Do you know pipers who say they never use a metronome because they “already play on the beat”, or they never saw the benefit of using one? Have you ever tried to play the practice chanter or the pipes while using a metronome, but got frustrated because it was nearly impossible to play “on the beat”?
Sight reading is one of the biggest enthusiasm killers in bagpiping. Just like reading English as kids - it takes time, practice, experience, and arguably a bit of talent to learn to read words on the page (just speaking aloud, of course, is much easier).
Embellishments are extremely tricky as we learn to play bagpipes. We're talking - extremely tricky. Even for professional pipers, embellishment "misses" or "flubs" can mean the difference between first place and no placing at all.
When it comes to picking out reeds, there's a lot of mythology out there. Here are some of the classics:
