Another dumb beginner’s question from someone who should be over these by now…
In the jig “Bonnie Dundee” (also known to ACW enthusiasts as “Riding a Raid”), there are several three-note sequences of dBD (assuming I’m writing the ABC right). The exact timing is not always the same, but the three note sequence is. I have a lot of trouble making the drop between the second and third notes. I don’t think that it should require tonguing (but then I seldom do), but how can I get this out without being either mushy or sort of ‘gulpy’?
I found that when I was first learning I needed to do a soft tongue between notes that were far apart in order to get them to not squeak. A soft tongue is less than a ‘tah’ and more of a ‘dah’, tapping the tongue farther back on the upper palate. I found that the slight interruption of air helped it not squeak, but was barely noticable in sound.
I have also found that as I’ve gained experience, I have needed to rely on this technique less and less. In fact I have just played your sequence several times without squeaking, which wasn’t possible months ago. It’s a matter of learning to control the breath more exactly, I think.
Try this fingering:
xxx xxx d
xoo xxx B
xxx xxx D
Note that I wouldn’t vent the middle d (oxx xxx) in such a passage, because going from oxx xxx to xoo ooo is enough to rattle anyone and will confuse your fingers before the drop to the bottom D.
And the drop from B to D does take a bit of breath control, so a little isolated practcise of that passage should help.
Oh, and about the tonguing: I don’t think it’s necessary, but if it helps, there is nothing wrong with it provided it fits in the rhythm/phrases of the tune. I don’t know the tune, and you say it’s used in different spots with different rhythm and it isn’t ITM… So take my advice not to tongue the D if it lands on a strong beat with a bushel of salt.
Thanks guys, but I screwed up the note sequence in the opening message. ABC is not one of my skills.
The actual note sequence is BdD, where “D” is the bell note on a D whistle and “d” is one octave up. I hope its right this time. My problem, simply, is that with that one-octave drop between two notes, I have beaucoup trouble both reducing breath pressure AND blowing the note on a fast triplet. Practice seems to have no impact whatsoever.
Actually, even with my screwup, the soft-tongue trick does seem to help a little - I’ll try to learn to do that, for now anyway
I think the sequence of notes is crucial to the passages as they include that ‘Scotch snap’. I do a light tonguing on the bottom note.
Looking at the ABC, Tyghress is definitely right. The high D gets the emphasis, no way you can skip it.