SEATTLE - St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, and pipe bands throughout the Pacific Northwest are gearing up for their busiest time of year.

Larry Koch, Pipe Corporal of the Bellevue-based Keith Highlanders Pipe Band, says the band will play in Seattle's St. Patrick's Day parade, as well as events all around Seattle area.

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In August, the Keith Highlanders will travel to Scotland to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships.

"It's the busiest weekend for the band. Last year we played 10 or 12 different gigs throughout the weekend," he said.

Koch says the popularity of Scottish piping and drumming has increased over the years.

He says interest is fueled, in part, by the popularity of the 1995 Mel Gibson film "Brave Heart," but he said it's growing particularly in the Pacific Northwest.

"Washington and British Columbia are hotbeds of piping," he said.

The Simon Fraser University Pipe Band in B.C. is a four-time world champion, and Koch says that drives a lot of piping in the area.

"People move to Washington just so they can go up to B.C. to learn," said Koch.

Tyrone Heade, the Musical Director of Seattle's Elliott Bay Pipe Band, has taught piping for more than a dozen years. He says he's had some students for years, others for a few months.

"My youngest is 10, the oldest is 80," he said.

Heade says often, students have wanted to learn the pipes for a long time but haven't had the opportunity.

"I hear this all the time - 'I've always wanted to do this and I finally decided to do it,'" he said.

Want to try?

If you want to give the bagpipes a try, The Keith Highlanders on Wednesday will begin a new session of classes for beginning piping and drumming students.

Koch says students learn fingering and basic embellishments on a practice chanter, the mouthpiece of the bagpipe, which is similar to a recorder.

By the end of the eight-week session, they will be able to play some basic tunes.

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Bagpipe and Scottish drumming classes are open to both adults and children.

"They'll learn the proper fingering and learn the proper control without having to worry about the blowing and squeezing," said Koch.

Koch said no musical experience is necessary.

"Knowing the scale will help you slightly, but putting the fingers to the notes is what you have to learn," he said.

Koch said while some students go on to join the band, many simply want to learn more about the bagpipes.

"Overall, the people who start and continue through and join the band is about two in 10," he said.

The classes are designed to allow beginners to see if they take to the instrument, and practice is self-directed.

"How much time you put into it will directly relate to how much you get out of it," said Koch. "The goal is to bring out the best in everybody."

The full cost for the two-month session is $120 (pro-rated if you join after week 1), plus a chanter or drumsticks.

Koch says money from classes goes into an education fund, which enables the band to bring in pro pipers and drummers to work with the band.

The first class is Feb. 13 at 6:15 p.m. at St. Thomas Church in Medina.