Hey all,
This is so trivial, but I haven’t been able to find this topic in a search. But does it matter at all how one holds one’s upper pinkie? Only after watching a few pipers did I notice that most keep it “down” or behind the chanter. I don’t seem to be built this way. It’s as if my ring finger and pinkie are connected in that I can’t move the pinkie toward the palm without the ring finger moving with it. It just naturally wants to be held straight out and above/in front of the chanter. Then I noticed that on the NPU video that Gay McKeon holds his behind and Nollaig MacCarthaigh holds his in front. If it is not needed for keys or any other good reason I suppose that comfort is the thing. Hmm, maybe a poll question?
I remember an Irish similie “As useless as a piper’s pinkie”…
Rick,
It’s good to see that you are wanting to be as correct as possible in playing the pipes. I was playing the top holes with my finger tips for a year before I saw that pipers are supposed to play with the flats of the fingers and it took me a couple of months to get used to playing correctly. I don’t think you’re being trivial or pedantic (better make sure before it becomes a permanent habit).
I agree that “comfort is the thing” as to wether you keep your pinkie in front or behind the chanter. Nothing to do with your playing - but if you dislike the relationship between your pinkie and adjacent finger, you may want to try keeping it behind so as to train your fingers to work independently of each other!!
The only reason I can think of as to why you would keep it behind the chanter with discomfort would be to stop your ring finger from drifting up above the hole (if you find that you sometimes fail to fully cover this hole).
I reckon you shouldn’t be afraid to post a trivial message in this forum because there is a always someone who will anwser it or at least make fun of you for being so trivial!
Goldy
Rick, you’ve got a lot of nerve trying to infringe on my personal record for trivial questions on this board.
Just kidding. Seriously though, I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned keys. You might not have keys on your current chanter, but you may get some in the future. For that reason, you might want to practise keeping the upper hand pinkie touching the side of the chanter, so that, if you do get keys later, it won’t be so hard later to learn how to use them.
If you find that moving your ring finger is pulling your pinkie way out, it might be possible that you are lifting your fingers too high off the chanter when playing an A. You shouldn’t have to raise any finger more than a quarter inch off the chanter to play a note. Watch your fingers and see if this is what’s happening for you. Learning to play with your fingers close to the chanter will help improve your speed and accuracy.
You need the left small finger to play the Bb key. So don’t let it get chopped off. If you lose your left index finger like Liam Walsh you’ll need that pinky, too.
I once saw a video of a piper whose left pinky extended whenever he pulled the chanter up to swell a note, it was more than a bit disturbing…
The last time I saw Jerry O play, his left hand pinkie flops back and forth unless he is using a key.
Other pipers I have noticed that the pinkie moves very little. It stands at about a 50-50 split in my observations as to the finger flopping around or staying still.
I have Dupuytrens Contracture and mine is starting to move behind the chanter now. Mine doesn’t move a whole lot when I play.
After observing myself playing in the mirror, I noticed that my pinky floats right off to the side of the chanter. It curls back whenever I play an E or D, and it does a pop-up thingy whenever I cran, weird huh? I don’t really think it matters what your pinky does as long as it doesn’t rest on the chanter.
