You’re scaring me…
That’s my hands after playing for a while.
What’s that outfit you’re wearing? That’s scaring me…
Oh, I thought you were about to tickle someone!
Please, Cynth. Try to stay on topic. 
She is on topic! We are talking about the scary picture!
Seriously, though, any recommendations for “death grip”? It’s getting better, but it seems to me I’m at the stage where I have to really pay attention to relax. And sometimes it actually works, too.
Death Grip is scary. Baron von Raschke (the gentleman in the photo) looks like a rather charming fellow, if a bit eccentric.
Aww, so serious! 
I recommend you get a light reed. That helps a lot. Whenever I am having reed problems, that’s when my death grip gets worse.
I also try practicing while keeping my thumbs off the chanter, since that’s where I get the most pain.
J.
He’s (baron, the CLAW) actually a really nice fella. I met him many, many years ago at an Italian fast food joint (Sbarros, at Towne Square in downtown St. Paul MN) where I worked as a chef. He and his family came in fairly often for lunch on the weekends. Nice family.
You get rid of the death grip by forcing yourself to not hold the chanter tightly. It takes a concerted effort at first, but eventually as you become more accustomed to piping, you can focus less and less on the death grip.
I thought I was being “dry”.
Thanks. I can see how that would do it. My reed’s playing medium-to-light right now, I think. I’m seeing my grip woes are more along the lines of, “Oh, crap. Here comes that triplet again”…
Double thanks! I hadn’t thought of that. Someone also mentioned to me the idea of controlling the chanter with the left hand, which paradoxically tends to relax both. Anyone heard of this? Any credence to it?
Same old advice - try playing without the thumb on the bottom hand touching the chanter. That usually helps for the bottom hand. For the top hand, try playing back d with just the corner tip of the thumb instead of the flat of the thumb. Its not as effective for death grip, but you have to cover the back d hole. Its uncomfortable enough that it will discourage you from squeezing too hard.
djm
Okay, I can see the one hand, your right I think, that is being held out in front of you. But what is it that you do while playing the pipes that would result in your left hand gripping your forearm that way?
Seriously. Here is an article that ausdag gave that I found very helpful for learning to relax:
http://galaris.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
The idea is that you do have to really pay attention to relax.
This was a discussion about death grip that I bookmarked, it had some good ideas I thought:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=32408
I think it is good to take breaks. These are some hand care exercises for flute players, but I use them when I practice the whistle:
http://www.mindspring.com/~shin-on/handcare.html
Since I have never played the pipes, I think you can feel confident that my information is quite unbiased.
That’s just to give my left hand something to do après-pipes while it’s deciding when it wants to relax.
Did you ever straighten out that LH middle finger of yours? I remember a picture you posted a couple years ago. The first joint in the middle finger was reversed so you could cover the hole with the fingertip. I remember thinking to myself that would take some tension.
Yup, did so.
What about playing it slower? If you get a death grip trying to play something, play it slowly enough so there is no tension, because there is no struggle trying to switch notes.
You are what you practice. If you practice with a death grip, it isnt going away. You need to practice -without- one. Figure out how to eliminate it. Try long tones, play just an A, focus on relaxing your A fingering, no matter how long it takes, until your fingers feel like they are light and buzzing full of blood. Thats the feeling you need to cultivate. Do the same with every note. Build an awareness of your body.
If you want to play a tune, play it with a metronome, slow it way down, 8th usual speed. Play it so slow its unrecognizable. And play it right. With all the time in the world to change notes, you wont have to tense up or make any mistakes!
It will take a long time to get to where you can play tunes like that, but thats what it takes! If you want it, do it right, and dont screw around building bad habits and trying too hard. The goal is to make these intricate “difficult” physical movements instinctive and automatic. Trying to do something and just doing it are two very different things. You have to train the body to do the correct things, when you want them, how you want them, and they have to happen without hardly any thought. Fighting for each note or TRI-PE-LET isnt going to get you anywhere. Slow down. Take it in stride. Its a lifetime of work, and the secret is doing it slowly, with a metronome.
I hope.
But seriously, I found that I have to make a conscious effort to relax (seems contradictory, I know, but it works). I’ve read one bit of advice in another post that you want to be able to feel the chanter vibrating in your hands, and that seems to be the ticket (for me, anyway). When I can achieve that, I am much more relaxed.