Getting better at piping isn’t about chasing every new piece of gear — it’s about understanding how your instruments, your ears, and your environment all work together.

This week on Dojo U’s Friday Strike-In, Andrew and Carl tackle student questions on cane drone reeds, ear training, synthetic chanter reeds, competition judging, and more practical piping topics. 

Here's what we cover this week:

Rhythm isn’t just about keeping time. It’s about understanding how music moves – and learning to control that movement note by note, beat by beat.

Welcome back to part 2 of our episodes about piping's most fundamental skill: rhythm. Andrew and Jim continue exploring the foundations of rhythmic understanding for bagpipers. They dig into how rhythm actually works in practice: how beats organize music, how tempo shapes space between notes, and why so many piping technique problems are really timing problems in disguise.

If you’re serious about improving your timing, we'll give you a better understanding of how rhythm underpins everything from basic marches to the most complex piping repertoire.

Want to learn how to master rhythm yourself? Check out our Rhythm for Bagpipers course: https://www.pipersdojo.university/rhythm-for-bagpipers

And you can check out the Victor Wooten video we mention in this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1fhVLVF_4

Here’s what we cover in this episode:

Getting your setup right isn’t about endlessly changing gear – it’s about understanding what actually affects your sound and comfort.

This week on Dojo U's Friday Strike-In, Andrew and Carl answer students' burning piping questions, covering everything from bag choice and posture to competition judging and drone reed lifespan.

Here’s what we cover this week:

What is grade 5 actually for?

This week, Andrew and Jim answer a seemingly innocuous listener question about whether grade 5 bands should use hard reeds or easy reeds. As they discuss the pros and cons of blowing stability and reed strength, they launch into a deeper discussion of growth, retention, culture, and why so many struggling bands are trying to force competitive intensity at exactly the wrong stage. 

If you’re running a Grade 5 band, building a beginner program, or wondering why progression feels like wading through molasses, the future of your organisation won't be built by squeezing more out of a small group. It’s built by creating a space where a lot of beginners want to show up and keep coming back.

Here’s what we cover this week:
00:00 – “Primordial Soup”
02:23 – The Listener Question: Hard Reeds vs. Easy Reeds
03:50 – The Core Question: How Does a Grade 5 Band Become Grade 4?
06:00 – Losing Star Players
08:00 – Why Individual Development Is the Only Path Forward
10:30 – Fun as the Primary Objective
12:30 – Relaxing Standards at the Beginner Level
14:30 – The T-Ball Analogy: Exploration Before Competition
19:30 – When Intensity Actually Becomes Appropriate
23:50 – Quantity Over Quality at the Entry Level
24:30 – Geographic Patterns: Why Some Regions Produce Top Bands
29:30 – The Cop-Out of Forcing Hard Reeds
31:00 – Scarcity Mindset vs. Building Abundance
33:30 – How School Programs Change the Numbers
35:30 – The BHAG Question: What If You Had 100 Beginners?
39:00 – Targeted Coaching for the Motivated Few
40:30 – The Bake Sale Metaphor and Creating the Right Environment
43:00 – Avoiding the Grade 5 Intensity Trap

Rhythm isn’t just something you add to music. It’s the thing that makes music possible in the first place. In this episode, Andrew and Jim step back from fingerwork and technique to tackle something far more fundamental: rhythm as the organising force of all music, and even of time itself. What starts as a discussion about rhythm for pipers quickly becomes a deeper exploration of pulse, perception, subdivision, and why so many piping problems are actually time problems in disguise. This is part one of a foundational series that reframes rhythm not as a mechanical skill, but as a way of understanding how music moves, breathes, and exists. Here’s what we cover this week: 00:00 – Introduction & a Timely Segue 02:26 – What Is Rhythm for Bagpipers, Really? 03:14 – Music as the Art of Time (Not Just Sound) 04:28 – Why Sound Cannot Exist Without Time 08:52 – Piobaireachd and the Subtleties of Time 12:20 – Introducing the Rhythm Course 13:34 – Defining the Big Three: Beat, Tempo, Rhythm 15:03 – Audio Example: Active Child – “Hanging On” 16:49 – What Is a Beat? Definitions and Real-World Examples 21:52 – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (and Why It Matters) 23:35 – Subdivisions and the Infinite Scale of Rhythm 25:00 – Frequency, Pitch, and the Fifth Interval 28:19 – Bagpipe Example: Angus MacColl 31:52 – Why Playing with Audience Clapping Is So Hard 36:00 – Spotting “Time Problems” Disguised as Musical Problems 37:15 – Victor Wooten, the Metronome, and Feel vs. Precision Check out the Victor Wooten video we mention in this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X1fhVLVF_4

Improving your piping isn't about chasing quick fixes; it's about rebuilding your playing from the ground up.

This week in our Q&A session, Andrew and Carl tackle some common (and misunderstood) questions in piping, from drone reed warm-up and finger speed to pibroch traditions and playing with other instruments.

Here’s what we cover this week:

Exploring another interest isn’t automatically a distraction. It might be the thing that keeps your main passion alive. This week, Andrew and Jim take a listener question about drumming vs. piping and turn it into a wide-ranging (and very relatable) conversation about generalism vs. specialism – why we feel pressure to pick one lane in piping and drumming, whether side interests actually hold us back, and how curiosity, play, and cross-training might be the real long game. Here’s what we cover this week: 00:01 – Banter and a Hand Drum 05:45 – The Listener Question: Will Drumming Hurt My Piping? 06:41 – The Core Fear: If I Split My Focus, Do I Lose My Edge? 07:31 – Ancient Survival vs. Modern Choice: Where Specialisation Comes From 09:31 – Now We Get to Choose — So Why Does It Feel So Hard? 10:26 – Paralysis by Analysis & the Overwhelm of Too Many Options 11:56 – Infinite Choice, Infinite Potential… Infinite Stress 17:42 – When Another Instrument Feels Like a Calling 22:03 – Barrier to Entry vs. Restorative, Fun Activities 23:03 – Discipline vs. Enjoyment: The Tension We All Feel 23:49 – Maybe It’s Not Either/Or — Maybe It’s a Mix 25:00 – Could Drumming Actually Improve Your Piping? 26:25 – The “Range” Idea: Why Generalists Can Thrive in a Specialist World 27:19 – Generalism as a Modern Advantage 29:41 – Cross-Training in the Arts 35:11 – The Gym Analogy: Training Different “Muscle Groups” of Skill 35:34 – How Multiple Passions Create Unexpected Connections 36:10 – Cross-Pollination Between Skills 37:05 – The Plateau Problem with Early Specialisation 38:01 – Pressure on Kids to Pick One Thing Too Soon 40:02 – When Success Turns Into Golden Handcuffs 40:39 – Why the Cost of Trying Something New Is Usually Low 41:29 – The Myth of “World Class” as a Decision-Making Tool 42:47 – Being More Relaxed as a Path to Better Outcomes 45:37 – You Only Go Far If You Actually Enjoy It 48:29 – Notice This: Many Top Players Are Actually Generalists 50:49 – Random Skills That Pay Off Later (Typing Story) 52:37 – So… Does Generalism Triumph?

Enjoy this full recording of the Winter Storm Concert livestream, streamed live on Facebook as part of Winter Storm 2026 – The Pipes and Drums Event in Kansas City at 8pm on Saturday, January 17th, 2026, featuring World Champion Pipers and Drummers from Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, and the US, pipe bands and ensembles, piping soloists, sizzling Highland drumming, and much more.

This audio was clipped from the Winter Storm Concert livestream provided by the Piper's Dojo / Dojo University.

Events like Winter Storm are possible thanks to donations from kind supporters – help them continue to bring this world-class event to the United States (and the world via livestream!) each year by donating to the Midwest Highland Arts Fund today: https://mhaf.org/product/donations-payments/

Enjoy this full recording of the Winter Storm Concert livestream, streamed live on Facebook as part of Winter Storm 2026 – The Pipes and Drums Event in Kansas City at 8pm on Saturday, January 17th, 2026, featuring our World Champion Pipers and Drummers from Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Canada, and the U.S. – Pipe bands and ensembles, piping soloists, sizzling Highland drumming, and much more.

This video was clipped from the Winter Storm Concert livestream provided by the Piper's Dojo / Dojo University.

Events like Winter Storm are possible thanks to donations from kind supporters – help them continue to bring this world-class event to the United States (and the world via livestream!) each year by donating to the Midwest Highland Arts Fund today: https://mhaf.org/product/donations-payments/

High altitude tuning, dry climate disasters, and the great tone enhancer debate take centre stage this week as Andrew and Carl tackle another round of real-world piping problems.

From managing a stubborn high G at elevation to why soaking your reeds is a bad idea in dry environments, the conversation is packed with practical advice you can actually use. Things heat up with a passionate discussion on tone enhancers – including why Carl wants to rip them out of your drones and Andrew is (slightly) more forgiving.

We also dive into memory tricks for tricky pickup notes, the psychology of learning tunes, and whether you really need to take your burls so seriously. The episode wraps with a grounded look at competition score sheets and how to read judge feedback without spiralling.

Here’s what we cover this week: