I’ve been playing the pipes for two years now and still,
after all this time I’m still having the same problem -
When I need to play a C and a high D afterwards (and back)
my index and especially my thumb fingers simply freeze.
Does anyone has any tip that would help
me get rid of this phenomenon? 
MANY thanks in advance.
I haven’t had the same problem myself, but I’d say that practicing the G major scale, from root note to octave and down again should help with that, as it contains both C-nat to D and back again. And I mean only practice that for a while. Say you practice for about an hour daily, then give at least fifteen minutes to just that. And if it won’t budge then, just practice going from B to C to D and back (just to be sure). Since you’ve joined the club of the pipers, it’s all about practice, practice, practice. I myself have had about a year of practice, and it’s still hell to make your fingers go where you wany them to. No matter what you’ve played before. And I’ve played quite a few instruments prior to the pipes, and they’re still by far the hardest things I’ve come across thus far.
One arm ye write “after all this time” as tho 2 years was a long time?Well in piping parlance it aint.Maybe part o the problem is you have now developed a fixation on the C and middle D…good job ye are not playing the high D (3rd 8ve).So as the previous caller said practice it as often as possible but withoot thinking aboot it..take yoor mind somewhere else whilst playing that note for eg read An Piobaire whilst doing it.I’m not kidding,make it so that it is 2nd nature and not something to be thought aboot.If ye havnae got An Piobaire then join the Feckin Club it needs yoor support.
…
Uilliam
Uilliam…Uilliam…
are you goin soft on us?
I think this is a variant of the ‘death grip’.
Scales and arppeggios, open and closed, are needed as Uilliam suggests.
This should be done in the open and closed style, up and down the scale in both octaves. It is important to pause on each note (leggato) or stopped position (closed) for a goodly period to ensure all fingers exert the same pressure whilst holding the chanter, before moving on to the next note. Try to ‘feel’ either case - relaxed, or gripped feel, and make sure all is relaxed. Preactice slowly, and slowly increase the tempo as proficiency is gained.
I am sure you are trying to grip the chanter with your top hand with thumb and fore finger, whilst playing other notes, particularly B, or say G.
Pwrt
Thank you all for the tips. I suppose it’s all a matter of more practice and paying
attention. I thought there was another way to handle this, but I guess it’s
the only way. I just wish I had a narrow bore for practicing…
It sounds like death grip to me. Loosen up. Keep whatever tension you need to work the bag and bellows confined to your shoulder and keep your forearms relaxed.
The Cnat is a tricky note to get right. No fingering chart fully explains what most pipers do to articulate it. You might save yourself a lot of pain and frustration if you could obtain some face to face instruction.
Sorry to say, but if you’re looking to cut corners with practicing, you’re in the wrong field. Skimping out on practice and still expecting results and progress doesn’t work on any instrument (oh, if you must, insert a bodhran/box/banjo joke here stating the contrary), but the pipes require more practice in details like these than most instruments. It’s simply best to acknowledge the fact that learning the pipes is a huge investment of time and effort, and if one isn’t prepared to do that… well, might as well sell the pipes off and buy something pretty for the wife instead.
Jäger - I am aware of the fact that pipes require a lot of practice
and I do practice a lot. The thing is - sometimes you get stuck
with a certain problem that could be solved just by changing
the position of your fingers, or maybe moving your hand
in a certain angle. Just a few days ago, during a piper’s session,
one of the pipers said I’m holding the chanter too far from
my body. A minute after I fixed that I was able to play
faster and was less rigid. That had nothing to do with practicing.
So, I do not agree with you that everything revolves around
practice - sometimes a simple tip from an experienced pipers
could do the trick.
I didn’t say that it all revolved around practice, just that you could not cut a corner and expect a problem or difficulty to go away.
Someone gave me a tip I found useful in the early years: as you practice (scales or whatever), focus on relaxing your top hand wrist. It’s hard to tense your fingers if your wrist is relaxed. Also, it helps to practice playing slowly.
It does get better with time, if you work at it. I had a bad case of death grip well into my third year – and still it sometimes comes back; when my bag arm is particularly tired, I start missing those b-c-d triplets. But I’ve gotten a bit better at sensing when it’s coming on and deliberately relaxing myself. Often I find it helps to take a break for a few minutes and let my arm recover.
Thanks KAD. I’ve been having intense pain in my tendon lately and I’ve been having a hard time
working those b-c-d indeed (I sounds like I’m going to have to move this thread to the geriatrics section soon…heh)
I think the pressure on the bag is to blame - Every time I have to put a bit more pressure on the bag
my left hand gets tense as well. I guess it’s all a psychological war thing.. 
Perform ea. movement; 1 @ a time. SLOWLY! Do this until you can do it 20xs w. NO MISTAKES.
Now, you are ready to do the movements, ONLY SLIGHTLY faster and again aim for 20xs, no mistakes.
Do this with everything, and you’ll have no probs. Skip it, and you’ll always freeze, somewhere…
Also, take a look at how you’re sitting. I had it pointed out to me that proper posture (see pictures of good pipers) – toward the front edge of your chair with the chanter on a sort of “dropped-knee” leg – really really helps, and it has made a huge difference.
The other big thing that’s helped me is a strap for my bag; the way it was explained to me is that some stocks like mine are tied in quite high up on the bag, which can make the bag fall down and result in the player always trying to hold it all up with the left arm and hip and thus getting tense. So I got a latigo from the local saddler, made a strap to put around the bag end of the cup (see Michael Cooney pic below for a version of this), adjusted it to bring the bag up so it’s more under my arm and less under my elbow, and Bob’s yer uncle. My left hand is ever so much happier now. I still have to fight the death grip but at least I’m not trying to hold up chanter, bag, and drones while I’m at it!
You really have to relax the wrist and forearm muscles. They aren’t needed to blow the bag, that’s a different set of muscles.
In order to separate those muscles, I found a cork that fit the chanter stock and drilled a hole in it to take about the same amount of air as playing takes. While watching TV or something else that didn’t require me to use my arms I practiced blowing and filling the bag.
I would concentrate on what the bag felt like when full, and when it went down to where one full pump of the bellows would top off the bag. Once your muscles can do this automatically, concentrate upon relaxing the forearm and wrist muscles.
It doesn’t take much strength or pressure to close the chanter. In fact, I believe that you require more power to lift the finger to open the hole than it does to close it. Plus, you have to be relaxed enough to feel the holes “buzz” under your fingers.