Terry spent his early piping years with Mount Carmel Pipe Band under the tutelage of P/M Walter McMinn, eventually becoming his Pipe Sergeant of the grade 1 band. The band eventually fell upon hard times and disbanded. Terry then moved to Hodgkinson & Bennis in grade 4, leading them to consecutive championships and finishing in grade 2. Various bands in the northwest of England beckoned before settling with the Annan Pipe Band under the leadership of Pipe Major David McCracken.