those of us not lucky enough to be brought in the piping hinterland of dublin and other major piping regions do you think we are at a disadvantage? are you envious of those being born into a musical dynasty like the keenans or the dunnes , the brownes, the rowsomes etc
is it possible that we can turn this situation into an advantage as no one expects anything of us and we are not expected to play in any particular style - perhaps it gives us the freedom to try and work it out for ourselves and endeavour to develop a unique musical personality where we assimilate what we want and can do what we like with what we hear and asborb
I’ve been teaching horse riding to adults and often think about how grateful I am to my parents for giving me the opportunity to take riding lessons and have my own horse as a kid.
The biggest disadvantage the adults seem to have, from my point of view, is that they are very easily frustrated and disheartened. They are more perceptive of the gap between where they are and where they would like to be. I think it’s similar for people learning a musical instrument. If you start learning as a kid, you just play, or ride, and do what your instructor tells you to do. You don’t think, “I really suck at this and I’ll never be as good as these guys who learned as kids.” You probably have more time to practice as well, as you won’t have kids, a job, etc.
Yes, it helps to have started it has a kid, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be hopeless starting as an adult. I don’t know that we who have started playing as adults have more “freedom” in terms of developing a style. Regardless of whether they are from Colorado or Dublin, people can (and do) play however they want or pick up on what aspects of other people’s playing makes them happy and incorporate it into their own playing.
Hi John
I got my first practice set when I was 18 years old. I am from Dublin and in the next parish lived Tommy Reck, Tommy Potts and Vincent Broderick. The parish after that lived the Keenans and the Fureys.
Unfortunately, as an eighteen year-old, I wasn’t able to tap into these resources. I either didn’t know of them or else was too shy/respectful off or too afraid to approach these people. I don’t know how much help they would have given a beginner piper either. Most people in cities seem to live pretty busy lives.
Luckily though I met a dancer named Paddy King (who was originally from Cooraclare in County Clare) who brought me to sessions and who took me out of Dublin. He introduced me to other musicians my age and then left me at it.
Being surrounded by brilliant musicians as a teenager doesn’t necessarily mean that you can ask for guidance. I think adults are much more able to seek out and ask for instruction.
Cheers
John
Q: Do I wish I was Irish (never mind from a great musical tradition family)?
A: I love Ireland and the Irish, but alas I will have to be content with my single ancestor that emigrated from Donegal. Nothing can change the circumstances of my birth.
Q: Do I wish I lived in Ireland?
A: Sometimes; it would sure be nice to be within driving/bus/train distance of Henrietta Street, The Cobblestone, Willie Week, my pipe maker, etc.
Q: Do I wish I had started on the pipes 35 years earlier?
A: Absolutely! I thought that I couldn’t afford a set back then. 
Q: Will I ever be as good as the great players living or dead?
A: No.
Q: Can I have as much fun as I want, learning and playing anyway?
A: Yes; I play only for my own pleasure and enjoyment, which is great even at the current meager stage of my piping skill. Learning new tunes from recordings or sheet music may not be as authentic as learning them in person from good players, but it still beats not learning/playing at all.
There are advantages, like access and early absorption, in being from a musical family. There can be great pressures attached to it as well.
Learning (this) music in isolation will only take you that far I think. I have found the company of musicians who ‘had it’ essential part of my own musical thinking.
Environment does add another layer of experience that I wouldn’t want to go without but YMMV. A short while ago I was talking to someone who grew up here and makes his living from a music related craft, he said ‘anyone who want to move here is insane’. I couldn’t really disagree with that either.
Jackie Daly always says this music thing is ‘dark and lonesome work’ and even if he’s half joking, he too has a good point. It’s probably like the weather here, can’t beat it on a good day but you still have to try cope with the rest of the time.
All we can do really is gather up our own experiences, do our best and make the most of what we have.
I like Peter’s overall sentiment, especially the last sentence. Daly’s “dark and lonesome” words are certainly not a unique observation. I’ve heard that overall estimation for years. Some may leave out the “dark” bit or add in other adjectives, but (ugh, I hate this cliché, but I’m going to use it…here goes), ‘it is what it is.’
I’ve been a musician my entire life. I believe I started at 6 years of age, but perhaps younger. My sole source of income has been music related. I know musicians at (what one might consider) the highest levels, people who aren’t so famous, and those working in the fray of music, and all do it for the intense love and passion they feel for music. Many times, romantic and otherwise their relationships are fettered with misunderstandings based on this path. There are times, many of them, that are lonesome. I don’t feel that to be bad, either! Our birth, our death, our practice is solely are own. In a way, it’s “lonesome.” Dark? Perhaps, sometimes, but it is what it is (yeah, there it ‘is’ again).
Would your experience have been different if you lived in Dublin? Perhaps, and in ways you may not’ve considered. You might’ve become the biggest Hurling fan, and never picked up an instrument? Who knows?
As Peter said, “All we can do really is gather up our own experiences, do our best and make the most of what we have.”