The Hierarchy of Competence: From Clueless to Mastery

Ever tried something new – after watching a seasoned professional make it look easy and thinking "Huh, I could do that!" – only to fail spectacularly?

That’s the hierarchy of competence in action.

It’s the universal journey from complete incompetence to effortless mastery. 

And guess what? You’ve been through it more times than you can count – from when you learned to walk, learned to talk, read, write, run, drive... through to learning to play bagpipes or drums.

Let’s break it down.

The Four Stages of Competence

1. Unconscious Incompetence: The Blissful Ignorance Phase

At first, we don’t even know we lack a skill. Maybe we don’t know the activity exists. Maybe we assume we could pick it up instantly. Either way, we’re unaware of our incompetence. For example, you see someone effortlessly nailing some twirling, backwards, and fancy-footwork ice skating moves at the rink and think, “That looks fun! I could do that.” Sweet, naive ignorance.

2. Conscious Incompetence: The "Oh Crap" Phase

Then comes the wake-up call. You try the thing, fail miserably, and suddenly realize you have no clue what you’re doing. This is where most people give up. You step onto the ice, immediately lose control, and... CRASH! Reality check: ice skating is hard.

3. Conscious Competence: The “I Can Do It... If I Focus” Phase

Through persistence, guidance, and consistency, you start to get it. You’re still thinking about every move, but you can perform the skill if you concentrate. After weeks of practice, you can now skate without falling as much. As long as you’re hyper-focused, you can stay upright.

4. Unconscious Competence: The "I Don't Even Think About It" Phase

Finally, you reach mastery. The skill becomes second nature. You perform it effortlessly, like breathing. A year later, you’re playing full-speed pond hockey. Your body moves instinctively. You’re no longer thinking about skating – you’re just playing on the ice.

Bagpipes and the Hierarchy of Competence

Piping mastery isn’t just about playing the right notes or rhythms – it’s about making the instrument an extension of yourself. And that requires mastering 10 fundamental skills:

1. Rhythmic control
2. Scale navigation (avoiding crossing noises)
3. Excellent grace note quality
4. Physical blowing mechanics
5. Tuning the drones to each other
6. Identifying the chanter reed’s sweet spot
7. Tuning drones to the chanter
8. Awareness/avoidance of mental blowing anomalies
9. Embellishment mechanics
10. Expression (proper ALAP/ASAP execution)

If even one of these skills is lacking, your audience will notice. Worse, your music won’t feel natural. Your bagpipes will control you instead of the other way around.

But when these skills become unconsciously competent, that’s when the magic happens. That’s when you can focus on making music instead of struggling with mechanics.

Because mastery equals freedom. When your fundamentals are locked in, your mind is free to focus on creativity. You can play in a top-tier band, compete at a high level, compose your own tune, explore new musical styles – and most importantly of all, you can express yourself freely and fully through your instrument.

The Road to Mastery

Mastering the bagpipes – or any skill – involves progressing through the four stages with consistent, focused effort until the fundamentals become second nature.

If you apply yourself, work on consistently building up your fundamentals, working on progressively more difficult skills and repertoire in the right order and at the right intensity – then one day, you’ll pick up your pipes, play a tune, and realize… you weren’t even thinking about it.

You were just making music. That’s Bagpipe Freedom. And it’s worth the journey.

Check out this episode of the Dojo Conversations podcast as we break down the Hierarchy of Competence in more detail!