I’ve only been playing for 6 months and this fast reel is a stretch for me…especially at the speed pipers usually play.
Is this a tune that works on the whistle? I have doubts I’ll ever get that A a A C A thing right. Maybe it’s something that works best when the air is coming continuously from a bag. Anyone know?
“Is this a tune that works on the whistle? I have doubts I’ll ever get that A a A C A thing right. Maybe it’s something that works best when the air is coming continuously from a bag. Anyone know?”
I did a quick run through of “Itchy Fingers”, I would say that it is do-able.. but it would take some work on the ‘tripped out syncopated’ bit that you refer to. Any Pipe Tune for that matter with anything in the way of cool, tripped out, or syncopated high A’s is going to pose a challenge on the whistle. Especially if there is anything in the way of “thumb sweep” gracenotes.
Its not so much the constant pressure that helps, its more in the razor sharp response from the Chanter reed, and from the closed fingering Pipers use. In the case of going from high A down to lower notes, and really coming down hard… The high A tends to “disapear” into the Drone sound, thus giving the perception of coming down harder on the lower notes. This clever bit of trickery is going to be hard to duplicate.
Some Fun Pipe Tunes that work quite well. “Alan MAcPherson Mosspark”, “Clumsey Lover” (minus parts 5&6), “Hiccup” and “Fleshmarket Close” to name a few that are working for me.
Thanks, Rocky.
Side note: I’ve always preferred the names of Irish songs over Scottish. Clumsy Lover, Itchy Finger, Hiccup…it just doesn’t work for me. I like the tunes, though.