16 Facts About Alex Duthart

Alex Duthart is widely regarded as having revolutionised pipe band snare drum playing.

Alex Duthart's father John Duthart was an Ulsterman who worked as a blacksmith, and had played both the bass and snare drums for the 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders during the First World War.

For most of his life Alex Duthart lived in Newmains, near where he was born, and worked as a blacksmith in the steel works at Motherwell.

Two of his children are drummers; Drew Alex Duthart is the leading drummer of the 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band and John Alex Duthart is a kit drummer.

Alex Duthart was awarded the title of Drum Major by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association for being the principal drumming instructor in the association.

Alex Duthart became leading drummer of the Dalzell Highland Pipe Band in 1949, and led the Dalzell band to first place for drumming at the World Pipe Band Championships in 1953.

Alex Duthart managed to create a drum corps that won the drumming title at the Worlds that year, and Shotts won the overall title, as it did in 1958,1959 and 1960.

Alex Duthart stayed with Shotts until 1982, with the exception of the years 1964 to 1967, when he led the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band, and 1968 to 1969, when he led the Edinburgh City Police Pipe Band.

Alex Duthart was succeeded as leading drummer of Shotts by Willie Stevenson, who led the Shotts drumming corps to first place at the Worlds in 1969.

In 1982, Alex Duthart joined the British Caledonian Airways Pipe Band, while playing for this band he suffered a fatal heart attack while lined up to play in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on 27 November 1986.

Alex Duthart pioneered a new style of pipe band drumming at a time when pipe bands were becoming more adventurous in their musical selections.

Alex Duthart was known for his drum salutes, introducing elements such as back-sticking and stick clicking to pipe band drumming.

Alex Duthart cited as musical influences Alex D Hamilton, a drum major in the Seaforth Highlanders, Jimmy Catherwood, leading drummer of the Dalzell Highland Pipe Band at the time Alex joined, Paddy Donovan, a pipe band drummer from Dublin, and Alex McCormick of the Glasgow Police Pipe Band.

Alex Duthart met Dr Fritz Berger from Switzerland, embracing the Basel style of drumming as well as the Swiss-style snare drum notation, utilizing non-mainstream notation of using only one line, with right hand stickings written above and left hand stickings written below that line.

Alex Duthart listened to jazz, and met and exchanged ideas with Joe Morello.

Alex Duthart was engaged in teaching all around the world, giving classes and demonstrations as well as co-authoring two tutorial books on pipe-band drumming under his own name, containing many drum scores, variations of which are still played today.