Advice from pipers please . . . .

[Neil Clark]

Age is no problem.

I currently have a tourist client here who is 57, and have a guy in Germany at 67. I have a recently retired Doctor in my Gala Band, who is 65.

What I find is, sure, your fingers arent as nimble (at first) and it maybe takes longer to memorise stuff, but adults are much more focussed, and can actually be trusted to practise. They usually don't pick their nose and flick it at another pupil either

[OC Richard]

Age can certainly be an issue, because the learning curve progresses more slowly the older the beginnner is, in most cases.

Kids often take to piping quickly and some are playing at a high level within a couple years.

Mature adult beginners usually require far more "reps" to master each piping "movement" or ornament. Be prepared to spend large amounts of time practicing the fundamentals.

I've known a few cases around here of adult beginners becoming solid players. One competes at the Open level, another in Grade One, another in Grade Two. What these people had in common was 1) good instruction 2)prior musical experience 3) fanatical dedication and 4) the ability to spend very large amounts of time practicing.

(For one example, the guy who competes in Open was a music major, makes his living playing piano, and took lessons from a Gold Medallist. Another guy took lessons from the PM of a Grade One band.)

Go for it, I say! You never know how you'll do until you try.

I've been playing the pipes for over 35 years and I never tire of the wonderful experience of putting the pipes up on my shoulder and blasting away at some tunes.

PS I second what Neill says about multiple teachers potentially confusing the student. It's strange, but two teachers who are aiming to get their students to do precisely the same thing might have two quite different ways of communicating it, perhaps stemming from two different constructs or theories about it.

[Burly Brute]

You struck me as a Uilleann kinda guy.

[okiwen]

If you live that close to such a resource it would be sin NOT to.

Sounds to me like we have all made the decision for you. Don't disappoint us all. We have expectations.

[KenB]

Well, Father Bill, All this discussion has my interest piqued and I may just join you in learning the pipes. I am in my mid-60's and this is certainly an encouragement to take up the challenge. Thanks for asking the question.

[Father Bill]

Well, Father Bill, All this discussion has my interest piqued and I may just join you in learning the pipes. I am in my mid-60's and this is certainly an encouragement to take up the challenge. Thanks for asking the question.

God bless you, Ken! May we meet and squeak in the future as we learn!

[mull]

If you do take up the pipes you will never have time to be bored again!

I almost wish I could get out laid off a while so I had time to put some polish on a few tunes. Seriously, they can be all consuming, but so rewarding.
Joe

[tulloch]

All good advice and comments. All I can say, and I say this with sincerity and from experience, is: WASTE NO TIME! GET OVER THERE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE OPPORTUNITY!!! You will live better because of it. Congratulations in advance.

[O'Searcaigh]

"Bless me father for I have sinned -- it has been two days since my last pipes practice! " Seriously though, ABSOLUTELY GO FOR IT. I am 66 and got my first set of pipes (that actually work) -- a set of Dunbar P3s just this past year and indeed they are addictive. In a former life (in a distant galaxy far far away and a long time ago) I was a professional trumpet player and though there is a HUGE difference between the two instruments, some of the advice re: teachers etc carries over. First, find the best teacher you can and go with them but also, and especially as you develop, find other players (teachers or not) and pay attention to how they play. Learn from as many competent people as you can. But, that's the rub: COMPETENT. There has been a lot of discussion about not being able to learn the pipes on one's own -- almost all of it true -- but "learning" from a "teacher" who isn't a top-notch player themselves can just have you pick up their bad habits as your own. So... learn the basics and as Destin said: Practice, Practice, Practice and then Practice some more. If you can already read music (there are only 9 basic notes on the GHB) you have a lot of the problem licked except that those 9 notes are deceptive. The real talent to great bag piping comes in the grace notes, embellishments, flourishes etc. That just takes time (a LOT of fine motor skills practice) but even someone in their sixth decade (like me) can do it if they really practice, practice, practice. Some of the fingering will feel strange and "unnatural" at first (sort of like trying to make the Vulcan "Go forth and prosper" sign) but it will all become second nature with (lots of) practice. After all, what you are training is your brain -- to make those fine motor movements at lightning speed without thought or effort (in fact, after you have learned them, if you stop to "think" about them, you're bound to screw 'em up). Good piping is a Zen experience. There are some excellent books (I too prefer the College of Piping Books) -- get a good polypenco large practice chanter; the small one might be easier to work with at first but isn't the same size and does not have the note holes in the same places as your actual pipes chanter will have and switching from a p.c. to a full set of pipes will be easier if from the large chanter than the small one. Once on the full set of pipes, pay attention to tuning (a lot of "hacks" don't) and even the bag pipes can make a sweet sound but if your drones are out of tune with each other or your chanter, running over a cat with a car without a muffler will sound better. If you think there's a lot of "discussion" (opposing opinions etc) on kilts, just wait until you get into the world of piping. Personally, I do it for myself -- to challenge and entertain myself -- and am not that interested in competitions or public performance (unless asked). Its a great lot of fun though and I'm sure it helps to stave off Alzheimer's. Oh yes, you can even find some fairly good piping instruction on-line. A good on-line teacher is better than a bad "in person" one but again, caveat emptor!

[Father Bill]

Play nice, boys!