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.