Neil Clark

Neil has a proven track record in both performing and teaching. He has been playing since age 4, and joined the Scots Guards age 16, playing with the Guards Depot Piping School in Grades 3 and 2, then the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in Grades 2 and 1. He competed as a solo player until age 18, being successful in local competitions.

In 1986, Neil joined Strathclyde Police, playing with the 12 times World Champions Strathclyde Police Pipe Band in 1994 – 2000, then 2004 – 2008. Between stints with ‘The Polis’, he played in several other bands, and also in Folk Bands. In 2011, he played with Shotts and Dykehead, and returned to solo competition, until retiring from the solos in 2019 as a professional graded player, in the Competing Piper’s Association B Grade.

Neil began teaching in 2008, when he taught local Air Cadets, and went on to establish the Scotland & Northern Ireland Air Training Corps Pipes and Drums. He established bands for Glasgow and Lanarkshire Army Cadets, Drumnadrochit Piping Society and helped to establish Tulliallan Pipes and Drums. Since leaving the police in 2012, Neil has taught full time, in person and over Skype, and has achieved the highest Piping and Drumming Qualifications Board certificates. He is a PDQB qualified teacher, and also an examination assessor. In 2015, Neil spent six months instructing the Royal Oman Police pipe band. Neil has been called on to instruct at the College of Piping, Glasgow and has solo prize-winning pupils all over the world. He instructs from beginner to prize-winner and is flexible in his approach to instruction, in order to tailor learning to the individual. His YouTube channel is in place to support learning for pupils and the public, and is used daily by thousands, worldwide.