1) Find a teacher. Local pipe bands often provide free instruction. The Bob Dunsire forums can help with finding your local bands and teachers.

2) Don't buy Pakistani stuff unless you want to spend a lot of time and money fixing it up - and be aware that it may not be possible to fix up.

3) Don't buy pipes. Talk to your instructor and buy a good practice chanter. The long ones are nice, although not strictly necessary. I would recommend buying a Delrin PC because they're less likely to break. Dunbar, John Walsh, Scott Morton and Gibson all make excellent PCs.

4) Practice. Practice. Practice. Get the scale down, then the G-grace scale. Get the grip and the D-throw solid. Five hundred repetitions is not a bad idea.

5) Practice in front of a mirror - it lets you see what your fingers are doing.

6) Listen to good piping whenever possible.

7) If you're not VERY GOOD at internalizing a beat, get a metronome. Start from the beginning getting the gracings in the right places.

8) Get a metronome even if you are VERY GOOD at internalizing a beat - you're not as good as you think you are, and the unforgiving little blinky light will show you this.