What would be a good way to set up a block of practice time? (I usually can get 1/2 hour only) I’ve been following the Clarke tutor, maybe that’s all I need.
Clark is a good tutor. Many people comment that there’s a there’s a sudden leap in required skill levels once you get about 2/3 of the way through. However for the first couple of months you’ll be fine.
30 minutes a day, 4 or 5 times a week is a good schedule. It beats doing a blitz of 2 hours once a week.
I play off and on all day most days, alternating between guitar, whistle and pipes, online tutors(Eskin) and at least 30 minutes on difficult passages and ornaments. I have kind of turned it into a habit, they are always spread out next to me. I love to practice over coffee in the mornings and whiskeys at night 
I have made it into much fun.
hello, hydrocortisone… 
just kidding. I used to do this, too.
Absolutely, the best practice regimen is a regular, daily, short one where you focus on one or two key concepts, (like a triplet or something) or definite musical goals( a tune, for instance)…
As opposed to rehearsal sessions when you prep your sets for public consupmtion…
As opposed to ‘reeding’ sessions when your instrument feels like giving you a hard time…
.
I couldn’t agree more with ChasR about having a tune or ornamentation be a good musical goal. An obtainable focal point is great with music, because once you feel confident with a tune it’s "under yer belt (or kilt in my case) you can get excited about the next tune…
I practice all my various instruments every single day, for a minimum of half an hour, but I must confess the minimum usually becomes an hour simply because I am having a good time! Most certainly on my Highland pipes (since my UPs are on order)
I would also recommend never rushing anything during practice. All too often I am guilty of jumping into another tune, when I haven’t quite polished up the one I was working on when I started to practice.
My only other piece of advice is whenever you find yourself struggling to learn a particular ornament or flourish, is to find a tune that has a lot of the specific ornament in it, and focus on cleaning them up.
Not only will you learn to take command of the new fingering, but you’ll have another fun tune to add to your repertoire!
Matt
I liked the advice here. I also just got an NPU video and I like the way they break down various parts for practice, so I will use that too.
happy piping then briguy