Piper's Dojo Audio Experience

Do you play your tunes so fast you can’t hear your mistakes? Or maybe you always keep the metronome at the same easy tempo for every practice session? How do you know what tempo to choose to improve your playing? Andrew walks you through why choosing the correct tempo for practice is a major factor in your ability to improve. While the perfect practice tempo is not the same for everyone, finding the right tempo for you is a simple process everyone can use. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

Are you considering a Blair Digital Chanter? Want to know more about how it works? Andrew shares the inside scoop from Murray Blair about the Blair Digital Chanter. This includes some more of the technical details on how it works and how it can be adjusted for many different types of pipers. Hint: it’s not all just magic! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

Do you have a Digital Chanter on your wish list this year? Not sure if the Blair Digital Chanter is the right one? What makes it different from the other electronic chanters out there? Is it worth it? Andrew not only explains how the Blair Digital Chanter works, but also shares his experience adjusting the sensitivity to make it even more useful. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat... wherever you do your social media!

Scheduled to play a parade in November? In Canada? Preparing for that graveside memorial and the temperature takes a nosedive? How do you play in cold temperatures and stay in tune? Most pipers have been given the wrong advice! Andrew discusses how best to prepare and play your pipes for events in the cold temperatures. Be warned! The answer may not be what you think! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

Struggling with a section of a tune or a particular note progression? Do you spend a lot of time browsing through exercise books to find the right exercise and it still doesn’t help? How do you break down and target an issue in a way that is fun and effective? Carl uses arpeggios to demonstrate how to create our own exercises to target and practice those trouble areas in our music and fingerwork. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

You are playing the right notes, you’ve worked on eliminating crossing noises, you play with a metronome, and you accurately play all rhythms, but your tune still doesn’t sound crisp and clean. And you can’t bring your tunes up to band tempo. What’s wrong? Andrew articulates the one fundamental that could be holding you back from reaching that next level of playing. It may surprise you that this tiny issue has been around almost since you started learning pipes. Take a few minutes to allow Andrew to show you how to make mushy music a thing of the past. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

Have you been told to blow tone or blow steady? Does your chanter reed cut out or squeal? Is it hard for you to tune your drones to your chanter? Does this whole concept of great tone seem ambiguous? In this recording, Andrew defines tonal quality and explains how to get it in simple, easy to follow steps. Imagine not just blowing tone but actually producing great tonal quality on your bagpipes! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

Did you enjoy your last bagpipe performance? Was it meaningful to you as well as the audience? Did you have complete control over the delivery of that tune and your instrument? Andrew describes how having control over the basic fingerwork fundamentals will lead to a gratifying performance. He will also explain how using a metronome can take you there. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

Don’t you just love the sound of a beautifully tuned bagpipe? The full harmonic sound of the drones blended perfectly with the chanter notes. Are you amazed how professional pipers seem to tune easily and get that steady full sound? What if I told you that it’s not just about good tuning? Andrew walks us through the 13 steps of achieving great bagpipe sound. Tuning is only one part of this process. Without the foundational steps outlined here, your bagpipe tuning will haphazard at best. Visit DojoUniversity.com today to become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat...wherever you get your social media!

Ever been told you are playing too "round"? Do your doublings turn to mush when after cut notes? Does your grip fall apart when it comes from a sixteenth note? Why do two sequential cut notes cause pipers so many issues? Andrew breaks down this common issue into two fundamentals that we can easily see. He explains why it is so difficult, and what you can do to stop playing mush and start playing music. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, snapchat... wherever you do your social media!

How long does it take you to learn a tune? Do you work on it for weeks without much progress? Does it take you months to memorize a new tune and still have parts that cause your fingers to stumble? Join us as Andrew walks you through a simple process to learn a tune. Practicing is not enough. You need to know how to practice to make your time worthwhile. Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, You Tube, Instagram, Twitter... wherever you get your social media!

Today Glenn Brown is in town hanging out, and we get a podcast in. Enjoy this long form chat!

Do you work really hard on your crossing noises but they still seem to creep in at the worst moments? Do you have trouble with sloppy gracenotes and embellishments, and nothing you do seems to fix them? How about rushing key phrases in your tunes? Struggling to stay “tight” with the rest of the pipers in your band? Well, this lesson could be eye-opening for you. Andrew shows us ONE key aspect of finger work fundamentals we all may have overlooked that could produce significant improvement and consistency across all of these common sore-spots for pipers. Check it out! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

A great discussion was had in a recent class in regards to reducing condensation in your instrument. Do you think you're a "wet blower?" (Hint: You're not!) Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member! Join us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter… wherever you do your social media!

What is the common denominator of bagpipe success? Well, let's think about this for a few moments together.

Dojo U is live with Critiques and an Open Q&A this morning! This week's challenging tune: Rory MacLeod! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member!

Sometimes known as the co-host of the Chanter Rant podcast, Andy is also a great teacher and member of the Dojo U community. Join us as we have a wide-reaching conversation about... well... bagpipe stuff. To become a member of Dojo University, visit DojoUniversity.com today!

Dojo U is live with Critiques and an Open Q&A this morning! This week's challenging tune: Lucy Cassidy (Parts 3 and 4)! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member!

Dojo U is live with Critiques and an Open Q&A this morning! This week's challenging tune: Lucy Cassidy (Parts 1 and 2)! Visit DojoUniversity.com today and become a member!

Jim is a fellow judge and current president of the EUSPBA. We sat down for a long-form chat before the New Hampshire indoor this past weekend. To become a member of Dojo University, visit DojoUniversity.com today!