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Videos & Online Learning

A short list of online platforms and YouTube creators that have established themselves with active learners. We describe what each one is. We do not rank them. The matching is yours to do.

Information compiled from each platform's own materials as of May 2026. Pricing, lesson catalogs, and instructor rosters change. Confirm directly with the platform before you commit.

How These Made the Page

Our Inclusion Criteria

We did not invent a ranking. The listings here are programs and creators that pass four practical gates: the URL is currently active and content has been refreshed within roughly the last twelve months; the lead instructor or owner is publicly identified by name (no anonymous "team of experts" platforms); the instructional approach is publicly browsable before you pay -- sample lessons, blog posts, podcast episodes, or free YouTube content; and there is a free entry point, whether that is a free trial, intro lessons, an email course, or simply a free YouTube channel. Anything on this page meets all four. This is not an exhaustive list, and we welcome reader suggestions.

Structured Online Programs

Paid Platforms with Curricula

Four programs that combine pre-recorded course libraries with some mix of live classes, community, or paid one-on-one. All four offer free intro material so you can try before you commit. Cards below; side-by-side comparison table further down.

Highland Bagpipe Academy

Lead instructor: Peter Purvis · touring piper for Gaelic Storm

Format: Self-paced video library; no live classes inside the membership
Free Entry: Free preview lessons + public blog
Designed For: "Beginner and novice pipers"
Tiers: Monthly, annual, and lifetime memberships

A self-paced course library with hundreds of instructional videos, over thirty tunes, and an interactive sheet-music player that lets you slow tempo and isolate sections. Single-instructor platform led by Peter Purvis. The Gaelic Storm association gives the brand a Celtic-rock and crossover angle most other programs do not have.

Watch for Single-instructor model means everything is filtered through one perspective. Public credentials lean on solo competition history and the Gaelic Storm association rather than judging or pipe-band-instruction credentials.

↗ Visit highlandbagpipe.com

Dojo University

Founded by Andrew Douglas & Carl Donley · faculty includes current Inveraray & District (Grade 1) members

Format: Pre-recorded library + live group classes + community forum + drumming track
Free Entry: Free trial, free book download (Finding Bagpipe Freedom), free podcast
Designed For: "World champions to complete beginners"
Tiers: Basic monthly, Premium monthly, separate Drumming track

The longest-running online piping school here (founded 2008, rebranded as Dojo University in 2019). Faculty is the largest on this page and includes pipers currently competing at the top of Grade 1. Heavy emphasis on a unifying methodology ("Bagpipe Freedom") plus in-person workshops and a drumming program.

Watch for The methodology branding is unmissable; readers who dislike ecosystems built around a single framework may find it tonally heavy. A separate Piper's Dojo retail arm exists alongside the school -- the URLs are distinct, but the cross-traffic is real.

↗ Visit pipersdojo.university

BagpipeLessons.com

Founded by Jori Chisholm · 4-time U.S. Gold Medal winner, top-three Argyllshire Gathering Gold Medal

Format: Weekly live group classes ("Inner Circle") + on-demand library + optional 1-on-1 lessons (separately priced)
Free Entry: Free intro class ("Mastering Steady Blowing"), free email class, free YouTube content
Designed For: All levels; testimonials emphasize adult learners and remote students
Tiers: Inner Circle membership, Membership for Bands, plus per-lesson 1-on-1

Founded by Jori Chisholm in 1999, organized around the weekly live "Inner Circle" group class plus a deep on-demand library. Live classes regularly feature guest pipers (described as "World Champions, Pipe Majors, composers, and judges"). Also runs the World Online Piping & Drumming Championships.

Watch for Chisholm sells the Tone Protector and other piping products through a shop on the same domain, so school and gear seller are intertwined. The "lessons" branding can mislead readers who expect 1-on-1 by default; that tier is separately priced.

↗ Visit bagpipelessons.com

Get Bagpipe Ready

Lead instructor: Alec Chisholm · no relation to Jori Chisholm

Format: Monthly tune-workshop library + standalone courses + optional 1-on-1 coaching and async video review
Free Entry: First three lessons of several tune workshops free; sampler library
Designed For: "Teach yourself the bagpipes online"; tune-driven, beginner and intermediate
Tiers: Monthly membership, one-off course purchases, per-session coaching

A tune-first program: a new tune workshop is added each month, the catalog is heavy on non-traditional, Christmas, and Irish material, and the pedagogy is explicitly anti-drill. Marketed at self-teachers who want repertoire variety and who chafe at exercise-heavy methods.

Watch for Public credentials for Alec Chisholm are thinner than peers on this page -- no prominent solo competition record or named pipe-band affiliation surfaces in the marketing copy. The anti-drill posture is a real trade-off if you later want to compete or join a Grade band that expects standard technique work.

↗ Visit getbagpipeready.com

Side-by-Side

Quick Comparison

Same four programs, scannable. Use the table to triage; use the cards above for the full picture. Scroll right on a narrow screen if columns get cut off.

Platform	Format	Free Entry	Designed For (their words)	Watch For
Highland Bagpipe Academy Peter Purvis	Self-paced video library only	Free preview lessons + blog	"Beginner and novice pipers"	Single-instructor; performer-credentialed more than judge-credentialed
Dojo University Andrew Douglas	Library + live group classes + community + drumming	Free trial + free book + free podcast	"World champions to complete beginners"	Methodology-led ecosystem; separate retail arm on related domain
BagpipeLessons.com Jori Chisholm	Weekly live group classes + library; 1-on-1 separately	Free intro class + free email class	All levels; many adult-learner testimonials	Gear shop on same domain blurs school and seller
Get Bagpipe Ready Alec Chisholm	Tune-workshop library + optional 1-on-1 coaching	First three lessons of several workshops free	"Teach yourself"; tune-first, beginner and intermediate	Thin public competition credentials; explicitly anti-drill pedagogy

We left prices off this table on purpose. Tier pricing changes often, and a snapshot here would rot fast. Each platform's pricing is one click away on its own site.

YouTube Creators Worth Following

Free Channels, Honest About Sponsorships

YouTube tutorials are different from a structured program. They are free, they are a la carte, and they require the viewer to sequence their own learning. They are excellent supplements to a real teacher or to one of the programs above. They are not a substitute. We start with one creator and will add others.

Matt Willis Bagpiper

Matt Willis · Dallas / Fort Worth, TX · ~30K subscribers, ~3.7M views

Format: Free YouTube channel; paid 1-on-1 lessons live separately at mattpiper.com; Patreon for bonus content
Free Entry: Entire YouTube channel
Designed For: Self-directed learners; channel spans "BASICS" through intermediate and advanced technique
Notable: Composer of Tunes, Chords & Harmony Vol. 1 & 2; production quality is high; gear reviews are unusually thorough

The largest free-content volume on this page. Series include "Command Your Bagpipe," "BASICS," and "Intermediate & Advanced Bagpipe Technique." Strong appeal to learners who want to dip in and out by topic rather than progress through a fixed curriculum.

Disclosure to read for Matt Willis is a sponsored R.G. Hardie & Co. piper since 2017. Reviews of Hardie products on the channel are endorsement content. Useful for learning what those instruments are like; not the place to look for an independent comparison against a Hardie competitor.

↗ YouTube channel Paid lessons

What's Not Here Yet (and What We Don't Claim)

Honest Limits

Five entries is a starting point, not the whole map. Below: what we deliberately left off, what we'd love help adding, and the things we are not pretending this page does.

This is not a ranking

We did not put these in best-to-worst order. We did not pick a winner. The cards and the table give you facts; the matching is yours.

This is not a complete list

There are smaller online programs, regional teachers running their own video lessons, and band-specific online instruction that we have not yet verified. If you know one we should look at, send it our way using the form below.

YouTube creators we plan to add

The College of Piping's YouTube content and several other established YouTubers are on our list to verify and add. The page starts with one creator on purpose -- we would rather verify before we list.

The framework belongs in its own piece

"How to think about choosing online lessons" is a separate article we are working on (in the "What About Real Lessons?" section of New to Bagpipes?). This page is the directory; that piece will be the framework.

We have no financial relationship

Nobody on this page is paying us. We do not run affiliate links or referral codes. If that ever changes, we will say so on the page in plain English before we change anything else.

Last verified

This page reflects research as of May 2026. Pricing tiers and instructor rosters change. Confirm directly with the platform before you commit. We plan to re-verify this page annually and after any reader-reported change.

Tell Us What You Know

Tried One? Found One We Missed?

We weight reader experience above marketing copy. If you have spent real time with one of the platforms above and have a candid take, we want to hear it. If you know a program or YouTube creator that belongs on this page, send it our way -- we vet before adding.