hello, im very new to the up’s , im an experienced mandolinist, i just received my set and a practice chanter , it has the fingering charts and all and i noticed the fingering is the same for the 2 differnent octaves but i can only seem to get 1 octave, how do i make it go higher? please help!!
Welcome to your new life 
What I would suggest is play the lower octave until you are playing scales comfortably, then go for the 2nd octave.
You play it by adding a little bit of extra pressure to the bag using your bag arm, not the bellows. Usually you’ll need a combo of that and some little finger trick to fool the reed into playing at a highter pressure and likewise to bring it down to a lower pressure.
The thing to remember when playing the higher upper octave notes is to keep the chanter open so you don’t accidentally drop down into the lower octave.
It’ll all come with practice… 7 years etc…
Happy St. Stephens’ Day,
Patrick.
You got a practice chanter?
Like a mouthblown one?
That’ll never get into the second octave because it’s for highland pipes, if that’s the case.
Hmm. The phrase “practice chanter” just set off a siren for me, since that’s a term used for the highland practice thing. And since you said you got a set and a practice chanter, it makes me wonder . . .
Stuart
[ This Message was edited by: sturob on 2002-12-26 16:09 ]
welcome. i too am a newbie.
do you have a tutor? i obtained the first volume of the NPU video tutor- fantastic. can be purchased from many sources, but NPU itself the most reliable if not the fastest:
http://www.piper.ie
i think that is right.
i have also seen a tutor by heather clarke which is excellent and comes with a CD.
since you set “set plus practice chanter” i assume you have a practice set with a bag, bellows and chanter. for them to help us beginners on this board, they will need to know who made the chanter and whether you have seen the reed. if you truly have the mouthblown practice UP chanter from Song of the Sea or Lark in the AM, it is well known not to work in the second octave. you can still practice the fingering.
if you truly like UPs and you have a mouthblown, i would encourage you to work on getting a proper bellows blown practice set. as a beginner, i am spending most of my time learning to “blow” the chanter with constant bag pressure, the minimum needed to sound the note. on a mouthblown, you would be missing all that.
if you need a source for a new practice set which is both affordable and works, 2 sources frequently cited are:
- david daye at http://www.daye1.com
- a maker named dave stephenson in the UK
both are honest and pleasent to deal with.
where do you live?
meir
meir
D’Arcy, I’m a newbie too… what’s this 7 year thing all about??
7 years to learn the chanter, 7 to learn the drones, 7 to learn the regulators, and 7 to put it all together.
That’s how long it takes to learn UP. 
Stuart
Uhhh… that’s 28 years. Should I start booking some gigs in advance??
Be sure to choose venues that will exist in 28 years.
Dionys
first of all, its 21 years. who added the drone bit? come on, 21 years is depressing enough.
second of all, you can apply for and receive a special dispensation to continue listening while you practice and play, potentially decreasing it to 14 years. as that is the wait list of woof and probably some other popular makers, it is not so long in UP time.
and third, i have it on good authority that those who took 21 years to learn did not play on vacations and holidays. do that, and you can shave off at least another year or 2.
anyway, i just showed you how to half your time. you owe me.
meir
meir,
I’ll leave your name at the door of my first gig. Bring a friend.
Just to set the record straight, Seamus Ennis is credited with the ‘21 years’ philosophy, and the saying goes,
“It takes seven years of learning, seven years of practice and seven years of playing to become an uilleann piper.”
By “learning”, it can be argued that what he meant was that a piper-to-be should spend that time LISTENING to the music. Then once he has listened carefully, he should spend those years practicing the music, and then of course, 7 more in playing it."
The disclaimer on this, of course is that your actual time to becoming a piper may vary. Just don’t ever forget your truckaleehow.
Thanks for correcting my error! I thought 28 was kind of long.
21 is much more reasonable.
Stuart
Newbies take heart!
I remember the first time I met Todd Denman he had just a cheap practice chanter (so did I, but we both threw’em away). He took some advice and immediately got a Quinn 1/2 set. By the end of the first year he had accelerated to the point where he was playing many of the tunes better than others with far, far more experience. I think he’d owe it to good tutoring, excellent reeds, a good chanter, hanging around the right musicians, natural talent, and lots of practice. He was very open, and also very smart, but dirt poor.
I knew another piper who had all the latest gadgets and all the answers, but after 21 years he still never really got off the ground. It takes a whole lot more than love of the music and the instrument, and having lots of $$$$.
Any one of you could be the next Todd, or Isaac Alderson.
[ This Message was edited by: Lorenzo on 2002-12-30 15:06 ]
Yeah, having a great set of pipes is no good if you don’t work hard at getting better.
There’s a good reason Isaac Alderson cleaned up at the All-Irelands last year: he works his ass off. Any free moment he has, he’s listening to a CD, lilting a tune, picking up a whistle or a flute, or reaching for his pipe case.
On the other hand, I’ve seen some exquisite instruments in the hands of people who can’t play their way out of a paper bag despite years of pipe ownership.
Sometimes, not very often, it’s a lack of talent. Very few people are totally un-musical. Most of the time it seems to be inconsistent playing, practice, and listening habits.