Practice Chanter Newbee

[tundramanq]

I got my Dunbar Regular length Poly Practice Chanter, regular Walsh reeds and Highland Bagpipe Tutor book ( the Blue Book) in the mail yesterday.
At this time I don't think I will be going to GHBPs. This was bought for personal intertainment and to learn something new.
Previous reeded experience was on the saxophone about 50 years ago. Only the notes on the pages are similar
Differences and observations:
1. As Bren noted in his string, the pressure is much higher than what the sax needed. This is great for clearing out your lungs - better than the spirometers the hospitals sell you or Talisker. I brought up a lot of pipe smokers lung crud after yesterdays practice.
2. I will be toning up muscles not normally used - my abs and rib muscles were a bit sore this morning.
3. This PC is a lot easier to blow today. It's either cleaner lungs or the plastic Walsh reed actually has a break in period - or both. I doubt that my muscles got significantly stronger over night.
4. All harmonic damping on the PC has to be done manually. The sax seemed to do it automaticly via all the linkages.
5. I can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time but doing a clean scale is weeks away Especially the D to E and back - 5 fingers moving on both hands together? OMG
6. It is a real blessing that the PC plays softly. My dog doesn't leave the room and my neighbors don't know of my new hobby - yet.
7.You can't snicker at yourself and maintain proper reed pressure at the same time.

[EagleJCS]

Suggestions to address item #5 - rest the sole/bottom of the practice chanter on a table (or your knee, if the PC's long enough). Allow the full weight of the PC to be balanced on this point and your lips. This frees the fingers to be able to move without supporting the PC. You want a very light touch - just enough to cover the holes. If you get little rings on your fingers, you're gripping too tightly. You want to feel the PC vibrating when you play.

Another key is to keep your fingers as straight as possible. Don't use your fingertips to cover the holes. Only the tips of your left thumb, left ring finger and right pinkie finger should be covering holes. The other fingers are actually cover closer to the end joints. (We've had a guy who used to play sax in the US Army band join the pipe band - this was his bug-a-boo.)

A third point to make is to get your right hand thumb opposite your right middle finger or lower (the edge of your thumb will be in contact with the PC instead of the flat). This will make embellishments such as grips or tourluaths much easier. It takes some getting used to and your hand will likely be sore until it gets accustomed to the position.

Have fun!

[pbutts]

Some great tips, Eagle.

The usual tip to get a tutor goes without saying, but since you mention that you are only in it for "personal intertainment".....here's one reason I find a real person invaluable: with so much going on -- fingering, air pressure, posture, rhythm, etc, etc. -- it really helps to have someone suggest what to focus on and to praise your progress on individual elements even when the overall effect can be discouraging.

Also if you plan to hold off on switching to the pipes, you'll want someone to help you select new tunes when you've mastered the tunes in the tutor itself.

As for fingering itself, there are lots of flexibility exercises you can do while you are sitting around doing other things in your life.

Watch for tension in your body....it has a way of radiating to your fingers making relaxed, but precise movements challenging.

Pay attention to where your fingers cover the holes. Eagle's tips are spot on. Start with the thumb and pinkies (as Eagle points out) and then see where the other fingers end up naturally. Everyone's fingers are a little different, so this is one you need to work out on your own then be conscious of what it feels like when the notes are clean. I find that I can "feel" a good performance by the airflow on my fingers.

Something I've never actually tried, but you might be aware of from your sax work, and that might help you enjoy playing tunes on the Practice Chanter is circular breathing. Since pipe tunes are designed to be played without stopping, using the continuous airflow of the bag and the background of the drones, breathing can be a challenge.

And finally, you can use your computer, smart phone, or tablet to record your playing. This can be really discouraging at first, but you'll appreciate your progress.

[tundramanq]

Hey John, thanks for the finger tips in the low A and E holes. The rest of my hands come down then naturally placed on the holes with a minimum of wrist flex. I actually made it up and down the scale on one breath -- almost cleanly
The book shows this in the picture but they didn't "point it out" in writing and I missed this "little" detail.

On pressure, I need to get my hand skin in better shape for the light touch. They are kind of rough and dry from getting the outside ready for winter. Thankfully the Delron this PC is made from, is impervious to Shea nut butter.

I do have a local pipe guru, Suzanne Lumb Kemp (Aden) with the "Mac-Tire of Skye Pipes and Drums" who has offered to help if I need it. You saved me a trip across town.

[Blupiper]

Tundramanq:

All these suggestions are spot on. My main and overriding suggestion is: Keep your hands relaxed at all times. That was my main problem in the beginning. "Chanter death grip" will make your playing more difficult, tire you out quicker and stiffen up your fingers. None of these are good things. Relax your hands to the point where you can almost, but not quite, take your thumbs from the back of the chanter. As with all things, it will take time.

JMB

[tundramanq]

JMB, I have golfers elbow (tendonitis) going on in my left elbow. Any attempt to death grip, at least the left hand, gives me feedback PDQ. It does take a conscious effort to stay loose while thinking of fingerage.
I am thinking it would be nice if chanters had the holes offset for right and left hands so the wrists are in a more natural, less bent angle. I don't know if this would cause playing issues or not in the future. I see a lot of highly bent wrists and bent fingers watching pipers playing. I suspect one leads to the other in trying to ease the wrist angles. I can see this is less severe with a bag under the left arm "propping" it up. It would bring the straight fingers more onto the same plane with the chanter rotated slightly to the right.

[Calgacus]

Hi Chuck,

You say you're not going to go to GHBPs, but what about Scottish Smallpipes?

Here's my set, made by E.J. Jones in Texas.



...and here's how they can sound when played by someone who knows what they are doing (not me! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui5h_ip_Un8

If you can watch to the end without your toes tapping, you win a prize.

[tundramanq]

Great! Went hunting for a solo to separate out the sounds.

I found Mike Morrison after. He's getting into it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbD0zpcimgM

[Calgacus]

Fred is playing Border pipes there, not Smallpipes. I believe Fred plays pipes made by Hamish Moore, widely recognised as the master maker of Small pipes and Border pipes. E.J. Jones apparently copied the internal dimensions of a Moore set, so they are arguably almost as good.

Sadly, Hamish and Finn have closed their order books for now, apparently to catch up on demand. Hamish is making a very few custom sets currently, but as he's making about two sets a year and is not keeping a waiting list, you'd be exceptionally luck to buy them. Finn, his son, makes the regular sets.

Border pipes have a conical chanter bore and play in the same key as GHBPs, though they are a bit quieter and are apparently quite hard to play, as it takes some skill to keep good tone.

Smallpipes have a straight chanter bore and play an octave lower, the same as a practise chanter. They are relatively quiet, and make good session instruments.

[tundramanq]

Yesterday morning I started practicing only during TV commercials - pick it up, get into position, play up and down the scale cleanly and lay it down. Lord knows how many commercial there are, but it cured my biggest issue of getting pipe and fingers lined up such that it is automatic. Well after I had the fingering mostly down, my first notes were still frog croaks. Now that seems to have gone away.

I have always been better learning by ear than by sheet so next up will be connecting sheet notes to the fingers. Although the temptation to try some songs I know is strong.