I finaly memorized “Maggie in the Woods” and I’ve started on “The Rambling pitchfork”. I’m still trying to get my bellows timing down but I think (and I might be wrong) by moveing on to a harder tune it might force me to keep air in the bag. I thought geting drones (1/2 set) might help with the bellows but after watching my video (“The Art of Uilleann Piping”) I’ve backed off of that.(that guy is constantly pumping his bellows to keep the drones going). Do any of you guys have any suggestions? I play GHB and last year the band played GHB in a bar (St.Patrick day)and the patrons enjoyed the pipes except one girl (from Ireland) who was offended that the GHB were played for St.Patrick day. So I want to be able to play two or three tunes (on the uilleann pipes)really well for the real Irish on St.Patrick’s day this year.
Get a cork that will fit in your chanter stock and drill a hole in it that will take about the same or a little bit more air than your chanter.
While watching TV or some other activity that doesn’t require you to use your hands and arms, practice pushing air out until you feel you need one full stroke of the bellows to “almost” full the bag up fully.
After a while, you won’t be concentrating on it, it will happen automatically and you will just open the bellows and re-fill the bag when the bag arm gets to “that place”.
If I lose concentration or start messing up on a tune, I tend to overfill the bag and get caught in the upper octave and can’t get back down…
Try incorporating bellows practise with your scales. One full pump should take you all the way up the first octave (played slowly and deliberately). Then another pump to come down. Keep doing this to improve your fingering while getting a feel for the bag pressure. Then try one pump to go all the way up and down the first octave scale. etc.
After umpteen billion times in the first octave, try the second octave. Even though it will take a bit more pressure in the second octave, avoid the temptation to start pumping like mad. Keep it slow and even. In tunes you will almost always find yourself staring to pump the bellows on the way down in the second octave.
Working the bellows should have its own rhythm, totally separate from the rhythm of the tune. It needs to be based on bag pressure, and this is something you have to learn by feel. That’s why using scales to practise your bellows is helpful. Its inane enough to allow you to share some concentration between what you’re playing and how you are working the bellows.
Avoid sharp, jerking motions with the bellows. Open and close the bellows slowly and smoothly, so that the motion does not interfere with your hands on the chanter.
djm
Excellent advice Lads 
As another newbie wouldbe Piper,I fully empathise with James.Bellows operation hasn’t become second nature to me yet,so I have to concentrate on pumping them AND chanter fingering at the same time.Hopefully,the old ‘automatic Pilot’ will kick in one of these days if I follow your suggestions.
My other main problem at the moment is fingering the note ‘E’. I’m just not used to using my right hand little finger,so tend to leak a bit.
I guess that it will be scales and lesson 6 of H. Clarke’s book for a while…
Thanks for the help. I’ll try them all. Sometime I can almost “feel” the time to pump the bellows. I think you have to get the feel of the instrument (reed ?) for instance, I know I have to back off of my air pressure for bottom “D” or it will squeal, and add pressure for “E” or it will not sound and I really have to have good air pressure to go to 2nd octave “E”(2nd octive “F”&“G” not so bad) now this might sound like a lot but it’s only 3 things and if I prepare myself the tune moves right along.(I sometime forget, especially if I’m listening to the music and not paying attention to the bellows) I think as I get more accustomed to playing these movements will come naturally. Mo practice, mo practice, mo practice, Thanks fellas.
As another fellow newbie, I’ve been working the same issues. My main problem is keeping the right amount of air in the bag.
Sometimes I over fill and like Fancy, get stuck in the second octave. Usually, this happens when I’m in the second octave, and am starting back down..then the B, A or G that I’m supposed to be playing becomes a second octave note.
Other times, I’m so intent on playing, I’ve forgotten to pump and the bag is almost deflated so my notes fade out.
As a result, just last night I went back to the basics again and started playing scales before practicing any tunes and focused on bag pressure. I’m going to start making that part of my routine, practice bag pressure, then start on a tune.
Oh well…only 20 years, 10 months to go and I’ll be a master piper! 
-gary
If you can get over the panic, try cutting the lower octave note (or the next, after you realize what you have done) with the thumb. Most chanters will drop the octave with that.
Thanks, I’ll give it a try. -g
It’s a bit of a “downgrade” in your playing but if you still have bellows troubles my advice is to sound an A untill the bag pressure drops to the point where you can’t maintain the A anymore. (arm muscles giving up on a half inflated bag)
Reinflate the bag and go again.
You will, at some time, “feel” where this point is and should fill the bag with ONE bellows full of air and repeat.
In no time you won’t even think about it anymore.
Hope this helps.
There is that panic thing which is similar to the breathing problem which people get when they’re learning to swim - fear of even half-deflating the lungs in case they’ll run out of air and drown.
To overcome it, practise filling the bag and seeing how long you can sustain a note before pumping again: this builds confidence.
Thanks guys, I’ve been working on this and in just two practice sessions it already feels better and I’m overpressuring less during tunes.
Thanks for the help!! -gary