Just wondering how you guys do the taps… In the tutors I have, Na Piobari (forgive my spelling) Uilleann vol. 1, and Heather Clarke’s, it shows to have the chanter on the leg, and tap the F hole, with the one finger fingering for F sharp. It seems, if I do this, press just a little extra on accident, it flips up to the second octave when I don’t want it to, where as when I ease off the pressure just enough, I can usually get away just fine. Another piper showed me another method to do the tap while keeping the chanter on the leg, and thats to take all the lower 3 fingers off the chanter and tap with those 3 fingers.
Now… In the Ennis tutor, he says to lift the chanter off the leg for an F roll, because, you’ll flip up into the second octave as I described… Which works, but I haven’t figure out when to lift, and when to lower the chanter while excecuting this method…
With the closed roll as you described I don’t actually seal the F hole so it won’t jump, just strike it enough to disturb the note. I use the open F roll for effect, off the knee, even then I don’t think I seal the 3 holes, its just a blip.
Cilian Valleley and others I have seen play the first octave F with bottom three fingers raised. It doesn’t tend to pop into the second octave. Different chanters might sound differently doing this. I haven’t myself worked to learn this - like to play those notes off the knee for the moment. Feels too weird to have those three fingers flying off.
Well now there are two main approaches, on the leg and off.
On the leg, if you do the one-finger F#, yes it might jump if your pressure is too great. It calls for good control. Or, on some chanters you can finger F#: x/xxx/xoox and pat just the upper of the two raised fingers. On some chanters it squeals, on some the F# fingered this way is too out-of-tune. Likewise you can finger F# x/xxx/xooo and pat the uppermost of the three raised fingers. Once again this F# may be out of tune.
Off the leg there are several possiblities. I prefer the fingering x/xxx/xoox and patting both fingers to get a strong bottom D pat. Or, you can finger it x/xxx/xooo and pat just the uppermost of the three raised fingers.
Now the guys on the NPU video, though I don’t think they draw attention to it, finger the one-finger-up F# and pat with that one finger, but they RAISE THE CHANTER OFF THE LEG FOR AN INSTANT SO THAT THE PAT IS A BOTTOM D. I didn’t realise this fact until I attended a Mick O Brien workshop and noticed him doing it. For pats on low F#, low G, low A, low B, high F#, and high G he would pat the one upraised finger (for F# and A) and pat with the TWO upraised fingers for G and B, thus closing the chanter, but he would LIFT THE CHANTER for a nanosecond so that the pat came out a bottom D. He never discussed this, but I could clearly see it, as from my position there was an open doorway behind him and I could see the light under his chanter whenever he lifted it.
I have been having fun with an off the knee F# roll that has this fingering as follows: x xxx x0x0 0 / x xxx xxx0 0 / x xxx x0x0 0. Got that one from Tommy Keane.
See from what I could see, in the NPU video, (I guess I’ll look closer next time I watch it) it didn’t look like they raised their chanter for the pat. I don’t have a problem with the off the knee pat, I think I’m just leaving the chanter off the knee too long after the pat… But you guys have posted some other options as well for me to try, so I’ll give those a go as well. Personally, with the chanter I’m currently using, I like the tone of the off the knee 1 finger F roll, I just haven’t learned to excecute it properly.
Well the more I mess with it the more I like the 3 finger on the knee pat, for the chanter I’m using anyway. Seems to work the best for this stick. Thankyou all for your input however, I still learned other technique, and that’s not something to complain about!
About those NPU videos, the guys are not always consistent in how they play. I think that some of the people who raise the chanter for the pat don’t realise that they’re doing it, and may not do it when they’re self-conscious about what they’re playing. I’ll go back and check, but as I recall, both of the NPU teachers were lifting for the pats.
My take on the Ennis tutor’s advice to lift the chanter is that it has a lot to do with the chanter Ennis was playing. The older flat pitch/narrow bore chanters are more prone to jumping into the second octave on an F#. For that matter, the early fingering charts contemporary with Kenna, Coyne, etc. give the proper F# fingering in the first octave as three-fingers-off.
But of course a piper past the beginning stage should be prepared to use different fingerings for this roll, to suit the occasion (tune, chanter, etc.)
Didn’t know that Bill, I always enjoy learning little tidbits and history about the pipes, not only can it be helpful, but I also find it interesting. I am, a beginner, so every little thing I can learn I’ll soak it up.
You can leave the chanter on the knee, use tight fingering, and lower the middle finger to give silence for the “pat.” Patsy Touhey and other older pipers did this sometimes.
So that introduces a short bottom D into the roll, right? I think that is also referred to as the “spank”. Gotta love that. It would be a good thread: names for the piping ornaments/maneuvers/techniques.
