First lesson

[KD Burke]

I'd like to chime in on behalf of the adult learners. My own prior musical experience was an abortive attempt to learn guitar when I was eight. I started on the chanter at the age of 45. My practice time is somewhat limited, but I do practice faithfully every day for at least a half hour. When I can I play more. My practice time is divided between the pipes, practice chanter, goose, and an electronic chanter. Each has its place.

I do have good teachers, and I suppose, persistence. After four years I am far from a "great" piper, but I can, and do maintain my own instrument, select my own reeds, tune both chanter and drones, and play ceol beg tunes correctly and musically. I'm I the process of learning my first piobaireachd, "The Company's Lament".

I have competed in Grade IV senior for the past year. So far, I have not placed above 5th place, but I have received encouraging comments from the judges on my tuning.

By OC Richard's definition, I have not been "successful" in learning the pipes, but I have had a hell of a lot of fun.

So, the only person keeping you from learning, is you. If you want to learn, I for one don't think it is too late!

[OC Richard]

I do have good teachers, and I suppose, persistence. After four years I am far from a "great" piper, but I can, and do maintain my own instrument, select my own reeds, tune both chanter and drones, and play ceol beg tunes correctly and musically. I'm I the process of learning my first piobaireachd, "The Company's Lament".

I have competed in Grade IV senior for the past year. So far, I have not placed above 5th place, but I have received encouraging comments from the judges on my tuning.

By OC Richard's definition, I have not been "successful" in learning the pipes

You sound pretty successful to me!

I said 'become a decent player' which leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

Of the adult beginners I spoke of, one has risen to Grade One in solos and has been Pipe Major of a consistently-placing Grade Three pipe band.

Another is similar, having got pretty high in solos (2 or 1, not sure) and likewise the PM of a G3 band.

The others became solid players in Grade 4 bands.

But as you point out the real measure of 'success' is whether you enjoy it!

[OC Richard]

I have musical training playing the trumpet, tuba, trombone, French horn, etc.

A plus is I was blessed with absolute pitch. I can play songs by simply hearing them once or twice without struggle once I know how to play a scale on the instrument.

I hope to one day get a chanter and take up the pipes.

What is a good chanter at an affordable price?

Your musical experience and ear will be a tremendous help in learning the pipes.

The thing that will take the most practice, I'm pretty sure, is getting the finger dexterity and muscle memory to play the ornamentation, which has always been deemed part-and-parcel to playing the pipes idiomatically.

The ornaments consist of single notes and groups of two up to six or seven notes, all of which occurring more rapidly than any note any orchestral instrument is called on to play, and more rapidly than many orchestral instruments are capable of playing (many not having quick enough response time).

The secret of mastering these is a vast amount of repetition.

About practice chanters, I really like the Gibson long PC. It's more free-blowing and musical-sounding than most traditionally made PCs (which tend to sound a bit like kazoos).

http://www.hendersongroupltd.com/car...idcategory=220

In our pipe band most of the people use McCallum long PCs. The plain poly ones sound as good as any and are less expensive

http://www.thepipershut.com/product-p/pc4.htm

[KD Burke]

OC Ricard,

Thanks for the compliment and my apologies for mischaracterizing your comments. I perceived them to be potentially discouraging to adults intending to take up the pipes.

As you may perceive, I certainly believe that , with realistic expectations, it is a entirely possible for an adult to learn to play, and to enjoy playing. Among those expectations are that it will be hard work and that with age comes limitations on the flexibility of both fingers and mind that may prevent high achievement on the competition field, but will certainly not prevent making good music!

[OC Richard]

Yes it's potentially discouraging to hear that perhaps one out of every hundred adult beginners becomes a decent player, but most any experienced teacher will tell you that it's true.

Most adult beginners throw in the towel quickly when it dawns on them how much sheer work is involved, and how daunting the ratio of time commitment to progress is.

But for those with the attributes I listed fairly rapid progress is virtually assured.

It's up to each individual to view these truths as discouraging, or encouraging.

[Blupiper]

Chaps and GrainReaper:

I will echo all those comments from adult learners (and particularly OC Richard): you can learn, but get a teacher and devote your time and heart to the learning. I started when I was 48 (can that be ten years ago?) and am now a solid Grade IV player, with aspirations to Grade III. My background is in more traditional brass and woodwind instruments in elementary, junior high, high school and college. Knowing how to read music and interpret rhythm is important, but spending the time building technique is more valuable. Setting time to develop your skills, using milestones to measure and maintain progress and finding out what you want out of playing the pipes is important. Some want to march with the band, some not, others really like the light music, while the piobaireachd speaks to others. It's a wide world of opportunities and can seem daunting, but if you are realistic about your focus and what your goals are, you can get there. By the way, Richard's recommendation on the Gibson long chanter is spot on; I have one as my practice chanter and it's great. A good sound, the spread of the holes mimics the pipe chanter well and they are bullet-proof. That helps if you get frustrated one night on tachums and want to snap it over your knee. Good luck and let us hear about your progress occasionally.

JMB

[OC Richard]

I started when I was 48 (can that be ten years ago?) and am now a solid Grade IV player, with aspirations to Grade III. My background is in more traditional brass and woodwind instruments in elementary, junior high, high school and college.

Congratulations! Being 'a solid Grade IV player' is nothing to sneeze at! You know all too well how much harder it is to do than it looks, and how much practice time was needed to get you where you are today. Being a solid 'corps piper' in a G4 band is a big accomplishment, requiring excellent blowing, clear fingering, and ability to 'mind meld' with the Pipe Major and exactly mimic his style.

We're of a like age (I'm 57). I started when I was 17, and there are things I take for granted on the chanter that somebody who started at 27 or 37 or 47 can't do (I've known plenty of pipers who started at those ages) and on the other hand, there are plenty of things that somebody started at age 7 takes for granted on the chanter that I could never do. The learning curve is like a flight of stairs, and gets steeper as one gets older.

[Macman]

I love this thread and hearing everyones' stories. You've received excellent advice. I'll throw in my perspective. I started nine years ago at age 50. I don't compete, but play in a street band populated by a range of pipers going from newbies to Grade 1. I go to band practice and have a lesson almost every week. I would guess that I play at a grade V level, and my slow progress has been solely due to lack of practice time. I find that when I can practise more, I progress faster. When I can't (mainly due to work demands), I get worse. I can hardly wait until I retire, and then I will be able to devote the time I want to this fabulous instrument.

[Chaps]

Thanks for all the comments. I do have a teacher and have been playing some almost every day. I have a less expensive chanter to start but will look into the Gibson long chanter within the next couple of months. My over all goals are modest, to be able to play a few tunes appropriate to church services and/or memorial services without making people cringe or grimace. In my current job I do have time to devote to practice, but with all things need discipline. Thanks again for the comments.

[OC Richard]

My overall goals are modest, to be able to play a few tunes appropriate to church services and/or memorial services

Doing a decent job of playing hymns on the pipes, especially at services where you have to stand around (the pipes getting cold and/or dry) is daunting even for the most experienced pipers.

It requires having your instrument 'set up' for optimum stability and reliability, and requires meticulous preparation, and the piper having total control over his instrument, and the piper having 'a cool head' for those times when things go awry.

Any lack of preparation, any flaws on the setup or maintenance of your instrument, any areas of dodgy musicianship, any tendency to panic under pressure, will be fully exposed sooner or later! Even the finest pipers have d'oh! moments and spoilt performances once in a while.

Most instruments you can just pick up and play. The pipes aren't like that. They're inherently unstable and prone to issues. For example any bag can fail at any time, even a new one. A set of pipes has a large number of joints, and if any one of them isn't adjusted just right the instrument can fail. Valves can fail. Drone reeds can fall out. Tie-ins can work loose at the worse possible moment.

It's all about preparation. If I know that my pipes will have to sit around unplayed for an hour (say, I have to play at the end of a one-hour service and there's no soundproof place to check the tuning of the pipes between just before the start of the service, and the end) I try to show up a couple hours early and take the pipes out a play them briefly at one-hour intervals. The pipes must acclimate to the specific humidity and temperature of the venue, and I want them to get used to being picked up after an hour sitting, and playing right in tune. It's almost like training an animal!

Only if you play your pipes daily will they be utterly reliable (as far as tuning goes) without much in the way of preparation.