An English bellows-blown bagpipe with a small cylindrical closed-end chanter and 3 or 4 drones. The chanter has a number of metal keys - most commonly 7, but chanters with a range of over 2 octaves can be made which require 17 or more keys, all played with either the right hand thumb or left little finger.

The fact that the chanter has a completely closed end, combined with the unusually tight fingering style (each note is played by lifting only one finger or opening one key) means that traditional Northumbrian piping is staccato in style. Because the bores are so narrow, the sound is far quieter than most other bagpipes.