I spent about 3 weeks fiddling with various corncob pipes and tobaccos before it finally 'clicked' with me. When I first tried piping, the guy at the store hooked me up with a bowl of GL Pease Odyssey as my first. Obviously, NOT a good choice for a new smoker (but I love it now). It really takes a good month or so to even learn how to smoke, let alone pack a pipe. It really is something you have to get good at. If you just wanna light something up and enjoy it immediately, pipe smoking isn't going to be your bag. If you're persistent though, it has many rewards.
The variety and subtlety of taste in pipe tobaccos far exceeds that of cigars - that's what I like most about it. I am a latakia FIEND now and you just can't get that taste in any other smoking format, as it's pretty much exclusively the domain of pipe tobacco. The big key in pipe smoking is to go SLOW, as others have said.
This is what worked for me when learning to smoke:
When packing, just pinch fill the bowl to the top. Don't apply any pressure - just pack it nice and loose until the tobacco is spilling out the top. Then lightly tamp it all back down to a level surface in the bowl.
1. Even when doing the charring light, 2-3 slow deep puffs and then tamp.
2. False light, same thing - 2-3 slow deep puffs, tamp again.
3. True light - 1-2 slow puffs. Then wait 20 seconds or so and begin smoking with a slow and shallow puffing cadence.
Everyone extols the virtues of corncobs but to be quite honest, they can be kind of unforgiving to beginners. They smoke well once you understand how to smoke, but I fragged my tongue plenty learning to smoke on them. Buy an inexpensive estate pipe with some miles on it for under $50. The pre-built cake and already broken in pipe will help a ton in your journey.