388 - How Can You Free Up Your Piping Bandwidth? (Dojo Conversations Episode 58)

Episode #58

As pipers we have to juggle a lot of skills, usually all at once. Remembering tunes, playing with good rhythm and clean fingerwork, tuning, blowing good tone, marching... the list goes on.

But how do you put them all together without maxing out your 'piping bandwidth' – your mental capacity to do many things simultaneously? 

This week, Andrew and Jim chat through the chapter of Andrew's book, Finding Bagpipe Freedom, that tackles how to juggle all the essential piping skills at once to be an excellent player. It's tricky, but not impossible, as long as you follow some simple principles...

Got a question for a future episode? Leave a comment or email [email protected]!

In this episode:

00:00 Introduction to Bagpipe Mastery

00:42 The First Rule of the Internet

01:01 The Truth About Wi-Fi Extenders

02:17 The Art of Coffee Brewing

02:56 Entering Chapter 8 of Finding Bagpipe Freedom

03:07 The Meeting of the Dimensions

03:33 The Rubber Hits the Road

06:17 The Competition of Resources in Bagpiping

14:58 The Golf Paradox and Bagpiping

17:19 Reflecting on Past Performances

19:01 The Difficulty of Phase Four

19:11 Breaking Down the Fundamental Skills

20:21 Understanding the Phases

22:24 The Challenge of Phase Four

23:19 The Importance of Avoiding Bad Habits

23:44 The Impact of Mental Blowing Anomalies

24:34 The Struggle with Tempo Control

25:07 The Importance of Maintaining Skills

25:26 The Challenge of Multitasking

28:40 The Impact of Comparison

33:08 The Importance of Fundamentals

34:22 Wrapping Up the Discussion