buying a chanter kit

[sharpdressedscot]

This is a very late response but the above statement is definitely open to debate. There's no hard and fast rule. I was on the practice chanter for about six months prior to starting on the full set of pipes . . . that's fairly common. Some instructors even start older students on blowing and building stamina immediately (no tunes) and work on learning fingering concurrently. I know of a 12-year-old (second generation piper) who went from zero to winning entry level competitions in six months. What's required varies greatly from student to student.

Andrew
(Piping over 10 years, Grade III competitive piper)

Well, I think if you have had prior experience on music instruments (particularly wind instruments) I think you can skip the stamina exercises and learning to read music. Plus, some are just prodegies (spelling?)...