11 Simple Habits That Will Overhaul Your Piping
Nov 03, 2024
I’m not a basketball coach. But if I were, I wouldn't try to micromanage every play while my team was out on the court, or to run them through endless drills in practice. Instead, I would teach them the fundamentals of the game so well that, come game time, all of our focus could be pointed towards the teamwork and strategy we’ll need to win.
I would want them to master the fundamentals so that we can be free to create.
Because what if the secret to becoming extraordinary lies not just in rigorous practice, but in embracing the fundamental principles that drive creativity?
Whether you're playing bagpipes or basketball, understanding and mastering the basics is crucial.
So, where do you start? A very good place would be with what I call my "golden rule":
“Everything I do as a musician will be in the interests of developing true creative freedom.”
But when you have a bunch of new band tunes to learn, solo competitions to prepare for, a few big gigs on the horizon and just general life stuff on top of that, it can seem easy to say stuff like this – but how do you actually do it and stay on the right path amid the noise?
I pondered this too, a while back, and developed what I call the 11 Commandments of Mastery. They serve as universal principles – I designed them for piping, but they genuinely are a great way to apply yourself to any skill you want to improve.
Before you even get started on the practical steps to mastery, though, you're going to need a growth mindset – an attitude where you embrace challenges, review failures as lessons, and focus on improvement over attachment to ego.
Check out our podcast, Dojo Conversations, as Jim and I dive deeper into the commandments, where they came from, and why they're so successful at helping pipers to progress.
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