Online Bagpipe Tuition In Your Own Home!

Author: Pipe Major Robert R. Pinkman

Launch date April 1st.

I have been teaching music for many years and always thought that there must be a better way of reaching more people who have a desire to learn a musical instrument but who have no idea of how to go about it. People who live in remote areas. People who do not know of anyone who teaches their desired instrument in their area. People who might think that they may be thought of as "odd" for wishing to learn a particular instrument. I teach bagpipes and have been a professional piper for many years as a competitor and as entertainer. Of course, I am Scottish! In between piping commitments, I have always taught young and old folks with a desire to learn properly. But, people are only willing to travel so far, for their weekly lesson and so we, as teachers are limited to the area that we can cover.

A few years ago, I put together a tuition programme for the complete beginner that took all the jargon out of learning and explained it all in simple language. I then created a tutorial book with all the techniques needed to play properly. And put all the cotent on cd. I then recorded an audio cd to explain and demonstrate everything on the tutorial cd. I then recorded a video cd, showing my hands in close-up so that the student could see exactly what was needed. Now I had the complete tuition course for the bagpipes. I advertised it on my website and sales have been very good with orders coming in from all over the world. Still, I was not 100% happy. I was not reaching enough people. So I decided to try a new approach to teaching. I wanted to use the technology available today. Live web conferencing or video conferencing is the way forward. There can be many people online at any one time who, are all at the same stage of learning and can gain by watching and listening to the way others are progressing or are having a hard time.

The competitive element really works. There can now be people interacting with me from all over the world. The play for me and I can tell them what they are doing right/wrong and can demonstrate how to do it properly. The course for beginners of all ages starts on April 1st. Other courses to follow are, intermediate (for people who have started on the bagpipes but still need some help), advanced, the tuning of the bagpipes, choosing reeds, taking care of your bagpipes and more "in-depth" tuition on how to play various types of bagpipe music such as : marches, strathspeys, reels, hornpipes and jigs. The feedback I have had so far has been really positive with people from all over the world interested. We would welcome any comments or suggestions that might be of some benefit to me or my students.