Hello to you all,
Probably another quite basic question, but… I know that ghost D is a melancholic sounding D… Ok for that. But how is it done ? What is the fingering 
I have done a search on the forum but didn’t find what I was looking for.
x xxx xxxo x
All fingers and thumb down except right little finger, chanter on leg, blow for second octave…
…
Some people also refer to Ghost D meaning playing just the Eb in the second octave with the chanter off the leg.
e.g.
x
x x x x x o |O
A nice effect can be had slurring from second octave E, down through Eb, and then to back D.
djm
Also commonly used as a grace note for back D.
Played as a note in its own right by Ennis in the second part of "Jenny’s Welcome to Charlie " (which I think is on the original “The Drones and the Chancers” album).
He also liked to leave this hole open as an alternative to interspersed Gs or bottom Ds in the sort of descending runs that you get in tunes like “Peter Street” (CDBDAD - though I don’t know if it works in that particular tune, I can’t think of a precise example where it does).
But is it really a ghost D or a ghost E? When it’s gracing the back D I think of it as a ghost E. When you’re in the oral tradition (i.e. using normal Irish diction) you don’t even have to worry about such subtle distinctions 
.
I was taught/given to understand that Ghost D means just that, a back d, but preceeded with an Eb. If no D is played, surely it is merely Eb???
Alan
As far as I know, Ennis was the one to coin this term, Ghost D. His description of it in the Master’s Touch is starting with all notes closed except the little finger (that would be Eb’) and slurring down to D’ (that would be back D). That’s a ghost D. My suggestion was to use it as a way of going from E’ down to D’, which is what I have been taught (though haven’t quite mastered yet).
djm
Patsy Touhey also used the ghost D.
As a gracenote on the back D, you don’t blow much harder for the note; but as a melody note in its own right (in the second octave) you’ll want to use the same pressure as for a high e.
I don’t think all chanters produce a true upper D tone in the x XXX XXXO ]x position, although it might be close to D if the upper octave E is flat to begin with. I use that position to get the upper Eb, which is useful in some tunes, required in others (Light and Airy) http://www.sosyourmom.com/Midi-1101-1200/1119-LightAiry.mid ) second note in the B part (lines 2 and 3).
For a true ghost D, my chanter gives it to me with this fingering: x XXX XXXX ]o. If you get a back D (chanter off the knee) and then cover all the holes, you’ll (probably) hear the tone slip from the natural D to the harmonic D.
Also of interest, you can get three different notes with this position, depending on pressure, with chanter off the knee: x XXX XXXX ]o. Low pressure: bottom D. More pressure and lifting off the knee: upper “ghost” D. More pressure yet and lifting at the same time: upper “ghost” A (the harmonic).
Works in all chanters and reeds I’ve ever played anyway. I always correlate this effect with the method a famous violin maker said he uses to set/adjust the sound post. He places his little finger in a high position on the E string and barely touches the string to produce the different harmonics. When the sound post is just right, all the harmonics are easy to get.
Hya Alan I’m with ye on this..that is how I was taught…by Hannon Rickard Mitchell Clarke McKeown.. 
..oh and of course yersel!!!
Happy Christmas to the burgoning Burton Clan
Slan go foill 
Liam
You’ve been a bit of a ghostie yourself lately, Liam.
Boyd
“they seek him here, they seek him there, that damn’d elusive pimpernel”
Hello Boyd,everyone seems to be behaving themselves of late…so relax and enjoy…I’m sure it won’t last
Slan go foill
Liam