On motivation

There is an old Scottish proverb: It take seven years to make a piper. When you start on chanter you are excited to be on the road to playing bagpipes. It maybe a year or so to get the fundamentals down of piping music and chanter work. Then a couple of years learning to incorporate chanter work and music memorization with playing the bagpipes. Along the way life happens and for short periods of time you may step away from the learning curve. So what gets and keep you motivated as a bagpiper?

For me there is a three-fold challenge in piping:

1. Memorizing music

2. Mastering the instrument physically

3. Making music.

Each has its own challenge in staying motivated.

Focusing on memorization can be tough. We listen to other players that seem to easily memorize music, while I struggle. It is and it isn’t a matter of repetition when it comes to music memorization. The quality of your time and the method of how you memorize are very important. I was playing a strathspey that I love and learned, but have never played it technically well. So I learned another and will put that old one on a shelf for a couple months or years and come back to it. Memorizing music should be fun not tedium.

Mastering the instrument is a matter of just staying the course. Keep playing, Keep working on the instrument with a singular purpose. Putting the pipes down for a while will, just like in exercise, be counter-productive.  Maybe change up the playing routine, or change your practice location, or play some new music. Staying motivated could be as simple as connecting with other pipers. Join that band, or regularly play music with pipers you know. You will be motivated to improve, try new music you hear and by taking an interest in your friends will be motivated to keep playing. Staying connected with other player is key

Staying motivated to make music may be the most difficult of all. Not everyone is born with a sense of what music sounds like. So listen to world class piping. Ok, some of that music may be way too technical for us ordinary humans, but you may also hear a tune that does inspire you to learn. Or in listening you will hear that elusive musical pattern of the tune you have been trying to master.  It could be as simple as listening to Pandora or Spotify or an online piping music web site. Be careful about YouTube though as not all recording are created equal and not all pipers play well.

Also, Chart your progress. Write a note or email a fellow piper on what tunes did you learn this year. Make note of embellishments have you made progress on or mastered? In January, set yourself a goal. Maybe it is to enter one additional competition or enter one for the first time. But do it for the fun of it. Reward yourself when you see a success.