Sorry - the truth sometimes hurts! And, believe me, I know how you feel. I've been "that guy" in a band that's "not getting it" with the strike-ins.

And here's the thing I didn't get – and it's likely you're reading this because you haven't had your "a ha!" moment yet either – strike-ins are not about musically starting your pipes with nothing catastrophic going wrong. I used to think this, but I was so, so wrong too many times.

Strike-ins are REALLY about musically starting your pipes with nothing catastrophic going wrong....

EVERY.

SINGLE.

TIME.

It's not good enough to be able to do it. You have to have a system that never fails you.

Every time you mess up a strike in, you ruin a performance for your band and your band-mates. 

When I was younger, I would travel hundreds of miles with my band. Every member of the band would sometimes take time off work to play competitions and gigs. They'd pay money for hotel rooms and restaurants. They'd bring their families.

And then, HONK. Someone in our band would have the dreaded early chanter that crushed any hope of winning the competition.

Or, on other occasions, a bass-drone would double-tone, producing a truly horrifying sound that would me death for our humble (and ill-prepared...) competing band.

What a terrible experience for everyone involved! The performance is ruined before it even begins.

And, it doesn't just stop with competition. How many "street bands" out there are putting a bad taste in the mouths of ordinary listeners, by being unable to start up without sounding like the elephants escaped from the circus?

Sure, accidents happen, but... 

I want to make sure I'm being clear here. Bad attacks could happen to anyone. There's always going to be a fluke that no one could have foreseen that causes a bass drone to double tone, or an early chanter to sound, or an 'E' to come in out of tune.

Maybe a speck of dust hits your bass reed at the exact wrong moment. Or maybe you fall into a pot-hole you never saw coming as you're marching down the street.

But the point here is that you, the performer, the team-member who cares deeply about your band – that you've done everything you possibly can to ensure these accidents are truly accidents, and that it wasn't for any lack of preparation that the bad attack happened. 

There is a way.

Over the years, I've played under many great pipe majors that have taught me "tricks of the strike-in trade," and I've also been a teacher and a pipe major that had to convey strike-in concepts to my constituents to make sure we were successful.

There is a way to set up your pipes and to practice that will eliminate any risk of a bad attack.

With good technique and practice we can be sure beyond any reasonable doubt that we won't ruin performances for our band. That everyone will start with a well-deserved BANG!

Join us to learn a failproof system for perfect strike-ins – every single time...