Today's post isn't about me. Today is about you. I want to hear your story.
All you need is a gmail or a blogspot account and you can post here. Simple request, this is an attempt to reach out to other pipers so that I know that I'm not alone. So please, no negative commentary on other pipers as there shall be no awkwardness or negativity in Piper Girl's Zone.
Please share your triumphs, your tribulations, your success and your failures when learning the pipes. I am particularly interested in the "ah-ha" moments you have had that turned you from a Practice Chanter Practitioner to a Piper. That moment when you KNEW. If you are struggling with something, I'm sure there is someone out there who's had that same problem and can help you fix it. If you are thinking about starting the pipes and stumbled upon this blog in your research, let us know. If you are frustrated about something that is causing you not to practice, let us know that as well.
All I ask is that you keep it positive with respect to others and tell me what country you are from at the end of your post.
Enjoy...
Piper Girl Cate
Hey there! (is this where I put my story? :-)) very cool blog, by the way. Uhmmm so...I began taking a practice chanter class with a local youth pipe band about two years ago (Dec 2010). To be quite honest, it was by accident. My sister's friend has joined the band, and eventually she joined as a bass drummer. I hung around at band practices, and eventually decided to give it a 'go'. I learned the scale relatively quickly (already had music experience as a clarinet player), and was soon on to the basics of the G, D, and E gracenotes. I struggled with the concept of pipe music at first, but gradually began to get used to it. Five months in the weekly chanter class, I had learned the birl (with great difficulty, and still some difficulty..), and the basics of the toarluath. After endless HOURS of repetition, I began to understand the embellishments. I set a goal for myself: to be ready for pipes by the time summer came around. At that point, I was practicing my chanter for several hours a day. Four months into piping, my instructor gave me my first tune: Amazing Grace. I remember that at first, I struggled to keep the beat, let alone play all the right notes and embellishments. After (again) endless hours of practice, it began to make sense to me. Another months passed, and I was now 5 months into piping. My instructor began to discuss the possibility of ordering pipes for me. After recommendations from my instructor, I ordered a set of the McCallum AB1 "Deluxe" pipes. The day they arrived had to have been the most exciting day of my life! For weeks, I was addicted to my new set of pipes. I played them every single day, and tried to make sense of how to work such a seemingly complicated thing. After learning how to properly blow all 3 drones, my instructor put a reed in my chanter, and began to instruct me on how to actually play, with the chanter going! He designed several practice techniques for me, aimed at teaching me how to steadily blow the chanter and the drones. After two months on the pipes, I could play "Mairi's Wedding" (2/4 March) and part of "Scotland The Brave" on the pipes. In September of last year (and only knowing two tunes, on pipes...) my instructor decided I was ready to take on the challenge of joining the youth band. Believe me, nothing improves your skill and playing ability quicker than joining a band! Within several weeks, I learned all the "parade" tunes. Also around the same time, my instructor (Kevin) introduced me to the (at the time) scary world of solo piping! I prepared a tune ("The Steam Boat", a 6/8 March), played it at the January (of this year) get-together of my local piping club, placing 3rd..out of 3. At my next competition, I scored a 1st place (out of 3), with a 4/4 March called "The Children". At first, I was really nervous about going in front of a judge, and a crowd. But, the more I competed, the more confidence I gained in my playing, and the more I began to understand what it really meant to have "solid" playing ability. As the summer (and highland games season!) approached, I began to focus intensely on my piping. I would lock myself in my basement for an hour or more, and do endless repetitions of my solos, and band material. Stopping, if needed, to fix any issues with tempo or expression. This summer, I competed at 4 highland games, receiving: two 1st places, one 2nd place, three 3rd places, a fourth place, and a sixth place, all in classes with the number of competitors ranging between 13 and 19. Several weeks ago, at the last highland games for the year, I received a 3rd place (overall, for the season), in Grade 5 piping, with the British Columbia Piper's Association.
ReplyDeleteI am from the United States.
Thank you for your blog! :D
CTapp,
DeleteThank you so much for sharing your story! You are truly a testament to the fact that you must practice regularly and with purpose. I think it is harder for us who are older to remember that we must do this every day to improve. After all, my golf game improved significantly when I only practiced a few times a week or month. That is not the case with a musical instrument. Thank you very much for the reminder and for me to set a goal for myself to find a few hours a day in the coming months to practice.
Congrats on the 3rd place in Grade 5!!! That is fantastic!!!
Keep doing what you do and keep us informed on your progress.
-Cate
Darn kids...he beat me!!!! :)
DeleteIts quite fun (and humbling) to watch the kids progress so quickly. CTapp has a great teacher in Kevin and a great jr band to play and learn with.
You're not alone! Welcome to the almost cultish world of piping! Learning to play an instrument has been a dream of mine since I was a child; at the somewhat advanced age of 55 I started on that road and picked up the practice chanter for the first time. It's been 2 years now since I started the journey. Thanks to some excellent instruction and a very helpful pipe major/mentor, I'm hoping that later this year I'll be playing with the band for the first time. Your blog makes me smile and reminds me of where I've been. Good luck and I'll be following your blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Tanya,
DeleteOh thank God someone else used the "cult" word when it came to this, even if you prefaced it with "almost". You are so right!
Everyone I've met who is a piper or who is involved in this world is like, "COME, join us...." They are all so kind, so jovial and warm hearted that even if you didn't pick up the pipe and feel the pull yourself you'd want to just for them!
What I have found most interesting is that all the pipers I've met since that fateful day a few weeks ago have the most tremendous, loving and humorous senses of themselves. I asked Railroad Piper about this one day and he said, "well if you are going to learn to play an instrument that can be heard 1/4 mile away, you have to have a pretty good sense of humor." That too, has rung true.
I think it is fantastic that you decided to learn an instrument at age 55 and have a lot of respect for you for it, considering this is the most formidable that I have encountered and this is your first. Well done!
Keep us posted and let us know about your journey. This is your space, too.
One rule broken - where are you from our friend Tanya?
-Cate
Look at a map of California. Do you see that little "elbow" bit that sticks out into the Pacific Ocean, almost dead center on the coast? I live just a few miles north of that elbow. I live in a very small town that no one has ever heard of and where piping is a complete novelty!
DeleteTanya -
DeletePlease tell me you pipe next to the ocean sometimes?
Cate
I did pipe next to the ocean on July 4, just before the fireworks started. Fun day!
DeleteI started on the Practice Chanter A year and a half ago, in late February 2011 and had my first tune by April, 5 weeks after I started. 8 or 10 Tunes later and it was August when I got a second hand set of Pipes, 1967 Hardies, and started blowing in a Tenor Drone. Added Chanter about 2 weeks later, then a Tenor and finally Bass. Took a good 3-4 months for me to even get used to playing the full set, although practicing only two or three times a week.
ReplyDeleteOnly since January 2012 have I gotten really into the the full set up with enthusiasm as I was moved into the full band, started teaching learners at band practice in December/January and searching for other tunes to learn and play on my own.
The key thing i've found is that as your skill level increases, the keener you become because that tune you always dream of playing is suddenly attainable, fingers will bend around those jigs, strathspeys and reels and your slow airs only take 3 days to master if you put in the effort.
The big thing is to practice all your music, not just the newest piece and keep it interesting somehow! Make good friends in the band, watch youtube all the time, search for tunes you like and put them on your to learn list. Theres heaps to do!
Oh, Lindsey,
DeleteI'm not there yet. I haven't been given the approval from my instructor to play an actual piece of music. I can't wait for that day, though.
I am so excited to be where you are at and to play what I see at my fingertips and not have to think about the notes themselves. To see a piece of music and not see the notes, but the fingerings and hear the sound. I so look forward to what you say, your fingers will bend around those jigs, as mine presently have a mind of their own.
Keep playing and keep us appraised as your progress.
Where do you hail from?
-Kindest regards,
Cate
My turn! I started at the tender age of 43, about 6 months after my husband started at the age of 47. We were both involved in bluegrass music (he is much better at it than I!), but he didn't know how to read music yet. I, too, was a flute player as a youth, so reading came back quickly.
ReplyDeleteHe had been taking lessons from our future P/M and attending band lessons, but then came a day long workshop with Bruce Gandy in February that he wanted me to come along to...so a week before the workshop I picked up the COP book and a pc, learned the notes, and by the end of the workshop I was totally hooked. "This wasn't so hard!" Hahahah!!! Good think our neighbors couldn't hear our beginning efforts (our 'practice' room was the bathroom in the middle of the house)...two for the price of one! :)
Veteran's Day that year, we both played in our first parade. There are a couple things that you will ALWAYS remember...the first time you play your pipes in a group setting and your first parade/performance. My first day playing with the band at practice was also punctuated by a speeding ticket on my way home. I was sooooo excited about it all!!!!
Since then, we've taken up solo competition and we take lessons with two professional pipers. One in person and one via Skype. We'd love to play in a competition band, but we have none close enough for us to play with. We have a good street band to play with, tho, and they've kept us pretty busy! I don't practice enough, tho...I spend too much time on the stupid computer!
Reading your blog, from Oregon
Jennifer,
DeleteThank you so much for sharing! I'm sorry about your speeding ticket but can totally see how that would happen.
Thank you also for giving me a new vision for when I'm doing my practice - sensing myself in a parade in front of an audience for the first time and what that will feel like.
Also funny that you mention that your neighbors couldn't hear your first efforts - I had my boyfriend play my chanter one day as I walked around my house and studied which windows needed to be closed! Remarkably few.
Oregon is such a beautiful state. Please tell me that sometimes you take your pipes to the ocean and practice with the sea?
Kindest regards,
Cate
I'll be there in two weeks for a few days visiting with my parents. Will definitely play them some tunes! I think i get to play for my supper one night....
DeleteJennifer,
DeleteAs you should! That sounds fantastic!
-Cate
The AHA moment.....
ReplyDeleteI was born in Scotland (Dingwall) and came to South Africa when I was two and have never left. I've wanted to play the bagpipes my entire life, but never seemed to get around to actually going out to find a place to learn.
Time passed, got married, had kids. Never truly forgot about playing the pipes. Got a phone call from my mother asking if the kids would like to play the drums in a pipeband. She had seen an editorial piece in the local community paper about a new pipeband that had just started up and were looking for people (both experienced and noobs). Kids were over the moon at the prospect of beating the living shit out of a poor drum, not to mention the chance of creating a racket when practising. What they didn't realise is that the pipes are a lot louder than the drum and that I had decided there and then to learn how to play the pipes.
So there I was at the age of 40 (WTF is wrong with us people who think OOOooooooo..... time to learn one of the most difficult instruments on the planet at this age? :))starting off on a journey that for the most has been one of the best experiences of my life.
Now three years later, my son and I play in a band, my daughter is nearly there on the snare (she started before her thumb could actually fit over the drum stick).
I still struggle with anything fast - well that would be ANYTHING over 80 beats a minute, but you know what - I Love it. I'll eventually get there, that's what I keep telling myself, but you know what? It doesn't really matter!
Cate - we have all been there! There is nothing better than those little steps in piping. Playing the scale without faltering on the PC. Learning your first tune. Blowing bagpipes for the first time - just getting a sound out of then in the first place :)
Stick it out, practise and give it the time it deserves - it will be one of the most rewarding experiences when you are out there, kilted up, pipes under the arm and someone else watching you, going "Wow! I want to learn how to play the pipes.
Mark
Mark,
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!
Every piper I talk to says, "it's going to change your life." Just in the past three weeks of this adventure I can see that. I'm at work I think about practicing, I'm driving and I'm playing my scales on my steering wheel, I'm in the lounge talking with friends and I'm talking about what this piper said or that (or more recently, "So this guy from SOUTH AFRICA commented on my blog!!!")
One poster commented on the "Cult of Piping" and I can see that, too. I don't quite understand it and why this instrument is different than others with a much longer range, but it is. It takes your heart and latches on.
I'm hoping that in 3 years I will be able to write about my adventures playing for people and with a band. Until then, arpeggio's and scales are my best friends.
Cheers,
Cate
Hi Cate
ReplyDeleteI am an adult student. Started at the tender age of 39 - less than a year ago. I have always like the sound of the pipes. I love music but don't have the aptitude. Or so I thought.
Just over a year ago I helped out on a Scottish play about Glencoe. I was a backstage helper. We had a couple of pipers in the play.
That was it. I decided I was going to learn.
10 months in and I am on the full pipes. I couldn't read music, luckily there are only nine notes! No sharps or flats, no changing keys etc. Whew. Easy... right?
I have not played in front of an audience yet, the very idea scares me to death. But I will soon.
I practice at least 30 minutes a day, I have to do the pipes before the kids go to bed. And then a little more on the PC in the evening. The best thing is to have a good teacher, and I have one of those. Also record yourself, even now on the pc, save the recordings and look back on them every now and then so you can see how you are progressing, because you will be.
I am looking to purchase my first set of pipes, I am borrowing a set at the moment. My little boy is showing an interest in the pipes which is neat.
No real AHA moments for me yet. Each time I figure something out is shows me the next area for improvement HAHAHAHAHA. All good though. I am loving it.
I live in New Zealand.
Hello Greg from New Zealand,
DeleteI think it is fantastic that you are giving your children not only an appreciation for music, but an understanding of the time and effort required to learn to play.
If it is like any other instrument, playing in front of an audience the first time is the hardest, then it will get better.
The most important tip I've ever learned about public speaking or doing anything in front of a group: They are there to support you. They don't want to see you screw up either. So just relax and enjoy it.
That works for me most of the time. When that doesn't work, I pretend I'm someone else and do it anyway.
Report back when you get your pipes and when you get your first public showing!
-Cate
Sweden here. Name is Leffe.
ReplyDeleteBought myself a cheap pakistani shit practice chanter from thomann, and I thought "What the flobbocks is this sound?" so I waited 'til march and got myself a practice pipe.
Im quite pleased since you can take off the blowpipe and chanter and use them as a practice chanter, been practicing since.
Got a lesson with a man named Bob, just in the beginning of summer(june), although he stopped intructing. Got some valueable information, but now I've been all alone here in the north for some time.
Thinking of getting some more lessons, but since im 2 months from 18 years old I can't make internet transactions(hurray) Also I have no idea when you are "ready to move onto the pipes".
I don't want to rush it, but im really excited for when I do move on.
You probably know more about it than me .)
Anyway, my story.
Goder afton, frun, folket.
Hello Leffe from Sweden!
ReplyDeleteEverything that I've read or heard says, "Get, keep and love your private instructor, then join a band."
I'm hoping to meet with mine again next week.
Good luck on your journey! Keep us posted!
-Cate
Hi Cate --
ReplyDeleteHeidi here, from western Massachusetts. I found your blog today, on the one-year anniversary of successfully sounding a full scale on the Practice Chanter. It's given me a nice perspective to read your entries and think about the past year and how much FUN it's been.
I'm a 47-year-old mom of two sons (15 and 12) who are steadily growing more independent, and in the last year or two it dawned on me that I was increasingly filling up my available ME time by working too hard at my demanding job. I realized I didn't have any hobbies or interesting diversions, and I really wanted to find one. I searched at length for something appealing, but kept coming up short. To my mind, I wanted to be one of those people with a hat or bumper sticker that said "I'd rather be ___" but I couldn't think of how to fill in the blank (not golfing, not sailing...) Finally in disgust, I said to myself, "Come on Heidi, think BIG! I could be ANYTHING! It could be... bagpiping!" and that's when I came to realize what I'd wanted to do all along, but never imagined *I* could do such a thing.
Fast forward through the next 12 months. Practice Chanter, endless scales, slowing down, learning to read music for the first time (after faking it in grade school with my Gemeinhardt!), skype lessons with my instructor, a growing love and obsession and daily delight with every little thing, learning to love the frustrations as well, graduating to smallpipes (Gibson Firesides) in March, a week at "bagpipe camp" in Oberlin Ohio in June, and in July moving up to my first set of second-hand GHBs! I now play in my un-soundproofed garage (and yes, I do believe the neighbors might hate me a little bit, but I'm beyond being able to care), and am doing the GHB version of you on your PC -- slow repetitive scales and simple breath control. It's a BLAST!
An added bonus I hadn't been looking for -- it's been lovely to see my sons (and my partner) cheer me along, watching me tackle some heavy learning, the self-discipline of daily practice without anyone MAKING me do it or assigning me homework. I can see the value of kids watching their parents have a passion and an interest/obsession that rounds them out as people beyond driving them to soccer games and such.
Will enjoy watching your progress. Enjoy!
Hello Heidi from Western Mass!
DeleteI loved your story! It sounds much like you have found the zen my instructor speaks of, and better yet, you are teaching it to people important to you. A couple of people have mentioned bagpipe camp - this sounds fantastic! How did you find yours?
Oddly enough, shortly before starting my piping quest, a neighbor and I were talking about a garage band that "practices" down the street. It actually sounds like someone gagging on a microphone, but we try to be supportive. My neighbor was telling me that he used to soundproof basements for a living, and the best / cheapest thing he found to do this was old mattresses people were getting rid of. He would line the ceiling and walls of basements to keep the sound in.
I plan on hiring him when I graduate from the chanter.
Happy practicing!
-Cate
Hey PG,
ReplyDeleteI thought it might interest you (or trouble you, or maybe disturb you) to know that you have a great deal in common with a middle-aged computer programmer in Texas. Everything from a slightly non-standard sense of humor, learning piping, and an overabundance of snarky cats, right down to uncomfortable dental complications. I began killing the duck about seven years ago, and just now started performing with San Antonio Pipes and Drums. I practice daily, but It took me longer than most people because I'm incredibly dense(a trait we obviously DON'T share).
I really enjoy cooking too, but I like to isolate my food in jars so I can satisfy a mild hording tendency at the same time. Here's a link to one of my blogs on the OTHER free blog site: http://jartrek.wordpress.com/about/
If that's not random enough for you, there's my OCD writing blog with essays about fishing, writing, God, and other important stuff: http://snakefarm.wordpress.com/
Keep it up. I'll check in later.
Mr. Farm.
Dear Mr. Farm,
DeleteThe world becomes much smaller... Maybe you would find it interesting to note that I was born in El Paso and when I am not wowing my executive steering committee with analysis of competitive fleets, I manage the local Computer Aided Drafting infrastructure. I am a bit of the nerds nerd of my team (that's pretty rich coming from a girl who works with engineers!).
Very intrigued by your "Working Title: Election" and look forward to seeing more of it. I've put you in my RSS feed.
And for the record? I believe the guy who invented Excel functions did so because it helped solve the math riddles by knowing a completely different language than math. At the end of the day, it can get the same job done while avoiding a calculator... or worse yet? Paper and pencil. Ehhh.... Meh. Math. Boo.
Looking forward to killing more of the duck in the morning - after 10am, of course.
-Cate
Thanks for having this blog. It is very entertaining to read. I also created a blog detailing my journey of learning the pipes. Feel free to take a look at it and let me know what you think.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.learningthebagpipes.blogspot.com/
Good luck with everything,
Mark
Hi Mark,
DeleteI just read your blog. I really like it. I think it is fantastic that you are recording your progress! That will be very interesting to return to in a few years.
Keep up the good work!
-Cate
It helps keep me accountable :)
DeleteThanks for the complement.