Once you have the scale down, have a dram on me. Savor the moment. It seems like a small thing, but remember: baby steps.

What comes next will probably be the G grace note scale -- simply a scale with G grace note played before each.

Remember how lost you felt the first time you played the chanter? Well, you'll feel like that all over again. That nice, neat scale you were playing just minutes before? Gonzo.

But then, that will come, and it's on to the G-D-E grace note scale, and you'll feel totally lost again. But then, that, too, will come.

I've been at it a little over a year now, and it's been one of the most maddening and rewarding things I've ever done.