I live in Switzerland close to Zurich in the countryside. I started playing bagpipes in 2015 because I needed something to learn after my PhD in geology. As a kid I played the piano for one ore two years but the bagpipes are my first real instrument. It was planned to start together with my husband. It was he who wanted to learn to play the bagpipes.
So, I booked a trial lesson for both of us with a teacher near us. My husband didn't come with me. Now I play the bagpipes, he doesn't. I went to the teacher only sporadically may 3 times during the first year and to get my set of pipes - a set of Duncan MacRae Bagpipes by Stuart Liddell SL4. The rest of the time I practiced by myself with the tutor book.
In 2016, after the birth of my first daughter, I joined a band in our area. That was very important for me to keep going at that time. I think without the band I would have stopped. I only played in the band during that time and attended a workshop from time to time. But I noticed that the band limited me a lot because we always played the same classic tunes. Ideas for new tunes were not taken up by our pipe major and he was not amused at all when we played other tunes than the band tunes. When I like a tune, I hear on spotify or youtube I just need to play it - or try it out at least. Nothing easier than to get in to a tune which is already in your ear.
In 2020 I became pregnant with our 3rd child and left the band because it would be too much for me now with 3 small children and band rehearsals with an hour's travel time.
At the same time, I registered as a free member at the Dojo U and did individual online courses from time to time. Even as a free member, I've made a lot of progress with the help of the Dojo U. Now, I have a premium membership for at least 3 months, and I am already enthusiastic after the first week.
For me as a mother of three who is not very flexible in terms of time and sometimes only finds short time windows, the type of the Dojo U online courses is perfect.

...Remember what they say

There's no shortcut to a dream

It's all blood and sweat

And life is what you manage in between...

Broken Bells, October