well im getting my sky practice set in a few days and would love to tract down an instructor. i have looked and cant seem to find one. any info would help.
What is ne pa?
North East Pensylvania?
Je ne sais pa(s) 
sorry about that. i forget sometimes that this is a multi country board. yes it is for north east Pennsylvania. or the poconos to be more direct.
Let me say first that I’m no instructor. Yet, I may be able to help you get started, or may be able to help if you reach a wall. I’ve been working with the pipes a little over 3 years. Current residence is Easton, PA.
The nearest pipers in know are in Phila and NYC, a long drive from Easton. So far, I’ve been able to get by with the NPU videos, the week of classes at Catskills Irish Arts Week in mid-July in East Durham, NY, the East Coast Pipers Tionol in October also in East Durham, and the occasional workshop that pops up in northern NJ at the IAANJ or at the Irish Center in Phila.
If you want regular lessons but don’t want to drive to the city, you can try lessons with streaming video over the web. I know that Pat D’Arcy and Bill Ochs can give lessons this way. I believe both use Skype. I’ve not done the video thing, but I’ve attended workshops they’ve instructed. Both are excellent teachers.
Send me a PM if you want to find a place to meet.
Get thee to a Tionol. Great events for locating pipers and getting started.
There is a weekend workshop next weekend (Jan 8-10) in Shepherdstown WV, which is a just over a 3 hour drive from Jim Thorpe. Jerry O’Sullivan is teaching uilleann pipes again this year. I’ve attended this weekend the past three years, and Jerry’s workshops are excellent. He is a very patient teacher. There are also slots for private lessons, and you could see if any are available. Unfortunately I cannot attend this year, but I found it to be a very worthwhile weekend. See http://www.squeezethebag.info for more information.
I would strongly recommend you get some “in person” time to get you started. But the Skype lessons work well too if you have a fast broadband connection. I took lessons using Skype with Pat D’Arcy, and they were very helpful. I’ve had lessons with Bill Ochs at a couple of workshops and he is now giving Skype lessons too. So both of them are good options.
it’s just mind boggling…loads of great options these days!