By Jori Chisholm • BagpipeLessons.com

Bagpipe lessons by online instruction are a great way to learn from a world-class instructor right from home. I’ve been teaching bagpipe lessons online since 2003 to students of all levels around the world, and I’d like to share a few ways you can get the most out of your lessons.

1. Show Up Early and Take Time to Get Organized

Use the half hour before your lesson to get your lesson space ready. Gather your sheet music, notes from previous lessons, your instrument, Bagpipe Gauge (if using), metronome, tuner, audio recorder, Piper’s Ultimate Reed Poker, or anything else you’ll need during your lesson. Clear away any other distractions.

2. Get Your Fingers and Pipes Warmed Up

One big advantage of online lessons is that you can take the time before your lesson to get your pipes set up and tuned properly. You’ll be able to spend your lesson time with your instructor working on your playing, not putting your pipes together and tuning.

3. Send Copies of Your Sheet Music to Your Teacher

It helps me as a teacher to look at the exact same piece of music that my student is looking at. Don’t worry about any highlighting, writing or crinkles. I prefer to see your working copy of your music with all of its annotations, rather than a clean copy. You don’t need a scanner — just a simple snapshot with your camera phone is perfect.

4. Take Notes

You are spending valuable time working on the important details in your tunes and piping skills. Mark down your trouble spots in tunes or suggestions for improvement. Colored highlighters are great for marking up your sheet music. Keep a journal, or use a note-based system for tracking your progress.

5. Have a Plan

I’ve found that the most productive lessons are those where students have a clear sense of what they want to accomplish in their lesson. During the days between lessons, keep a list of questions you want answered and bring those to your lesson.

6. Make Sure Your Computer and Internet Connection Are Working Properly

Check that your microphone and camera are working with the programs you are using to connect. Verify that everything still works if you’ve made any recent software updates. You might want to have a backup device, such as a phone, iPad, or other device, with your video conferencing software installed. To ensure the highest quality connection, you may need to quit any other programs that might be using up your computer’s power or internet bandwidth.

7. Use a Calendar to Keep Track of Your Lesson Times

We all live busy lives with family, work and other commitments. But don’t be a victim of your own lack of planning. Make the choice to set aside time for your personal practice. Set twice-yearly reminders to look out for when clocks change for daylight savings time, and confirm the current time at your teacher’s location before each lesson.

8. Set Long-Term Goals That Inspire Your Daily Practice

I’ve never believed in one single approach to learning the pipes. Rather, I strive to work in partnership with students to help them reach their individual goals and fulfill their aspirations. As your playing develops and your skills expand, work with your teacher to continually look for exciting challenges and ways to explore your piping in new and interesting ways.

9. Be Honest

If you haven’t had much time to practice since your last lesson, let your teacher know. If you’ve lost interest in practicing a tune or exercise, share that with your teacher, too. Don’t be embarrassed or fear judgment. Your teacher’s advice will be best when it is based on what you are really doing between lessons. Give your teacher your honest appraisal of your challenges and they can give you their best advice to help you through it. It’s okay to struggle, express frustration, and to say “I don’t know.”

10. Enjoy the Process

Learning to play the pipes can be exciting, rewarding, challenging and frustrating. It takes time to get to the point where your playing gets to the level that you hope to achieve. Don’t give up. Practice hard and smart, trust your teacher and try to find joy in the pursuit.

Related Guides

• How to Get the Most Out of Your Practice — what to do in the days between lessons.
• Learn the Pipes Right: Everything You Need to Get Started — for pipers just beginning.
• Your Practice Checklist — 87 questions to bring to your next lesson.
• Secrets for Making Your Pipes Easy to Play — so your pipes are ready before the lesson starts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I prepare for an online bagpipe lesson?

Start half an hour early. Get your pipes assembled and tuned, gather your sheet music and notes, check your camera and microphone, and have your list of questions written down. Lesson time should be spent playing, not setting up.

Do I need special equipment for online lessons?

A computer or tablet with a working camera and microphone, and a reliable internet connection. A backup device such as a phone is worth having ready. Beyond that, the useful extras are the ones you’d use anyway: a metronome, a tuner and a way to record yourself.

Should I send my sheet music to my teacher?

Yes, and send your working copy — annotations, highlighting, crinkles and all. A photo from your phone is fine. Looking at the same marked-up page is far more useful than looking at a clean one.

What if I haven’t practised since the last lesson?

Say so. Your teacher’s advice depends on an accurate picture of your week, and adjusting the lesson to where you actually are is more productive than working from an assumption that isn’t true.

How do I make sure the lesson covers what I need?

Keep a running list between lessons of every question and trouble spot as it comes up, and bring the list. The most productive lessons are the ones where the student arrives knowing what they want out of it.

Is an online lesson as good as an in-person lesson?

For most students, yes — and often better, because it removes the geographic limit on who can teach you. I’ve taught one-on-one online since 2003, and the approach was featured on the front page of the New York Times in 2012.

About Jori Chisholm

Jori Chisholm is a world-renowned American professional bagpipe player and teacher. He played with the six-time Grade One World Champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band for 19 years and was a featured solo performer for the band on multiple occasions. He is a successful solo competitor, winning the United States Gold Medal four times and winning top prizes at many top competitions including the Northern Meeting at Inverness, the Argyllshire Gathering in Oban, the Royal Braemar Gathering, and the Cowal Highland Gathering.

Jori started BagpipeLessons.com in 1999, in hopes of bringing pipers of all levels and experience valuable, trusted information, tools, support, and inspiration. In 2003, Jori was the first piper to teach bagpipes online. He has been featured in a New York Times front page story about the growth of online music lessons. Jori also founded the world’s first online-only piping and drumming competition, the World Piping and Drumming Championships, which has become a highly popular and celebrated event.

Jori has invented several popular, award-winning, and patented products for pipers including the Tone Protector™ chanter cap with two-way humidity control, the Tone Protector™ Reed Case, InTune Mic™, the Bagpipe Gauge, the Piper’s Ultimate Reed Poker, the Piper’s Advantage™ Bagpipe Phone Mount, and the Piper’s Metronome™. Jori lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and two sons and enjoys traveling, exploring the great outdoors, and of course, music of all kinds.

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