instrument.
This is the one instrument on this site where the custom reference pitch setting is not a refinement — it is the entire tool. Set it to your own chanter’s A and every reading afterwards is measured against the instrument you are actually holding.
The first tab shows how far a Highland chanter sits from concert A. The second is the historical drift — the same fingering, measured across 140 years. Both are reference tones for comparison, not targets to tune to.
Measure first, then set the dial
- Warm the pipes up properly. Ten minutes at least. Reeds and pitch both move as moisture and temperature come up, and a chanter measured cold is not the chanter you will play. Outdoors on a warm day, expect it higher still.
- Play low A and read the frequency, not the note name. Ignore what letter the display offers. You want the number: something in the 470s or 480s.
- Set the reference pitch to that number. In a band, use the number the pipe major calls rather than your own — a corps that agrees with itself matters far more than any absolute standard.
- Now check the rest of the chanter scale. With the reference set, the display finally names your notes correctly and the cents readout means something. Work through the scale and note which holes sit sharp or flat — this is what tape is for.
Drones: chanter first, bass, then tenors
The order is fixed and it follows from adjustability. The chanter is the least adjustable part of the instrument — its pitch is set by its reed and by tape on the holes, neither of which you want to be changing during a tune-up — so everything else comes to the chanter rather than the other way round.
- Chanter first, as above. It is the reference now.
- Bass drone next, on its own, with the tenors corked or stopped. It sounds two octaves below the chanter’s low A.
- Then the two tenors, one at a time, each an octave below low A.
- Open everything and listen. This is the part the dial cannot do for you.
Why the pitch went up
The rise is real, documented and fast. A chanter measured in 1885 sat around 441 Hz — essentially concert pitch. By the middle of the twentieth century that had climbed to about 460 Hz. Modern chanters run 476 to 486 Hz, and warm weather pushes them higher again.
That is close to two semitones in a century and a half, driven by competition and by what a higher chanter does to the sound: brighter, more cutting, more audible across a crowded field. A chanter at 472 Hz sounds noticeably more subdued and rounder than one at 482. It also means a vintage chanter and a modern one cannot simply be played together, and that recordings from even fifty years ago sound flat to an ear trained on today’s bands.
Practice chanters, smallpipes and everything else
The principle carries across the family, only the numbers change. A practice chanter is usually pitched lower than a Highland chanter, often near concert A or B♭. Scottish smallpipes are frequently built at concert pitch precisely so they can be played with fiddles and whistles, and come in A, D and B♭.
In every case the method is identical: take a plain chromatic reading first to find out where the instrument actually lives, then set the reference to that. The dial names whatever it hears — it has no opinion about what your instrument calls that note.
What the needle can and cannot do here
With the reference set correctly, a tuner is excellent at two jobs: telling you where each note of your chanter scale sits, so you know where tape is needed, and getting drones into the right neighbourhood quickly and silently — useful in a hall full of other pipers.
What it cannot judge is the sound of a pipe in tune with itself. The Highland scale is not equal-tempered and was never meant to be: its intervals are set against the drones, which is a different and older logic than the twelve-tone grid this dial measures against. Notes that read a few cents off can be exactly right in relation to a droning A, and our guide to cents covers why two correct answers can differ. Use the dial to set the reference, map the scale and rough in the drones — then put it away and listen. For neighbouring instruments, the tin whistle shares the warm-instrument drift and the oboe the reed problem.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my tuner say my chanter is playing B♭ and not A?
Because it is, more or less, and nothing is wrong. The note a piper calls low A is a name for a fingering, not a claim about frequency. On a modern Great Highland chanter that note sounds somewhere around 476 to 486 Hz, which sits close to concert B♭ at 466 Hz and nowhere near concert A at 440. A tuner left on its default is doing exactly what it should — naming the pitch in the air — and telling you that Highland pipes do not live at concert pitch. Set the reference to your own chanter and the display starts speaking your language instead.
What number should I set the reference pitch to?
Whatever your chanter actually plays, which you measure rather than guess. Play low A with a chromatic reading and note the frequency; most modern chanters land between 476 and 486 Hz. Then set the tuner’s reference to that number and everything else on the instrument is measured against your own instrument rather than against an orchestra. If you play in a band, use the band’s number rather than your own — the whole point is that the pipe corps agrees with itself.
Why has bagpipe pitch risen so much?
Steadily and for over a century, driven by competition and by the brighter, more penetrating sound a higher chanter gives. A chanter recorded in 1885 sat around 441 Hz; by the middle of the twentieth century that had risen to roughly 460 Hz; modern chanters run 476 to 486 Hz and occasionally higher in warm weather. That is a rise of nearly two semitones in living memory, which is why old recordings sound flat to modern ears and why a vintage chanter cannot simply be played alongside a new one.
In what order do I tune the drones?
Chanter first, then the bass drone, then the two tenors. The chanter is the reference because it is the least adjustable part of the instrument — you cannot move its pitch much without changing reed or tape — so everything else comes to it. Tune each drone on its own with the others corked or stopped, matching low A, and only then open them all together. The final check is not the tuner at all: it is the sound of the beating disappearing as you bring the last tenor in.
Can I use this for a practice chanter or smallpipes?
Yes, and the same principle applies with different numbers. A practice chanter is usually pitched lower than a Highland chanter — often nearer concert A or B♭ — while Scottish smallpipes are commonly built at concert A=440 or in A, D or B♭ specifically so they can play with other instruments. In each case, measure the instrument first with a plain chromatic reading, then set the reference to what you found. The dial is chromatic, so it will name whatever it hears regardless of what the instrument calls that note.