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.