Pipers:
Trying to solve a problem here, and looking for sane perspective. (Why look for sanity on the pipes board??) I have been playing for one week, and it seems that bottom D is the hardest note for me to get.
I know that there is a learning curve, that there are matters of proper pressure, and that all the holes must be perfectly covered. My question is: Is it normal to struggle with this note at first, or should I consider getting help with my reed?
Perhaps if you described exactly what is happening someone here could provide you with clear directions to resolve the difficulties you are having. Is it in achieving the bottom D at all, or in hitting the hard D?
djm
It is mostly going from E to D. If I stop the tune and just concentrate on getting the bottom D, I can do it, although sometimes I have to work through a momentary gurgle. I seem to be able to go straight to it from F# and A. But there is something about lifting the chanter off the knee, covering the holes, and maintaining pressure all at the same time.
What exactly is happening when you play bottom D - is it gurgling, jumping to the second octave, ‘wheezing’, what ?
One way to help assure getting a good solid bottom D is to introduce it with a cut on the A. I dont know if you have started on cuts yet. The method is described in Ennis’ tutor, The Master’s Touch. A cut is when you open a note for the merest fraction of a second. You should not hear the actual cutting note, it is so fast.
Try holding the chanter off the knee and playing the bottom D. Try flicking the A open and closed again in the blink of an eye. Practise until you get it clean and crisp. Once you can do that repeatedly, try playing the A cut in front of playing the bottom D. It should clean up your bottom D problems. Note that all of this takes a while. Don’t expect miracles after only a few weeks.
If all of this seems too much for now, just ignore it and continue with whatever lessons you are following. You can come back to this later when you have more confidence and experience.
djm
Thank you. This seems very similar to the early learning stages on low whistle, in which it seems the bottom note never comes out right.
My guess is that I am simultaneously clumsy in both pressure and covering the holes, which makes the D either gurgle, squeek up an octave, or make no sound at all. And yet when I concentrate and play only bottom D, not with any other notes, I can get it, and also hard D.
Thanks for the advice on cutting A. I do know cuts.
The worst thing you can do at this point is develop bad habits while trying to work out bottom D. Two things to watch out for are:
a. Don’t lift the chanter too high off the leg to get bottom D. The higher you lift the chanter, the longer it will take to bring it back down again. This will screw up your timing later. About an inch or so is the highest you should lift the chanter.
b. Don’t develop a death grip on the chanter. This is easy to do when you are getting frustrated. It takes no strength at all to cover the holes, just accuracy in finger placement. Keep your fingers and wrists soft and supple at all times. Practise the movements over and over again until you think you will go berserk, and then practise some more. Body learning requires constant repetition, and not just in one day, but over many days.
djm
Morgan,
You are losing the bottom D because air is escaping from other holes on the chanter – I had the same problem when starting. Make sure that your chanter is fully sealed when you go to the bottom D. Put a little hand-cream on or spit in your hands to moisten your skin up; this makes it a bit easier to close the chanter fully.
A good exercise is to put the chanter on your leg, seal all holes, and put a bit of pressure on the chanter. You will feel which holes are more inclined to leak by the squeeking that comes out – that hole is your problem.
Get used to the hole locations of your chanter by holding it when you are not playing; this removes the added effort of bellows and bag work. It will be a while before your fingers comfortably land where they should.
Last - relax!
Good luck!
Virgil
Thanks, pipers. That is just the advice and encouragement I was looking for.
I remember the first tionol I attended. A well known HD player was playing a tune. After he finished an onlooking piper said something to the effect “…so you just take that littke mallet and hit the D string…we pipers spend three or more years learning to play that D the proper way on our instruments and in tunes.” Although I, a rank beginner at the time, would not have believed it, it’s true, and I’m still learning it more than 8 years later.
There’s hard Ds and harder Ds. Try fingering E off-the-knee: Leave your little finger down (i.e., only your ring-finger venting a tone-hole) and lift the chanter off the knee when you play E. Now it is an easy matter of going to bottom D without it going unstable. Groups of notes with D-E-D, E-D-E are very hard to get right if you try to play E on-the-knee then go for D.
Cheers, P.
I’ve just had several months away for piping due to various reasons, and the bottom D was a real pain when re-starting.
In the last few days, these have been helpful:
Lifting E off the knee slightly before fingering the D. This keeps the reed from stopping, and it slides more easily to the bottom D. I think when the reed has to stop vibrating completely (as when closing fingers for D before lifting off the knee) it wants a moment to come back to life. The slight slide from E on the knee to E off the knee (which is a bit sharp) is hardly noticeable when going on to D.
As mentioned above, cutting the D with A. This can be combined with #1.
Taking a moment to think about bag pressure and placement of fingers over holes.
Playing slow tunes, such as the old hymn Hyfrydol, that endlessly go back and forth between E and D.
E to D is the hardest. The other notes of the first octave seem to go there much more willingly.
Once again, many thanks to all the pipers for the good wisdom.