Finally found a pipe band closer to my house than 40 miles. Ordered my chanter and book and had my first lesson last Tues, which consisted mostly of how to hold the chanter, how to read the notes (it's been 20 years since I last looked at a piece of music), and how to play the right hand notes. I like it a lot, of course it's only been a week. My schedule works great for the practice plan recommended - 15 min in the AM, 15 at lunch, and 15 or more in the evening. My platoon sgt and a couple of my squad leaders are amused. I caught them acting like an Indian snake charmer yesterday. All in good fun though. I'm not sure how fast I'll progress though. I'm headed to Louisiana for 5 weeks next Friday and then to the sand box sometime in June, for a year. Guess I'll try to get as much of the basics down as possible before then and then spend the year practicing. PErhaps I should get a microphone so I can send back samples for guidance. Hmmm...