I’ve been playing flute for about 8-9 years now. Started with a keyless, and ended up with a six key antique that plays wonderfully. Don’t get me wrong, I love the keys, and I use them. However, when it really comes down to it, I don’t really NEED them that much, which brings me to the reason for this post.
I’m getting ready to order a practice set. Within my budget, I have the option of ordering a very basic chanter with neither keys nor keyblocks, a slightly less basic chanter with a C key and no other keyblocks, or a chanter with a C key and all other keyblocks for later use. If learning the pipes is anything at all like learning the flute, it’ll be a good while before I’ll feel the need or desire to use keys, what with everything else I’ll be trying to wrap my mind around.
My question, then, is this: How critical is it to have keys on a chanter? and as a follow-up, are the half-holing and cross-fingering abilities of a good chanter good enough to make having keys more of a convenience rather than a necessity?
I think it depends on what kind of music you are going to play. I started with a keyless flute as well, I now have an 8 key and I use the keys all the time. You can get away without keys if you are just playing ITM, but I like to play other types of music as well. Try playing traditional Christmas tunes without keys…
That being said, all my chanters have the C nat key and one of them has an F nat as well. I hardly ever use it the F nat, but I also only play pipe tunes on the pipes.
The c and f natural keys come in very handy. If I were ordering a new chanter I would be sure that it had these two. The other keys are nice when you need them, but I at least rarely need them.
I live in Cape Breton, the trad fiddle focused music is full of G#s. So I use a G# key a lot. (example tune Trip to Mabou Ridge, https://thesession.org/tunes/12405 one of my favorites.)
My wife plays the harp and loves the key of C, so I use my Fnat key a lot.
I don’t use the high Cnat key on a daily basis, but wouldn’t want to go without it.
I also have a Bflat key, don’t use it much, but… lately, I’m playing a harmony part for the tune Loch Lomond with the family band, wife on harp, me pipes/whistle, daughter fiddle, which includes a Bflat.
If you’re poor and going to play only ITM, and won’t play with others much for your first 7 years of UP training ( isn’t that the point where you’re now allowed to play with others as part of the 21 year effort to mastery ), a keyless stick would probably be satisfactory.
Take this with a grain of salt if you will, as I’ve only been playing for three years.
The high C-natural key is great when you need it; it’s hard to get a clean fingered high c-natural on some chanters, but it’s a small minority of ITM tunes that require it.
For lower-octave C natural, you’re much better off learning to do the “Piper’s C” which includes (among other things) half-holing the “B” tone hole and lifting the chanter off the knee.
On many chanters you can get an acceptable F natural by fingering E and lifting the chanter off the knee. If that is too flat, you can half-hole the F or use some combination of both off-the-knee and shading the tone hole.
The thing is, learning to half-hole and experimenting with the chanter off the knee, you ultimately have much more control of your chanter and the different kinds of expressive tones that it can make (some of which may sound better at times if they’re not necessarily in perfect pitch). The keys are an asset if you’re playing or recording with other fixed-pitch instruments and need to be spot-on pitch, but in my opinion not strictly necessary to make beautiful music on the pipes, especially when played solo.
You may well learn to cross-finger lower octave C-natural when you are just starting out, but as soon as you can successfully close all the chanter holes air-tight and play a clean scale and a few simple tunes, I would start practicing the Piper’s C. You may need someone to show you how; it’s a lot easier to show than it is to describe. After you assimilate that into your playing, it opens the door to more half-holing and other tone/color shadings that can overcome a lack of keys.
All in my opinion only; you may get different advice from others. Good luck in procuring your practice set and getting started in any event.
I played the clarinet for many years before taking up the UPs. Keys are natural to me, no pun intended.
I also have a keyless chanter and I find it very hard to half hole or cross finger an Fnat for example compared to using a key. Half holing and cross fingering is easy enough though for the bending and sliding of slow airs.
As far as F nat goes. My Lynch chanter playes a very good F nat if you finger E and keep the chanter off the knee. My Kennedy B will play a pretty solid F nat by fingering F# and leaving the pinky open.
I know a lot of people say that they hardly use the C key, but I use it every time I play. I use it alot on my flute as well.
When I make full or 3/4 sets I encourage customers to include keys other than C natural, because adding them later is disadvantageous and the incremental cost compared to the cost of a full set is not so great. For flat pitches the F natural key is necessary in order to get a reliable F natural.
Where concert pitch is concerned, most good pipers here in Ireland do not seem to use the keys, other than the C natural in the second octave. A minority of pipers play ‘fiddle tunes’ in A major, which is tricky without the G# (but not impossible).
For a practice set I really do not see the point in more than one key unless you are absolutely certain that you want to upgrade your first set to a full set in future. This is rarely the case, few players know enough about the instrument or their own future playing preferences to pick a maker “for life” with their first instrument.
Note that NPU specifies that chanters for their pipes on loan scheme have one key only (the C natural, of course, for tunes that go up to C natural in the second octave). Use of the C natural key in the first octave, other than for special effects, is discouraged.
Use of the C natural key in the first octave, other than for special effects, is discouraged.
Martin Rochford made a point of showing me various uses of the C natural key in the low octave that he got from the Dorans. He used those things himself and you can hear both Dorans and Willie Clancy use the same things as well.
Thanks for all of the recommendations. I’ve learned a lot from this thread, and you’ve helped me make an informed decision, rather than a decision made because, “that’s what everybody else does.”
), a keyless stick would probably be satisfactory.