The Board of Directors has approved the 2016 Rule Book, which is now available on the PPBSO website. Many of the changes contained within the rule have been previously announced, however for completion a summary of the changes are listed below.
General
A few cleanup changes in Section A-3 (Membership Dues) to remove some historical references.
Solo Competition
The methodology for determining the Professional Piobaireachd A and B groupings has been added to the rule book. The criteria for the A classification are unchanged from those first introduced for the 2014 season.
The Professional Piping Freestyle contest has been removed as decided at the 2015 AGM.
The Professional Piping Jig contest has been changed from submit four, play one twice through to submit four, play two back-to-back.
The new Tenor solo grading and requirements (Professional and Grades 1 through 5) that were announced in October have been added.
Some general cleanup of the language regarding solo tenor, bass, and drum major contests was done so that they have their own sections and aren’t all lumped together.
Added information regarding the existence and usage of the piping recordings for the lower grade snare, tenor, and bass contests (codifying what was done in practice during the 2015 season)
Clarified the requirements for accompaniment in solo tenor contests, and removed the contradiction in the previous rule book (specifically, a snare drummer is not required for competition but is encouraged)
Contests that are no longer offered have been removed from the rule book; specifically the Professional Piping over 45, Flourishing Tenor Drumming, and Flourishing Bass Drumming events are no longer listed.
Bands
A roster change notification period has been introduced. Members who are not currently on the roster of another bands must be added to the submitted roster at least seven (7) days before a contest in order to be eligible to compete. Those members who are transferring from an existing band must have their signed release / transfer form submitted at least fourteen (14) days before they are eligible to compete with the new band.
The instructor rule has been changed as discussed at the 2015 AGM. Higher grade snare and tenor drummers can play in any part of the snare and tenor corps (respectively). Due to this change, the language was clarified to ensure that only one higher grade snare drummer and one higher grade tenor drummer are eligible to be classified as an instructor under this rule.
All bands are now required to start their performance at the start line, unless specifically exempted by the PPBSO.