I am having some problems feeling the two bottom holes of my Chanter. Unlike a whistle, the holes on my chanter are indented into the wood. After receiving advice on using either open or closed fingering, I have decided to use the close technique and forcing myself to keeping my fingers on the two bottom holes.
Question: Is there a solution to solving this problem that I can use or should I contact the maker for a possible on hands solution.
Thanking you in advance for your suggestions.
The answer to your question is practice.
KDM, you are entering into one of the nastiest, most frustrating periods of the learning. You will not be able to feel some of the holes. They are actually smaller than the holes of a tin whistle, and the thickness and weight of the chanter will make them seem to disappear all together. This is where the danger of the deathgrip comes in - pressing harder to try to cover all the holes. Pressing harder won’t work. The only thing that seems to work is time and constant repetition - getting used to where the fingers need to land on the chanter.
Try anchoring your bottom hand on the chanter with the pad of end of the little finger on the bottom hole (Eb). Similarly, try anchoring your upper hand with the pad of the end of the ring finger on the A tone hole. The remaining fingers lie across the chanter in a soft, loose curl - never rigid, never clenched.
There’s an old piping joke about a piper’s fingers being the same as lightning - they never strike in the same place twice. You are now starting to see they less humorous side of this. All I can tell you is to keep at it, keep your fingers and wrists soft, and your touch on the chanter light. I would tell you to keep other things up, but they might interfere with the drone switch. 
djm
Funny the mentioning of the joke about the pipers fingers being like lightning and never hitting the same place twice. I just did some reading on pipes and read that all pipes are about 15% out of tune.
djm…thanks for the advice…I’ll give it a try. I feel that I have made a lot of progress over the last couple days…its actually getting better. I can’t wait to see how good I am in 21 years as Ennis stated it usually takes… 
yeah i can’t wait for those 21 years to pass either… it’s a shame that i can’t just wait and get better… that’d be fairly easy. impatient but easy. hellishly practicing for 2.1 decades is a lot less easy.
mark
this’ll be extremely boring practice but it works.
play 20 or 30 D after each other, making sure each note sounds right. it’ll get you used to playing each note in the closed style and getting the tone quality.
This is unconditionally, catagorically, and completely UNTRUE!
Now if the statement said the pipes didn’t APPEAR in tune to an ELECTRONIC TUNER, which happened to ONLY use an EQUAL TEMPERMENT scale, then yes, it would be more accurate.
But as you know by now, uilleann pipes, and many other forms of pipes as well, are tuned to a completely different scale, and one that is in itself PERFECTLY in tune. Now how well the reed plays and the skill of the player to keep things close are another matter. 
If you want to check the tuning of individual notes agaist an electronic tuner, you will find there are differences between the just intonation of the pipes and the tempered (equal semitones) tuning of the tuner.
E +4 cents
F# -14
G -2
A +2
B -16
C -4
C# -12
This assumes a scale of D (because the scale is intended to have all notes in tune with the drones).
Some notes, B and F#, are about 15%of a semitone away from the tempered scale, but this makes them closer to being in tune with D to the ear.
Brian and Simon please stick to the rules that Keith wants… 
Said he…“When I ask a question on the forum, just please stay with the subject being asked and give advice directly related to the question in other words…just answer the F***'** question.” …“and those who took the opportunity to take my thread and lead it totally in another direction.”
Even tho he seems to want to take this thread in another direction himself 
So Keith what is it to be???
Joseph feel free to lock this thread also 
Slán Agat
Uilliam
Don’t think that I am not tempted. 
For the final time now folks, please, let’s avoid the personal shit, and get back to the topic.
Visit your doctor. Maybe there is medication that will make your fingers more sensitive. And have Joseph lock this thread!
I apologize for inconsiderately leading this thread further astray. In fact I also apologize for posting this apology and polluting the purity of the thread yet again. As a newcomer to this forum, I must endeavor to learn the subtleties of its etiquette.
Which one?? 
…
Joseph I have said all I want to re this issue and I do not consider it personal nor excretia,but simple observations put in the language commonplace in these cold Islands 
so I will return to my winter hibernation.
Slán Agat
Uilliam
I’m sorry, but the subject of this thread really sounds dirty.
Question: Is there a solution to solving this problem that I can use or should I contact the maker for a possible on hands solution.
Yes, there is. I had the same problem with my second chanter. For quite a while, I couldn’t reliably hit the bottom two holes, or, in fact, the third hole. I finally figured out a pretty cool trick that helped me quite a bit. Here’s the trick I found to get through this problem: practice.
You’ll find that this is a very handy trick to learn, because it helps not only in finding holes on the chanter, but also in learning fingerings, in remembering which fingers to leave down, and when to keep the chanter on the leg or off the leg. Actually, I find this trick so useful and handy that I use it pretty much every day.
Hope that helps!
Practice, Practice, Practice Keith… I think we all had that problem at first… Dont worry about the dumba** responses to your questions… You’ll notice if you read all your threads… It’s usually one person. Just ignore them… The rest of us do… They are making themselves out to be a troublemaker..
Its been a pleasure hearing from you all. Thanks you so… 
Is there an echo in the room ?
Yep. It’s good, sound advice.
Perhaps a dumb*** question elicits a like response.