First lesson

[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.