Yes! you CAN become a great piper

I've written before about one of my greatest fears being that while I desperately want to become a great piper, I may not have the 'god-given' talent to become one.

I am a perfectionist. Whenever I take up something, like scientific research, computer programming, water skiing, playing the whistle - anything - I want to be perfect at it. I want the final result to be the absolute best.

Of course, this often means that I won't start a project unless I'm certain I can be the best at it. Even more often, I usually end my efforts soon after they begin out of frustration. It always ends up being a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Let's face it, when most normal people look at the pipes, their first reaction is not, "Gee that looks like fun, I'd like to play that." Usually, comments about medieval torture devices are what we hear when we bring them out.

To play the uilleann pipes at all requires an intense desire to do so, and a love of the instrument. The drive to want to play them comes from a place only people playing the pipes undertand. I have no statistics on the attrition rate of potential pipers, but my feeling is that it's small due to the cost of entry and the type of personality that find that instrument attractive. Usually, when someone decides they'd like to play the pipes, they do so after considering it's difficulty level, trying on a set, and in spite of that, still being willing to give it a go.

Of course, the cost of purchasing a set also predisposes someone to stick with it. They don't want a $4,000.00 doorstop.

It's like Mr. Miyagi says in the Karate Kid:

Learn Karate 'yes' (holds out left hand). Learn Karate 'no' (holds out right hand). Learn Karate 'Guess so...' (makes breaking gesture with both hands indicating getting hurt).

That image always sticks in my mind when I decide to try something new. The lesson is that in order to become successful at something, you need to make a commitment, a serious one. The degree of commitment you make is directly proportional your level of success at it.

What does this have to do with learning to play the pipes? Commitment obviously, but I wanted to let you know that if you stick with it, you can become one of the greats. It turns out that
recent research has shown that people can become experts in just about anything provided that they exercise discipline and constantly strive to become better - to never be satisfied with your current level of proficiency.

For prospective pipers, this means practicing frequently and consistently, but it also means practice meaningfully with an eye toward overcoming deficiencies and never being satisfied with where you are.

Intermediate pipers are at a crossroads. They can either be satisfied with playing OK or take it to the next level. These guys are the most dangerous: they sound bad and are OK with it.

In my opinion, the uilleann pipes are one of those instruments that if you just play them OK, they still sound pretty bad. It's all too easy for a beginner or intermediate player to play out of tune, or out of rhythm, and not notice it. Whether struggling to get a bad reed to sound good, paying attention to bag pressure instead of the tune or just getting used to the out-of-tune sound the pipes make, there are many distractions that can overwhelm a mediocre player. Constant dedication and a desire to overcome these distractions and improve the sound coming out of your pipes are essential. Great players deal with this automatically, it should be our goal to do this as well.

The uilleann pipes are demanding, you need to be great in order for them to sound good at all.

You need to read this post.

I was so relieved when I read this that I did my 'happy dance' right there in front of my computer. Here's a taste:

The only thing standing between you-as-amateur and you-as-expert is dedication. All that talk about prodigies? We could all be prodigies (or nearly so) if we just put in the time and focused. At least that's what the brain guys are saying. Best of all--it's almost never too late.

One fascinating point raised was that perhaps what makes a prodigy is the manner in which they practice:

"For the superior performer the goal isn't just repeating the same thing again and again but achieving higher levels of control over every aspect of their performance. That's why they don't find practice boring. Each practice session they are working on doing something better than they did the last time."

My advice: never be satisfied with where you are. If you think you're good enough, I can promise you, you're not.

While I can never be sure, I imagine that Willie Clancy never stopped learning and striving to improve his playing. I'm following that lead.

So, maybe I won't be THE best piper on the planet, but I'm damn sure gonna try to be one of the great ones before I die. I won't be satisfied with less.

Where have I been?

When I started this blog, the one thing I promised myself was that I would never, ever create on of those rambling blogs you find everywhere. You know, the blogs that are essentially a window into people's pretty mundane lives: here's what I did today, what I ate for breakfast and who I wish would sleep with me. To me, these blogs are
not very interesting unless you know who these people are. Even then it's marginal reading.

What I wanted to do with this blog is essentially provide readers with an idea of what it's like to learn the uilleann pipes. This is the kind of thing I was looking for when I started: something that could give some idea of what I was getting into.

The problem is, this is a pretty narrow subject so there's only so much that can happen from day to day. I feel strongly that I'll only post something when milestones are reached or if I think of something I think is relevant. This means they are going to be randomly timed. Whenever I think of something to write, I'll post it.

So, here's what I've been up to: as some of you have noticed, I've started a website: tradtionalireland.com This is an effort put forth by Paddy, Seamus and myself to provide an online resource dedicated to all forms of traditional irish music (oh, is that all?). This rather large endeavor has managed to eat up most of my free time as well as much of my practice time on the pipes. We plan to serve rather obscure recordings from unknown musicians and old timers that people would otherwise never get a chance to hear. These are the people who play on the street, in their kitchens, in sessions or just about anywhere. Many of these musicians are just as good (if not better) than many of the famous record artists out there.

Except Liam O' Flynn, nobody's better than him (what about Tommy Reck? Shut Up! Willie Clancy? Look, I'm not telling you again...).

That's the great thing about Irish music, some of the best people playing it are people just down the street, in the pub or on a street corner. Many are quiet people who just want to play irish music, they have no interest in becoming famous or going on tour, but could play the pants off of most anybody they meet.

So, to readers of my blog, if you or someone you know would like to submit a tune for our archive, feel free to email me or post a comment here and we'd be glad to serve it. It is our goal to one day offer payment, but for now, it'll need to be out of the goodness of your heart. We'd also like any articles about irish music that you may care to write.

Currently the website is in its larval stage and I'm still creating the mySQL database that will serve these tunes. That is taking up the lion share of my time. When it's done, you'll start to see tunes appearing all over it, and you'll be able to search.

On another topic: I've had a lot of interesting experiences with the pipes over the last few months. I'll be posting those very soon.

Thanks for staying with me and thanks for all of your great comments!

One Year Anniversary

Well, February marks the first full year of my squeezing the pipes. I wish I could say the time flew by but it hasn't - learning to play the pipes requires hard work and commitment. I've really had to want to play the pipes. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about stopping this and picking up the flute instead.

Problem is, I don't want to play the flute, I want to play the pipes. There's no sound on this planet like 'em and when they're played well, it's pure heaven.

I like the pipes. I love the pipes. I want to marry my pipes. Like any relationship though, it requires work to make it successful, and I do my part by not giving up no matter how frustrated or discouraged I get.

As I write this, listening to Seamus Tansey (yeah, I know he plays the flute), I've been reflecting on what I've learned:

1. It's not always the reed's fault I sound like shit. Sometimes, just sometimes mind you, it's actually me. I know, I found that a hard truth to swallow too.
   
2. The best thing about being a piper is that you can always blame the reed.
   
3. Stop all leaks. ALL OF THEM, and believe me they are in every possible place they can be. Every piece that connects to another piece will leak. As soon as the temperature drops, leaks develop. I keep my waxed dental floss, black sewing thread and teflon tape close by whenever I play. Even small, slow leaks will mess me up and keep me from reaching the high octave very well. Of course, when spring hits, I won't be able to get anything apart.
   
4. Keep the drones connected, even if you never play them. Last spring, I tore my bag trying to get that goddam stock plug out so I could put the drones in. It had expanded so tight, Paddy and I had to beat it out with a hammer.
   
5. I also want to marry Brian Howard. He has made getting reed cane for us pipers as easy as it is for the classical woodwind instrument players. Thank you Brian, I love your reed cane. Maybe I'll marry the reed cane too (I see I'll have to move to Utah where they allow this sort of thing).
   
6. Leo Rowsome, Willie Clancy, Seanus Ennis, Liam O' Flynn, Robbie Hannan, Tommy Reck and Paddy Keenan are gods. They have mastered the hardest instrument to play in the known universe and have made it look like child's play to get good sounds to come out. I have made a section of my basement into a shrine where I sacrifice a whistle in their honor once a month (usually a Generation, I'm not about to kill my O'Briain's or my water weasel). I put the fire out with a Guinness.
   
7. My neighbors don't appreciate the pipes as much as I do.
   
8. My family doesn't either.
   
9. Neither do my dogs.
   
10. I don't care.
    
11. While my pipe-playing still has a long way to go, my whistle playing has gotten a lot better. Going from the pipes to the whistle is like going from being in a fight with Mike Tyson to kicking the crap out of the neighborhood kids (something I never do by the way- it's just an analogy). When I pick up the whistle after a practice session with the pipes, I have a blast playing the tunes. I have my moments with the pipes, but they are fewer and far between. I know that'll change though, and then I'll probably never pick up my whistle.
    
12. There is no such thing as a self-taught player. Even if you never paid a tutor for lessons, you're learning from those that came before you. If you listen to Leo or Paddy or Liam or Willie, they are teaching you things - you just don't know it. People need a teacher if they're gonna became any kind of decent piper and you don't necessarily have to pay for one. You're not self-taught, even if you think you are.
    
13. I'm going to Willie Week as soon as I possibly can.
    
14. I'm never, ever giving up.
    

These are just a few of the things I've learned over the past year. I still have a long way to go but I'm having a blast and I wouldn't change anything.

Another question you may be asking is,

"Well, how good are you after playing for a year?"

The short answer is, "I still suck." But that's not the point. The fact is, I'm more confident that I can master this in the long run and become a good piper. Remember, I had real questions that I could do this at all. Now, at least, I feel that playing the pipes and sounding good is something I will achieve. The question marks are gone and to me, that's the real achievement of this last year.

The Beginning is the Hardest Part

Just to show you what I fanatic I am about Irish Music, I'm making my 10 year old son take fiddle lessons from a player in the area. Now, before you go calling me a pushy Dad, my son did actually tell me he was interested in learning - in fact, it was his idea initially. I just encouraged the hell out of it. We made a deal - give it his best for one full year and after that, if he wanted to quit, I'd let him with no arguments. But we had to give it at least a year to give him a fair chance to see if he liked it or not.

We started in late August, right about the time school started. At first, he was very excited - he couldn't wait to pound out the tunes. That lasted about one week. After that, he started complaining when I made him practice (only 10 minutes a day). Then he started dreading the once-a-week lessons.

It was very hard for him. The first instrument he was trying to learn was a hard one. His fingers had to do all sorts of hard things, his arms got tired moving the bow, he couldn't get good sounds to come out - he was incredible frustrated. He desperately wanted to stop: "Maybe I could learn the whistle like you, Dad - please?" Nope. He loved the sound the fiddle makes, he was drawn to it - inside he really wanted to play it - that's why he picked it. He never loved the whistle. I firmly believe that you should play only what you love - what speaks to you.

Well, we plodded along like this for four months. He wasn't practicing much, he wasn't having much fun, so I let him slack off his practice. He was only practicing for 10 minutes about twice a week with a lesson once a week on Sundays. His teacher had given him The Boholla Jig and he was just plucking the notes like you would a banjo so that he could get the fingering right. By the end of December, he could pluck the entire tune and keep a pretty good rhythm - I played along on the whistle.

We had a lesson last Sunday and he plodded through it like he always does. He makes it seem like so much work and he seemed so unhappy that I was ready to give in and let him quit if he wanted to. The problem is, he's actually pretty quick for a guy his age. He has good rhythm, can tell if a note is off, etc - he has it in him to be a pretty good player if he wanted to be.

Then came tonight. I was upstairs fixing some stupid-ass computer problem on our network and I heard The Boholla Jig coming from downstairs. At first, I thought it was the recording of his teacher on the tape, but I came downstairs and there he was BOWING THE TUNE LIKE HE HAD BEEN PLAYING FOREVER!!!!!

He hated using the bow - he preferred plucking because it was easy. His teacher had been working hard on his bow-grip and he said it was always uncomfortable - so he hated the bow.

I couldn't believe my ears. I was so happy. I asked why he decided to do that and he said, "I dunno, I just thought I could do it."

He played for a half an hour straight and he had a great big smile on his face - he was having fun. This is what he had in mind when he said he wanted to play the fiddle. His first plateau.

Even though he was only practicing a couple of days a week for about 10 minutes, his brain was still working on the tune and the muscle memory was being developed for the bow grip. Then, one day, it all clicked and out came the tune.

The time when you're first starting out to play an instrument is the most frustrating - this is when you're most likely to quit. Everything is hard, muscles hurt and cramp up and you can't make a good sound to save your life. You hate the way things sound - this isn't what you signed up for. You don't sound like Liam O' Flynn so you're ready to quit (oh wait, that's me, not you - sorry).

You have to remember that everybody sucks at first. Everyone sounded like shit at the beginning (well, maybe not Liam O' Flynn). Stick with it - push past the beginning frustration - keep telling yourself it's only temporary because it is. That is a fact.

You will get better, I promise. Will you be great? I can't answer that but here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

Once you get past that first hurdle, you'll begin to have fun. When it happens depends on the person, for my son it was four months. For me on the whistle, about two months - on the pipes about six months.

I think my son's gonna stick with it now. You do the same.

Travelling with my pipes

You know that syndrome you get when they amputate a limb, the one where people who've had a leg or arm amputated report that it still feels like they have it? Well, I feel like that about my uilleann pipes. Whenever I take 'em off, it still feels like I've got a bellows straped around my belly. Because of this, I tend to go into withdrawal if I don't take them with me when I travel. So, when I went to Florida to visit my family (and fish for redfish), I took me pipes.

Now, this is the south and my Dad doesn't know much about my musical tastes, so when when I took my chanter, bellows and bag out of the suitcase, my dad asks me what they were.

"Those are my pipes.", I said.

"Well, what are they for? Son, you're not using that to smoke the marijuana are you?", he asked, completely horrified.

"No Dad, it's not a bong, it's an instrument. I learning to play irish music with it."

"Irish music?"

So I tried to play the two tunes, I could do reasonably well, Willie Clancy's Reel and Follow Me Up to Carlow.

He only winced twice (that I could see).
"Well, it ain''t Johnny Cash now is it?"

My Dad isn't very worldly, when you ask him what kind of music he likes he says:
"Oh, I like both kinds: Country and Western." It's his favorite joke.

My pipes absolutely loved Florida. They sounded better than they ever have. The reed seemed to adjust just fine to the humidity, but then maybe my mood had something to do with it. I caught a redfish every day I went out.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Man, Have I Been Practicing

There are times when all I want to do is practice. This is one of those times. Usually, I practice anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour a day depending on what else I've got going on. Lately, though, I've been possesed by my pipes. I've been puttin in around two hours each night squeezin' the bag. I've finished my first reed using the Brian Howard reed cane and things have been sounding great. The high octave is a breeze to play and some of the transitions that have usually given me grief have finally started working out. I don't know if it's the reed or me but one thing I can do consistently that I couldn't before was go from a high E to a high A cut, like you have to do on some of the tunes I'm learning (The Mist Covered Mountain, for example). Before when I tried that, the A would drop into the first octave as soon as I did the cut, but now, I'm doin' it all the time.

When I was first starting out, I asked everybody who was any good how long they practiced. I figured if I did what they did, then I would be able to play like they did. The answers I got varied wildly but they boiled down to this: practice a lot. Every day. A little bit each day is better that longer periods spread far apart.

I've tried to take this advice and have practiced at least 10 minutes on very busy days and longer when I can. Ten minutes is hardly time to get the reed warmed up and in tune, but it's better than nothing. Another thing I've been doing is playing through the crap. By that I mean, I don't constantly worry about whether the pipes are in tune, I just play. I need to build muscle memory in my fingers more than I need to hear music in tune (at least right now). Sometimes it's pretty bad - remember the choking peacock? - but I plow through it. I figure I waste a lot of valuable practice time futzing around with adjustments, so I just do it once in a while.

It may be time to write about another plateau.

One more thing, just found out that Lord of the Dance is coming to the Pepsi Center here in Denver in January. Heh, heh.
Should I stay or should I go?...

Sean Ryan Session in Galway

A good friend of mine living in Dublin emailed me this:

I was up in Galway 2 weeks ago at a wedding and I got to go to Sean Ryan's session in the Crane Bar. He play's there every Sunday and the music was absolutely beautiful. There was some lovely piping at it too and a great 5 string banjo player from the US. The session was going for six hours before I had to leave for Dublin - it probably went on into the night. Anyway we have to go up there for the Sunday session when you come over here next year.

Later, after I pressed him for more information:

The Sean Ryan gig was amazing. We got to the Crane bar just before 1pm and the musicians were already in full flight. Musicians were coming in and out and it went from 5 musicians to about 9 at one stage. There was an amazing piper there and another joined in a couple of hours later and they both started hammering out the tunes. There were also families there and a couple of 2-4 year olds dancing in amongst the tables to the amusement of the adults. I didn't want to leave but it had to be done.

For those that don't know, Sean Ryan's a great whistle player in Galway. He attends a session at the Crane Bar every Sunday. Sean is probably my favorite whistle player. He has an amazing talent, nice crisp rolls and clear fingering - really something to strive for. My favorite Sean Ryan CD: Minstrel's Fancy

There is no question in my mind that the greatest thing about being in Ireland is that you listen live to some of the world's greatest Irish musicians just by walking into a pub. Access like that can't be duplicated anywhere. Music like this is why Ireland gets under your skin; you can't be around this and not get swept up in it.

I'll never see the light of day once I go there, not because it is cloudy, but because I'll be in one pub or another listening to music.