How Old?

[piperdown]

I'm 46 and have been playing for a couple of years now. My brother (MACman) and I joined the police pipe band in our city(our teacher is the PM).
Words cannot express the joy and exhilaration I feel when we strike up and start marching in a parade. There is nothing quite like it!!!!!
Be warned though, it is a lot of hard work and you get out of it only what you put in.
Go for it though, you'll be glad you did.
BAGPIPES ROCK!!!!!!

[EagleJCS]

You have at least eight fingers, yes? (Bare minimum to cover all of the finger holes). You can move all of them independently? Then start taking lessons!!

As has been suggested, a pipe band instruction course can get you the rudiments, but perhaps not as quickly as regular solo lessons. Depends on the band's training program. You may be able to find a solo instructor through the band.

Maybe the people in the pipe band you saw looked so young because they were enjoying themselves? People often look more youthful when smiling.

[Mr. Woolery]

Oh, if you have any options about teachers (you probably do, if you look for them), make sure to talk to a couple of students of each potential teacher. If you are not offensive about it, any teacher should welcome you to do this. I'd ask ask band pipers, not the teachers to find out who learned from whom.

The most expensive is not always the best, the best is not always the friendliest. You need a good match with a teacher who is willing to work with you and is still training up good pipers. It doesn't hurt to ask a potential teacher if he/she currently competes and at what level. I don't see any reason a grade 4 piper should be teaching if others are available, but there are plenty of grade 3 folks who are very good teachers. It shows a certain level of dedication and experience to have moved up at least one grade. (That said, there are grade 4 pipers who are fantastic teachers because of musicality but their physical condition prevents ever moving up to a higher grade - palsey or injury or other conditions that affect playing without preventing them from having a really good grasp on coaching the musical skills of students who go on to surpass them.)

In Fairbanks, there are essentially three folks to approach for solo lessons. One is my teacher (who is also my mother, so I don't get away with not practicing), one is a former member of the Black Watch regiment (heck of a nice guy, fantastic piper, but I really would not learn well from him because his teaching style and my learning style are so different) and a lady who competes grade 4 and has managed to be very abrasive to the local band for reasons that are obscure to me. All have students, all can apparently satisfy their students' needs for instruction, and that's only in a dinky town like Fairbanks! You probably have a similar range of possibilities in your town, if you have any bands at all. Don't assume that the one person everyone sends you to is going to be the best for you. It may be a good marketing machine on his part!

-Patrick