As I start the New Year, I have been thinking of Einstein’s quote as it applies to playing and performing. Every piper looks at friends who play their instruments ‘better’, performers who excel in giving ‘enviable’ renditions of music, and listen to ‘amazing’ recordings of professionals. It’s easy to sigh, compare ourselves to them and wish, “If only I could sound that good.” There are those rare individuals who have a natural talent, whose brains are wired for bagpipe music, whose fingers just seem to naturally fly without a squeak or squawk when they play. I say, may God bless those with such capabilities, for they inspire the rest of us mere mortals.
We have a choice. Choose to work harder, work smarter and perfect our musicianship, or remain at the level we are. We may never attain ‘their’ level of playing, but no one can stop us from improving and progressing in our own abilities. One of the Winter Olympics snowboarders remarked that she approaches life fully engaged in her sport, and what she said rings true with me, to “Live life without regret.” I’ll apply that to piping as well embracing doing the best with the time and talents God have given me to bless others.
This year I choose to do the work, choose to practice and choose to perfect technique and musicianship. I’ve questioned friends and acquaintances as to how long they practice; how hard they practice. Their responses range from 20 minutes per day (most days) to every waking moment when they are not in school or working. The key takeaway: practice (a lot). Some each day is better than nothing. I keep my practice chanter in the front seat of my car, along with music. I work on tunes, 8 bars at a time, one stop light at a time on commute to and from work; to and from the store or school. I also work on my chanter perfecting tunes 20 minutes at a time at lunch, or spend 20 minutes playing the pipes. My goal is always the same: use the time wisely to play the music correctly, then practice to memorize a tune, or perfect a tune’s musicality and finally transition tunes to the pipes.
I’m taking a thirty day challenge. Choose an area in need of help… maybe D-throws. Start every practice with playing D-Throws up and down the scale. Clearly hear the low D. Don’t rush, but play every combination up the scale then down, then do your best to randomly play D-throws. You get the picture. Pick what you need to work on (taorluath, grips, birl, tachums, etc.) and in thirty days see how you’ve improved as you play. Then repeat another thirty days, reinforcing that D-throw, but adding another movement. I will be working on perfecting band tunes, especially competition tune sets, perfecting the parade set and playing and perfecting my WUSPBA grade 3 competitions MSR, as well keeping up on repertoire for piping at other events.
So if Einstein had been a piper (he did play the violin competently, so historians tell us) he probably would have written a similar equation to his quote above for practice: practice daily, rain or shine, don’t do the same thing expecting different results, practice technique until you are playing correctly then work on speed and memorization, and, play for the love of the instrument you’ve chosen. …and never give up.
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