Piper's Dojo Audio Experience

"Just blow tone!" Sound familiar? Most of us know we should be blowing a certain way to sound better, but many pipers don't know how to really get into the "tone zone".  This week, Andrew and Jim delve into the importance of identifying and playing within the instrument's sweet spot for optimal sound quality, eliminating the risk of choking or squeaking. The duo talks about the impact of drone tuning, and how setting drones slightly sharper than perfectly in tune can subconsciously encourage fuller blowing. They underscore how items like hitting the sweet spot should become second nature for good tone production and that this skill extends beyond simply being able to do it - it should ideally become a habit.    Got a question for a future episode? Leave a comment or email support@pipersdojo.com! On this episode: 00:00 Introduction and Technical Difficulties 00:15 The Archery Analogy: Understanding the Target 01:09 The Tone Zone: What is it and How to Find it 

Do you want to sound just like your favourite pipers? Maybe we all do, to start with. But after a while, most pipers realise that true satisfaction comes from being able to create any musical ideas or interpretations that you want to – not just copying others. Having this kind of freedom is the ultimate goal of any musician – and any bagpiper. But when we skip early skills and rush through to play the pipes, it can be hard on the ol' ego to go back to the basics to re-learn them. But that mastery of the essentials is the key to finding that musical freedom, when you consider how many skills we have to juggle at the same time... This week, Andrew and Jim continue discussing the chapter of Andrew's book, Finding Bagpipe Freedom, that tackles how to juggle all the essential piping skills at once to be an excellent player. It's tricky, but not impossible, as long as you follow some simple principles. Got a question for a future episode? Leave a comment or email support@pipersdojo.com! On this episode: 00:00

As pipers we have to juggle a lot of skills, usually all at once. Remembering tunes, playing with good rhythm and clean fingerwork, tuning, blowing good tone, marching... the list goes on. But how do you put them all together without maxing out your 'piping bandwidth' – your mental capacity to do many things simultaneously?  This week, Andrew and Jim chat through the chapter of Andrew's book, Finding Bagpipe Freedom, that tackles how to juggle all the essential piping skills at once to be an excellent player. It's tricky, but not impossible, as long as you follow some simple principles... Got a question for a future episode? Leave a comment or email support@pipersdojo.com! In this episode: 00:00 Introduction to Bagpipe Mastery 00:42 The First Rule of the Internet 01:01 The Truth About Wi-Fi Extenders 02:17 The Art of Coffee Brewing 02:56 Entering Chapter 8 of Finding Bagpipe Freedom 03:07 The Meeting of the Dimensions 03:33 The Rubber Hits the Road 06:17 The Competition of Resources in Bagpiping 14:58 Th

Relive all the amazing performances from the 2024 Winter Storm Concert! On January 14th 2024, it might have been freezing outside, but at Winter Storm – the pipes and drums event in Kansas City – we turned up the heat for the annual concert, featuring world champion pipers and drummers from Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, and the U.S. – pipe bands and ensembles, piping soloists, sizzling Highland drumming, and much more! This year's concert was livestreamed once again by the Dojo University team. We hope you enjoy this audio edit of the livestream, now available for you to listen back to whenever you'd like.  Recordings, livestreams, and events like those on offer at Winter Storm are possible thanks to donations from kind supporters – help the Midwest Highland Arts Fund continue to bring this world-class event to the United States (and the world via livestream!) each year by showing your support: https://mhaf.org/about-us/donate-volunteer/

How much money should you be budgeting for your bagpiping? At a minimum there are reeds, pipe bags, and other parts all need to be replaced regularly – and then there's new chanters, travel, lessons, and much more. It can add up pretty quickly to a lot more than you thought when you started as a fledgling piper...   This week, Andrew and Jim talk through a bagpiping budget – the outlay for equipment and travel, the importance of good maintenance and care, and the cost-benefit of more expensive options versus cheaper alternatives for durability and performance.   Got a question for a future episode? Leave a comment or email support@pipersdojo.com!

Ever heard “you’re not a REAL piper unless you play with all the embellishments as written”?   Embellishments are lovely – but they’re the crown moulding, while foundational skills like rhythm, scale navigation, and so many others are vital to master first…   This week, Andrew and Jim look at how to go back to basics with your tunes, by learning to effectively simplify them. They use Bonnie Anne to give a step-by-step explanation, starting with rhythm, then integrating melody notes and grace notes. Each successive layer becomes more complex, with emphasis on learning only one type of embellishment at a time.     Episode highlights: 02:07 The Importance of Simplifying Tunes 03:15 The Right and Wrong Ways to Simplify 07:27 The Bagpipe Freedom Process 08:42 Breaking Down 'Bonnie Anne' 22:34 Adding Grace Notes to a Simplified Tune 26:00 The Importance of Writing Music by Hand 26:44 Grace Notes 28:54 Simplifying the Setting: Adding and Removing Grace Notes 31:07 The Process of Building a Tune:

Do you ever feel burned out at the end of competition season? This week, Andrew and Jim look at the merits of rest. It's a necessity in the fitness world to recover and restore yourself to be stronger – so could the same be true for your piping? High-pressure performances and competition can certainly be draining if you're pouring time into them, and the downtime can have negative effects on your motivation and creativity. But consistency is really important to stay motivated – so could taking a short sabbatical reinvigorate you, or could it be a fast track to throwing in the towel?  On this week's show: 00:31 The Importance of Recovery in Fitness01:22 The Need for Breaks and Off Seasons01:42 The Philosophy of Prolonged Breaks02:14 The Role of Consistency in Success02:58 The Impact of Burnout03:25 The Joy of Bagpiping03:35 The Aftermath of Intense Bagpiping07:58 The Concept of Taking a Break18:05 The Importance of Creativity in Bagpiping20:27 The Role of Competition in Bagpiping22:39 The Need for Breaks

Should 'auld' episodes be forgot and never brought to mind? Not a chance! As 2024 dawns, we're taking a moment to pause and reflect – it's been just over a year since the podcast went live, so this week Andrew and Jim revisit some of the highs, the lows, and the bits we can't remember as we look back on the Dojo Conversations journey so far... and where we're headed in 2024 and beyond! If you have a topic you'd like us to cover in a future episode, leave us a comment or send it to support@pipersdojo.com. To register for the first ever EPIC Cruise Journey North, visit DojoUniversity.com/Cruise ____ Dojo University is the longest-running and most successful online bagpiping and drumming school in the world. We teach thousands of students around the world how to play good music – mastering the art of learning and playing the bagpipes and drums in the process – in a highly accessible way that is completely unlike anything else you'll find online or in person, anywhere in the world. We created Dojo U because we n

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the Dojo, we've enlisted AI for some festive mojo! This week, Andrew and Jim detour for a special Christmas episode, enlisting the writing and artistic talents of very special guest to pull together the most bagpipey version of A Christmas Carol and The Grinch ever conceived (by AI)... Wishing all our followers and listeners a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! ____ Dojo University is the longest-running and most successful online bagpiping and drumming school in the world. We teach thousands of students around the world how to play good music – mastering the art of learning and playing the bagpipes and drums in the process – in a highly accessible way that is completely unlike anything else you'll find online or in person, anywhere in the world. We created Dojo U because we noticed that too many pipers and drummers were struggling out there in the world. Bagpiping should be a joyful experience, each and every day you pick up your instrument. If it's not

This week, Andrew and Jim welcome special guest and piping legend Jack Lee to talk all things piping, drumming and… cruising?! The upcoming Piper’s Dojo and Piping Hot Summer Drummer collaboration 'Cruise Journey North' departs from Seattle to Alaska on May 4th, 2024, with regular classes, private sessions, tune workshops, tune composition sessions, and opportunities to interact with local pipe bands in Alaska, all mixed in with a luxury cruise holiday in the idyllic American north. Learn more about how this all came about, as well as a preview of a fun new tune composed just for this new adventure on the high seas!  Learn more about Cruise Journey North or register: pipersdojo.com/cruise     Episode highlights: 00:00 Introduction 00:20 Planning the Cruise 00:49 The Story Behind the Cruise Idea 01:17 Collaboration and Challenges 02:11 The Role of the Travel Agent 03:23 The Evolution of Andrew's Nickname 04:24 Details about the Cruise 05:21 Meeting Local Pipers in Alaska 08:03 The Cr

Do your pipes ever feel hard to play? If you’re not asking these 4 questions every time you pick them up out of the box, you’re setting yourself up to fail before you play a single note… This week, Andrew and Jim discuss the 4 questions of bagpipe maintenance that are a ‘pre-flight’ checklist to make sure you’re set up for success every time you play. By making a system of these and building it into your piping routine, you’ll avoid future problems and have the best chance at a great practice or performance, every time.  Check out our free PDF that outlines these essential questions: pipersdojo.com/4questions Got a topic you’d like us to cover in a future episode? Leave a comment or send it to support@pipersdojo.com!   Topics covered this week: 00:00 Introduction and Initial Discussion 00:01 The Importance of Pre-Flight Checklist in Bagpipe Playing 01:44 Understanding the Concept of Air Tightness and Efficiency 04:24 The Role of Bagpipe Maintenance in Performance 06:57 The Four Questions of Bagpipe

This week, we're welcoming special guest Ed Best – Dojo U's drumming instruction lead, rhythm guru and dad joke connoisseur – to chat about his approach to helping drummers find their own musical freedom. We dive into the ways piping and drumming can be similar (and how similar approaches between the two corps can benefit a band); how rhythm is the crucial foundation to all music; how drummers approach writing their scores compared to pipers; and how great players don't always make great teachers. Plus some incidental parenting hacks for good measure! Interested to learn more about Dojo U's Drumming program? Check it out for free for the first week: pipersdojo.com/drumming Got a question you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or shoot us an email at support@pipersdojo.com. 

Do your bagpipes fit your body – or do you make your body fit to your bagpipes?   Continuing last week's conversation about posture, this time Andrew and Jim challenge the idea that bagpipes are hard to play – according to Andrew they should be easy to play, always, but we all know that's often easier said than done... especially for newer players. So they follow up with some great tips on how to work on your posture, whether you could 'wear your bagpipes to outer space', and how to improve your maintenance systems to make sure you never have to worry about playing a 'hard' instrument ever again.   Got a question or topic you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or email it to support@pipersdojo.com!

"Multitasking is a way of fooling ourselves that we’re being exceptionally efficient." Did you learn to play exclusively on a practice chanter, have to get a few tunes (with all embellishments included) memorized, and only then transition to the bagpipes – where you then had to juggle posture, blowing steadily, and many other skills at once? Like in every other walk of life – for bagpipers, multitasking doesn't work. So is there a better way to transition from practice chanter to bagpipes? In this first instalment of a two-parter, we explore how many traditional methods can be overwhelmingly complex for beginners, and how a singular focus can help actually help pipers speed up their progress – without ingraining bad habits. We also look at how the mystical Joe Brady helped with the missing piece of the puzzle, and try not to get too bummed that we'll never be as happy looking in a mirror as Lincoln Hilton... Got a question or topic you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or email it to

Pipers everywhere struggle with seemingly perpetual problems like crossing noises, often doing 'reps' to fix them. But they're not even close to working out the actual cause of their issues... This week, we dived into the ups and downs of scale navigation (see what we did there?) – and along the way, took some wild turns into the history of gracenotes, the frustrations of teaching, how to progress from parade piping, and even Oprah... Got a question or topic you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or email it to support@pipersdojo.com!

Ever noticed there are certain bagpipe tunes that seem to become – and stay – wildly popular? This week, we're chatting about "viral" bagpipe tunes and trends. Where do they come from, what causes them, and why do certain tunes become so popular when there are other arguably "better" tunes out there? Got a question or topic you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or email it to support@pipersdojo.com!

Playing the bagpipes is a complex thing – so when figuring out where to focus on for improvement, maybe we can learn some lessons from the emergency room... This week, we're discussing how to triage your "performance killers", by diagnosing the most fundamental issues in your playing and prioritising what to work on in iterative rounds of improvement. Pssst – we’ve recently launched our new, comprehensive bagpipe tuning course, “The Great Bagpipe Tuning Algorithm”, which contains everything you need to know about the theory and practice of bagpipe tuning, as well as a 300+ page textbook, 90-day training plan, and 11+ hours with some of the world’s top players! Check it out here: pipersdojo.com/tuning Got a question or topic you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or email it to support@pipersdojo.com!

Frustrated at the neverending struggle to keep your bagpipes in tune? You’re not alone! But many pipers think that once you ‘solve’ tuning, you can move on… when really, even the best pipers in the world are still refining their approach to tuning. So how do you switch despair at the endless road to something you can not just live with, but enjoy doing? Changing how you think about tuning is the best way forward… This week, we're discussing how to “fall in love” with the process of bagpipe tuning, rather than hating the problem. Because bagpipe tuning isn’t a ‘set and forget’ skill – as any top pipers will tell you, it’s something they’re still working on, even after a lifetime of playing at the very top levels in the world… Interested to learn more? We’ve recently launched our new, comprehensive bagpipe tuning course, “The Great Bagpipe Tuning Algorithm”, which contains everything you need to know about the theory and practice of bagpipe tuning, as well as a 300+ page textbook, 90-day training plan, and

Lincoln Hilton, founder of Modern Piping and online sensation, walks us through his trial and error tuning journey as a young piper coming up through the grades. This clip is an excerpt from Lincoln's hour-long interview, included as part of our new course on bagpipe tuning: "The Great Bagpipe Tuning Algorithm". Visit https://pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more!

The great Jim McGillivray tells us a bit about his tuning process and how he uses a "pressure variance test" to check he's nailed his bagpipe tuning. This clip is an excerpt from Jim's hour-long interview, included as part of our new course on bagpipe tuning: "The Great Bagpipe Tuning Algorithm". Visit https://pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more!