I was just wondering how folks around here make their A and B rolls - what fingers do you cut and tap with… B,C,D?
I’m having a hard time getting around these things .
Jeff
I will cut the A with B and then tap the A. If I want the A roll to stand out sharply I will cut with the C# instead. Some people leave the G finger open on the tap (not a very stacatto roll). Some chanters won’t let the A stay in tune when the G is open. Easier to just tap the A and leave the G closed.
With a B roll, I will cut with the C# and tap the B and A fingers. Some people tap just the B finger and leave the A open. Similar to the A roll, I will cut the B with back D if I want the B roll to stand out.
The Dance Music of Willie Clancy book has lots of alternatives, as Clancy used just about everything you can imagine.
djm
In both, if I want it harsh and punchy, I cut with the thumb, for a smoother, softer one, cut with the index finger instead.
For the A I pat the ring finger (close the chanter if on the leg) and for the B, I pat the middle finger.
i can remember seeing joe mckenna use his c nat key for a b roll on the pipes with good effect.
Mitchell/Small say Patsy Touhey would use the key for a grace note sometimes too. I’ve an old video of Paddy Keenan where you can see him do a very fast CBA legato triplet with the key, in Colonel Fraser.
Thumb and C# gracings are a bit “Highlandish,” if you get me. Chiffy. The famous Northumbrian piper Tom Clough referred to excessive gracing - which in his case meant more than a couple per tune - as “choyting.” Birdsongish. Some pipers hate the sound, others cultivate it.
So…the note you use as a top hand cut will have a big effect on the sound of your music. Some pipers heap the back D and C# on - Jerry O’Sullivan for instance, who’s a recovered Highland piper by the way.
The best rolls come with bacon in them. 