Janet Cox: Glad I Stuck With It

I have always loved the sound of bagpipes and as an adult, I thought this is a great time to learn how to play. I started taking lessons at a community school program and have continuously looked for ways to improve my skill level.

I grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was hard to avoid pipe music as a child. Although I did not have the opportunity to learn as a child, the love of the instrument and the emotion associated with the music never left me. In adulthood, when the opportunity presented itself, I thought, here is your chance, grab it.

I wanted to quit numerous times along the way as I couldn't tune my pipes properly. I felt intimidated by more experienced pipers. I would feel like they looked at me as if to say, you should just quit that, you will never get it. A common thought for me was "don't be so stupid, you should be able to do this". I felt defeated so many times and put the pipes away for periods of time just because I felt I would never be able to get it. As I type this, I think, wow, why did you ever continue with such a frustration. Because I loved it and wanted to play.

One day I saw an email in my inbox from the Dojo. I checked with a respected piper I know, Bruce Gandy, to see if it was actually legit. He responded back and assured me it was. A short time later, I thought, what the heck, it was a good deal so thought I would give it a one year trial. I like to take time to develop my own opinions about a product or service.

Dojo is exactly the community I was looking for with a great group of people. I love the organization and only wish Dojo had been around when I first started to learn piping. I have grown so much from Dojo. My pipes don't scare me as much any more. I can actually look at music now and know a lot about it in the first minutes. I can tune my bagpipes (not perfect yet, but working on it). I used to rely on others completely for understanding music. So much was "over my head" at band practices. I now understand. My finger technique continues to improve with ongoing teaching of Dojo. Just learning to relax my fingers while playing has been so helpful.

Oh, you are such a wonderful group of people... so much talent and professionalism. I love the people at Dojo. I look forward to my classes and am disappointed when I have to miss a class. I highly recommend this school to anyone.

And I especially loved the Dojo cruise. It was amazing! I learned so much. I got to meet you wonderful instructors face to face. I met so many amazing people. I will never forget that experience. I only hope I am able to go on another such adventure with Dojo.

Janet C from Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, Canada