How To Free Up Your Piping Bandwidth

Do you ever feel totally overloaded with how much there is to juggle all at once when you're playing your bagpipes?

Playing the right rhythm. Remembering the right melody, the right part, the right tune changes. Playing with clean note changes. Playing on the beat. Playing clean embellishments. Blowing good tone. Getting a clean strike in. Getting a clean cut off. Tuning your drones to the chanter. Tuning your drones with each other. And then, on top of all that, add marching, remembering drill signals, beating nerves, staying focused when someone starts dancing in front of you as you play...

There's no denying – we have a lot of balls to keep in the air when we're playing our bagpipes. It's the reason that your fingers seem to jam up and play the wrong notes or rhythm as soon as you feel a judge's eyes on you. Or you forget which foot to step off with when you're playing at a street parade for the first time. Or you get distracted and forget which part of a tune you're in.

Just like a slow internet connection doesn’t offer enough bandwidth to power 10 devices streaming video at a time, our brains (before we have mastered our instrument) don’t have the bandwidth to power the 10 or more fundamental skills that come together at the same time to form any bagpipe tune.

But if we can manage our bandwidth effectively, you’ll be surprised at just how quickly you can manage a skill, master it until it's unconsciously competent, automate it into your playing 'system', and be ready for prime time. But, more importantly, unlike your old internet router, your brain will actually reward you for learning things the right way – by getting better in the process!

Want to learn more about becoming a master juggler of bagpipe skills? Check out this Dojo Conversations podcast as Jim and I discuss this in detail!