I’ve been practicing rolls sort of faithfully on the commute home for a couple of months now (only at stoplights). First, doing scales, then once my fingers started moving without so much conscious effort from the brain, I started playing the opening of Morrison’s Jig over and over and over. . . I started getting prettty good at the G roll (cut on A, tap on F), but not the E roll (cut on F, tap on D). It occurred to me that I was cutting on A much better than on F, so I started cutting the E roll on A, and the E roll came together.
Then I started on the first reel on the first Planxty album, which has an early roll on A. I tried cutting A and tapping G, and it’s a disaster (as is cutting B and tapping G). So I went through trying different rolls, and I find that rolling on one hand (either one) is difficult. It seems that I can cut any left-hand finger and tap any right-hand finger in quick succession, but a pure left- or right-handed roll just isn’t there for me.
I assume I should say “isn’t there for me yet,” because I suspect I will get the hang of it in time.
Anyone have similar experiences, and if so, any suggestions beyond practice, practice, practice?
Geeze, you’re not the only one with frustrations here. First of all, I always cut with G on an E, F and G roll, but when it comes to rolling the A and B, I cut with B. Well, as for you I achieved satisfying results with E, F and G rolls very fast last year, but the rolls on A and B came much later, and there’s still room for improvement, as tunes like Maid of Mount Kisco has many, many rolls on A and I always tumble on a few of them.
I think this is the fact that the brain “thinks” that you won’t be able to hold your whistle correctly because you are somewhat removing all of your upper fingers from the whistle for a very short time. It’s very strange because my rolls on A and B are always perfect when I just played some pattern of notes, but always miss when I play some other pattern of notes. It’s not that my fingers can’t do it, it’s as if the brain tought that the balance of the whistle would be affected when my fingers are coming from some position…
Anyway, bottom line, practice is the key for sure, as my upper rolls just get better and better anyway, it’s just a matter of time and I guess you need to be patient with this, I’m sure it’s much easier for some other people as I don’t hear people complain about that that often.
I think this is the fact that the brain “thinks” that you won’t be able to hold your whistle correctly because you are somewhat removing all of your upper fingers from the whistle for a very short time. . .
Az, I think that’s brilliant – I think at least part of my problem is that I seem to be gripping the whistle too tight. Time to try just relaxing a little.
Why do you have to practice A rolls only at stoplights? You can hold the whistle whilst you drive, and still do A rolls as well as B rolls. In fact, while thinking about it, you can also practice an E and F# roll, the right hand part of it, in the car, by jamming the end of the whistle into your gut, (just under the roll ) and practice with the right hand.
JP
[ This Message was edited by: JohnPalmer on 2002-08-28 23:36 ]
Glad to hear that I’m not the only A roll impaired one out there! A while back, I came up with an unconventional way of playing these ornaments which takes a bit of practice, but works well for me.
Start the roll with the G finger up pretty high. Play A, cut with either A or B ( whichever sounds best on your whistle) then tap the G hole with your F finger, sneaking it in under the G finger. This sounds more difficult than it actually is. As an alternative, you can leave the G finger fairly low over the G hole, and tap the G finger down using the F finger. I find this more difficult. Some days I can play terrific A rolls the normal way, but this always works for me. Give it a try.
A & B rolls are the hardest for me, too. I am getting the hang of the A-roll, slowly, but the B roll is still particularly fickle. Sometimes yes, sometimes mush.
Here are a few things that worked for me. On the A roll, I practice the tap with the G finger first in isolation. Holding the whistle xxo ooo, just plop the G finger (xxX ooo) down really quickly. Get it bouncy until you only hear a blip and not a G. Think of lifting the finger off rather than of putting it down (visualize yourself uncovering rather than covering the hole). This is great for highway driving.
Then I basically did the reverse for the cut, with the B finger Oxo ooo. Trick here is to only lift the finger the tiniest bit and the hardest thing for me is the combination of relaxing your fingers and moving it really fast and with purpose. Have you ever closely watched the fingers of a piper (GHB is best for this)? Strive for that sort of finger movement.
When you put it together go really really slow (no, even sloooooower). Daaaaaah Blaaaaah Blaaaah. [Hey Steve, anybody ever mention your immortal place in the Pantheon of tin whistlings?]. Speed comes easily if the rhythm is right. Listen to players with good clean rolls.
Most days I start rolls really slowly. And for me the trick was doing it almost every day rather than for hours on end, once a fortnight.
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-08-29 09:58 ]
Welcome!
Rolls and cuts are used in Irish Traditional Music (ITM). They’re grace notes or ornaments that are used a lot in ITM. If you’re new not only to c & f but also to the whistle, find an online tutorial (links section) and find out how to do cuts and taps (also called strikes). Don’t worry about rolls for at least six months. Oh, and don’t tongue every note.
Happy Whistling.
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-08-29 14:02 ]
On 2002-08-28 23:21, JohnPalmer wrote:
Why do you have to practice A rolls only at stoplights? You can hold the whistle whilst you drive, and still do A rolls as well as B rolls. In fact, while thinking about it, you can also practice an E and F# roll, the right hand part of it, in the car, by jamming the end of the whistle into your gut, (just under the roll > > ) and practice with the right hand.
JP
I think I’d roll my car if I played while actually moving. For practicing the right hand (or homemade tabor pipe, sort of), I’ve been known to tape the top three holes shut.
) and practice with the right hand.