andrew douglas - piper's dojo founder

So, let me be the first to say THANK YOU for requesting your free guide with us today. In 10-15 minutes, it will arrive in your email inbox. 

While this guide will help you a great deal to achieve great results, don't forget that the big picture we're trying to achieve is to become confident and comfortable with the full spectrum of bagpipe tuning technique

While you wait for your materials to arrive, please have a peek below at our video course "6 Steps of the Bagpipe Tuning Cycle," a course designed to get you fully up to speed on the essential, objective tuning fundamentals that all (yes, all) great pipers have mastered in order to sound as good as they sound.

The course is available to you at a (very) special price if you purchase before exiting this page. 

Thanks again!

Andrew from the Dojo

NEWLY UPDATED: 4 Simple Steps to an Easy Bagpipe - Success Plan Course

A reliable, repeatable, ultra-"doable" 4-step process that guarantees your bagpipes are comfortable to play every time you pick them up out of the box.

NEWLY UPDATED: 6 Steps of the Bagpipe Tuning Cycle – Success Plan Course

A reliable, repeatable, ultra-"doable" 6-step process containing everything you need to know learn the true method of tuning your bagpipes – starting today.

Do you feel frustrated, helpless… maybe even a little angry because you can’t get your bagpipes in tune?

Join us as we guide you through our "Bagpipe Tuning Cycle" system, which will ensure you have the foundational skills and concepts you need to tune your pipes every time you get them out of the box.

This video course will teach you the practical, in-depth skills you need to actually, properly, learn to tune your pipes.

  • Ditch the myths! If you struggle to tune your pipes, think you 'just don't have a good ear', or just can't seem to get your chanter and drones to sound good together, we need to fix that.
  • You should feel effortlessly confident tuning your pipes and producing a good sound so that you can focus on all of the other important aspects of playing well, like rhythm, melody, expression, unison playing, etc.
  • Discover the simple and replicable process that will ensure your pipes are easy and quick to tune every time you pick them up to play.

Are you feeling the frustration?

In 20 years of teaching and performing bagpipes all over the world at every level, it's always shocked me that the number 1 issue that plagues learning pipers is undoubtedly not being able to tune their own bagpipes.


Tuning can seem difficult – you have to wrangle a lot of different variables at once. And when you're not sure what to do, it can seem like something that's just out of reach for you.  


But I assure you, any piper can do this. Similar to riding a bike, it’s a skill that you have to develop from the ground up. Although you may wobble for a while, after enough guidance and practice, the process is instinctual. 


Unlike riding a bike, though, piping is far less common in your community. Not that many people you know are likely to be excellent tuners, and if they've fallen for one of the two pervasive myths about bagpipe tuning, they may have given up trying entirely...  


MYTH # 1: You need a “great ear” to learn to tune your bagpipes.  

Nothing could be further from the truth! You’ll develop a good ear, just as you’d develop a good sense of balance learning to ride a bike, once you learn the correct skills and concepts and begin putting those into practice on a day to day basis. Don’t fall for this one – it’s common sense!  


MYTH #2: You need digital bagpipe tuner to tune your pipes.  

Again, dead wrong! This is like saying you need a calculator to learn to multiply. You absolutely don't need a machine to help you learn the skill of tuning. What you need... is to actually learn the skill of tuning! In fact, becoming dependent on this inferior tool will make you a far worse tuner than you would be if you learned to tune.   


Actually learning the skill is the best way to get the job done. Tuning is unequivocally, 100% the same way.


Think of the world famous pipers that you’ve seen online (and if you’re lucky you’ve even seen them in person.) Do they struggle to tune their pipes? Are they overwhelmed with the process, never sounding great, eyes glued to a digital tuner to desperately try to come up with something that sounds halfway-decent?  


Of course not. They sound beautifully in-tune, even when they're making adjustments to improve their tuning even further! Somehow, their drones and chanter all seem to lock together beautifully and just sing. It's a joy to listen to, isn't it?


And believe it or not, for the most part, it really is as easy for them as they make it look.  


So how have they learned to do this? Are they all super-mega-genius prodigies that were magically born knowing what a perfectly tuned bagpipe should sound like?


Of course not. They learned the correct process of tuning their pipes long ago, and over time (with a lot of practice) that process became instinctual. Then, over even more time that instinct became increasingly honed in until they'd practiced so many times right that they literally couldn’t do it wrong.  


So that’s what you need to do. You’ve gotta learn the process.


And we’re here to help. 


You’re going to see earth-shattering improvement fast if you decide to dig in and learn the right process the right way. Imagine how good that would feel?  


Your Bagpipe Tuning Cycle
"Success Plan" 

In addition to teaching over the past two decades, I’ve also performed in some pretty high-stakes performances, and done well. In 2011, I led an American pipe band to the World-Championship Final in Grade 1. In 2017, I won the USA Silver Medal, and in 2017 and 2019 I won the World cChampionships with the Inveraray and District Pipe Band. 


The foundation of each of these successes was a great sounding bagpipe, with beautifully accurate tuning. I religiously execute the same, relatively simple, 6-step “cycle” every time I play my pipes – much like an airplane pilot uses their in-flight checklists every time they fly. If I lose track of my basic tuning routine, I drastically increase the odds of crashing and burning due to my instrument sounding sub-par. 


Face the music with me here: If your pipes are out of tune, even your closest friends will want to tune you out (and your harshest critics will definitely tune you out!).

  

This video-course will teach you our Bagpipe Tuning Cycle process in depth:

  • In addition to reading about learning to tune your drones to Low A, we’ll be able to show you the process in video form so you’ll actually have a true example to run with. 
  • Rather than quickly trying to cover how to balance your Low A and High A, we’re going to be able to show you in a complete video lesson, and discuss the underlying scientific concept behind balancing a chanter that will skyrocket your understanding of the instrument.
  • We'll do a deep dive into a phenomenon we lovingly refer to as the “Pitch-Time Continuum” – the aspect of tuning that no digital tuner could even understand or predict.
  • We'll be doing plenty of tuning demonstrations for you to soak in.
  • We've included plenty of in-depth written articles (if you like to read, like many folks do) that will give you more than you ever wanted to know about all 6 steps of the process!  

This course will set you up to learn how to tune bagpipes well, every time you play, guaranteed.


If you’re ready to dive in, act now! Click the 'purchase' button to claim your success plan and get started. 

 

$49 $11 "Success Plan" Course

Get Instant Access to the
4 Simple Steps to an Easy Bagpipes Course

Includes:

  • Simple, 4-step process that guarantees bagpipe efficiency and comfort.
  • Online course with several hours of HD video and detailed text.
  • Available on any internet-connected device
  • Quizzes to test your knowledge along the way.
  • Great support and a 30-day money-back guarantee if the course doesn't meet your expectations.

$49 "Success Plan" Course

What You Get With Your Success Plan Video Course

The "6 Steps of the Bagpipe Tuning Cycle" Success Plan contains everything you need to know learn the true method of tuning your bagpipes. 

  • How to acclimatize your bagpipe
  • Balancing your chanter reed using the 'graduated tuning effect'
  • Tuning your drones using the 'radio technique'
  • Learning how to use the 'blow trick'
  • Live class replays, articles, and tuning demonstrations to show you exactly what to do and how to troubleshoot issues if they arise. 

"I think many pipers fail to progress because they are not sure exactly what is going wrong. The more specifically you can narrow down the problem, the better you can address it."

"I love the Dojo method because it is a fact based, measurable approach to learning. It takes the meaningless jargon and useless phrases out of piping, and provides meaningful tools, and concrete steps toward improvement. It distills bagpiping down to the few simple, attainable, skills that we all can improve."


Lauren Baldwin   //  NOVA SCOTIA

What you'll learn with this success plan...

THE SIX STEPS

There are 6 simple, straightforward steps involved in tuning your bagpipes. Let's learn how to apply and master each one – the right way, from the very beginning!

THE GRADUATED TUNING EFFECT

Once you understand and can apply this phenomenon of soundwaves and how they affect your chanter, you'll be able to troubleshoot any tuning issue at all!

THE 'BLOW TRICK'

As we've said many times already - you don't need a great ear to tune your pipes! The "blow trick," and other techniques, are going to help you develop your ear over time.

THE SECRET MISSING LINK!

The single most crucial element of tuning will be revealed – and this knowledge alone will make you a better tuner over night!

Enroll today for just $49 $11 - It's time to take action and take control over your instrument (instead of letting your instrument control you)!

Join us as we guide you through our "Bagpipe Tuning Cycle" system, which will ensure you have the foundational skills and concepts you need to tune your pipes every time you get them out of the box.

This video course will teach you the practical, in-depth skills you need to actually, properly, learn to tune your pipes.

© 2024, Piper's Dojo LLC

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