Hacking Bagpipe Competitions: Create a Meaningful Experience by Vince Janoski

The first round of the Bagadou championships was held in Brest, Brittany a couple of weeks ago. An amazing event. The contest features the top level bagad ensembles performing for about ten minutes to a relatively large audience by the sound of it. Viewers of the online live stream numbered near 2,000 at one point. [...]

Small Tunes Podcast: “Home Rule” by Vince Janoski

It’s been quite a while since the last Small Tunes Podcast. Let’s catch up with “Home Rule,” a tune that dates from Ireland of the mid- to late 19th century. Home Rule was a powerful political idea that stood at the heart of much of the social turmoil in Ireland from about the 1860s to [...]

Small Tunes: Vintage Melodies from the Bagpipe Tradition 011 Home Rule [ 2:44 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1634)

No More Frozen Pipes: Good Bagpiping Warms It Up 2013 by Vince Janoski

No more do pipers hibernate like bears in the winter months of the eastern USA. As winter wanes and spring waxes anew, there are a slew of opportunities to warm the ears with great live bagpiping, warm the fingers and start off your 2013 competition season, or warm your brain with workshops and lessons. Here [...]

5 Ways to Set Better Bagpiping Goals by Vince Janoski

The beginning of the new year is always the perfect time to assess where you are in your bagpiping. Goal setting is a ubiquitous start-of-year activity that benefits lots of folks, and bagpipers are not exempt. Sometimes though, the act of setting the goals themselves can be a daunting task. You know what you need [...]

5 Steps to Building Your Bagpipe Music Repertoire by Vince Janoski

Developing one’s musicianship as a solo bagpiper or pipe bandsman can be hard work, and it’s easy to fall back on the competitive music that demands so much of our time to polish. But, as musicians, we owe it to ourselves to develop a broader view.

The 3-Step Path to Better Bagpipe Goals: “Goal Chunking” by Vince Janoski

The fall and winter months are the perfect time for setting musical goals and developing and building skills to improve your bagpiping. Sometimes though, setting goals can be daunting and the day-to-day trappings of life distract us. We lose track and the work toward our goals, even if you eventually get there, seems never ending. [...]

Get Ready to Hack Your Piping with Dojo University’s Fall Lineup by Vince Janoski

Get ready for your fall bagpipe-gasm. Dojo University, the world’s first online piping school, has announced an autumn “semester” lineup with all drones a-blazin’. The instructor list views like the best of piping summer schools smashed together. And all in the “off-season” from the comfort of your ain hame. The fall and winter months are [...]

Watch the Treacherous Orchestra Live at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival by Vince Janoski

For those who have had the burning desire to see the band Treacherous Orchestra perform live since reading my review of their latest CD release can get your fill via today’s live stream of their performance at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival. Their concert begins at 5 pm local time, 12:00 pm eastern US time. Follow [...]