The short answer: Neither. What is “better” is going to be different for every piper and depend on several personal factors. Many pipers will argue that nothing compares to the classic sound of a set of cane drone reeds humming away. Other pipers will claim that you can produce just as great a sound with synthetic drone reeds. Still other pipers might not be able to distinguish the sound of cane from synthetic at all – they just know what they like. Though, these days, as many top solo piping prizes have been won with synthetic drone reeds as with cane or a combination of the two. From an aud ..read more

Could you nail two planks together using just your hand? You could give it your best shot, but I’m guessing it would take you longer than it’s worth, and you’d end up pretty sore and sorry after a few attempts. What if you had a tool to help you, like a hammer? That would definitely make it a lot easier – a few well-placed swings (and maybe still a sore thumb if your aim isn’t great…) and you’d have nailed it. But what if you had to hammer in 100 nails? A hammer would be ok, but you’d probably want to upgrade to a nailgun, which could do the job in much less time.  And what if you had so ..read more

Picture this: you're at a band practice, and you see a new face in the circle - a new piper who's just started that night. You politely introduce yourself to them, and then get your pipes warmed up to play. As chance would have it, the newbie is asked to stand next to you in the circle. You play a few sets, then during a break, they turn to you and say, "Just so you know, you're playing your taorluaths wrong – they're way too late, you should be playing the E gracenote on the beat." What would be your first thought upon hearing this? Would you be impressed that they'd offered such constructiv ..read more

Think of a famous bagpiper. In fact, think of anyone who is famous in any pursuit you follow – a musician, athlete, businessperson, anything – who you admire. Who springs to mind? Generally, these kinds of people achieve that level of "status" – along with the respect, admiration, fame and praise that go along with that – because they achieved something great. They're exceptional at something, and became renowned and admired for that. But all too often, the idea of having that respect, fame, and praise is so attractive that people start to crave the "status", rather than the skill or achievem ..read more

Phase 5 is a very challenging freedom phase. Over time we have found that pipers tend to "neglect" much of what they focused on in Phase 4 that previously made them so successful. To help players "bridge the gap" between Phase 4 and 5, we are implementing a change of requirement for Phase 5 submissions: As of June 15, 2022, we'll now require a Phase 5 "Buy In," to begin each Phase 5 Submission. In a nutshell, the Phase 5 buy in requires you to play one part of the tune of the week in simplified form before performing the tune of the week fully embellished. Phase 5 "Buy In" Specific Protocol S ..read more

Time signatures are something that many beginning pipers (and musicians of any kind) get pretty hung up on. Simple time, common time, compound time – those couple of stacked numbers at the start of any piece of music can be a lot to take in. But what are they, and what are they for? What's the difference, for example, between 6/8 time and 3/4 time? My answer is... who cares? Why do we focus on time signatures at all? If you think of rhythm as a map, the time signature is kind of like a compass on a map that gives us some of this information, which is helpful for us to use. But at the end of t ..read more

If you've been piping for a while, you may have heard a tune whose melody or groove just stuck with you, and that you absolutely loved, but thought (or perhaps you were 'helpfully' told by someone else), "Such a cool tune, but it's way above your paygrade". But is there such a thing as a tune that's 'too difficult' for any piper, at any level? The answer may surprise you. Often, you'll hear players say things like "oh that's a grade 2 level tune" or "that's a good beginner set". Usually this refers to the perceived level of technical difficulty a tune has, with expected speed of performance ..read more

Here at Dojo U, we talk a lot about the importance of using simple tools. After all, you can buy all the complicated gadgetry you like – fancy tuners, moisture control systems, drone enhancers – but it’s not going to make you a better player. It doesn’t even actually make your life easier either – it just replaces the challenges you should learn to overcome with different irrelevant challenges.  As a beginner or as an intermediate, you don’t want or need this added complexity. You want and need to focus on mastering the basics. A few weeks ago, one of our students ask ..read more

Everyone wants to be a better player; that’s why we practice. Being able to look at your own playing and see what works and what needs improvement is an art in itself. Even if you are working with an instructor you need to be able to objectively look at your own playing. Here are a few pointers that might help. The most important thing you can do to improve is to record your playing, both on the bagpipes and the on the practice chanter. Know the saying "pictures don’t lie"? You know, that feeling you get when you see a photo of yourself and it doesn't quite match up to the picture that you ha ..read more

If you're just starting on your piping journey (or you're coaching someone along who is), this is a common question to ask. After all, usually when you're just starting out, unless you've already been around pipers and know what's involved, you probably had grand plans of learning to wrestle the 'Scottish octopus' at your first lesson... and then you were handed a skinny recorder-looking thing and told to make honking duck sounds into something resembling a musical scale, if your experience was anything like most pipers out there. So when is the best time to buy yourself a set of bagpipes? It ..read more