The past few weeks have been frustrating for me, as somehow my grip on the chanter has changed (probably due to changing chanters, but I still have the problem when trying to play my Daye chanter now). I’m not sealing the F hole very well (middle finger) and then my bottom two fingers don’t come back in place reliably when I take them off, so I’m always fluffing bottom D after playing E. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to meet up with other pipers for about 6 weeks, and it might be as long again before I can manage to do so. This is really a time when I need someone experienced to show me what I’m doing wrong. It’s very frustrating for me, since I can’t play as well as I did two months ago, and I’m picking up my drones at the end of the month which will be another can of worms.
Any hints on improving my grip, or tips on how to find the holes? I can see that I have a tendency to cover the bottom Eb hole closee to the middle joint of my right hand little finger, which causes problems. Perhaps the chanter angle might be a problem too, since I’ve been using a different bag and bellows.
This is the prime time to start developing bad habits. Stop trying to play tunes. Stop trying to play so fast. Stop holding the chanter so tightly. Go back to basics.
Play each note slowly and deliberately, covering each note completely afterwards, making sure you are holding the chanter lightly, and that you are not lifting your fingers more than a quarter inch off the chanter. Don’t practise anything else. Just relearn fingering. Try playing without your bottom thumb touching the chanter.
You can get through these little periods, but you should understand that they usually happen because you have probably been pushing past your abilties without practising the basics enough. Yes, I know it is frustrating and boring, but we all have to work through these things from time to time.
Maybe try a little hand cream to soften the skin and give you a better seal.
Also, for me, I find that the Eb hole is covered more with the pad of the top joint (nearest the tip) of the pinky. The remainder of the tone holes for the right hand fingers are covered between the top and middle joints. All fingers pointing in a slight downward angle.
You might also want to experiment with the angle between the tone holes and the windcap inlet. (Rotate the wincap relative to the chanter)
Other more experienced players can certainly add to this I am sure.
… which I promptly out grew. Livin’ the good life. Pizza is my friend.
John suggests that you avoid covering the holes with your joints, I wholeheartedly agree… personal history and all that. This is a good way to cause intonation issues.
Perhaps, as you earlier stated, adjusting the position of the chanter may be required to allow for better hand positioning.
The best bet, as has been chanted a gazillion times, get thee to an experienced piper before bad habits have a chance to set down roots.
I think you’ve answered your own question. Looking back and asking “what changed?..” is a good idea. Bag neck position and also bellows blowpipe arrangement can alter the way you hold the chanter slightly, possibly with dramatic results. While you would probably eventually adapt to the new arrangement, I agree that it would be a good time to break out the mirror and re-examine your playing posture carefully, for ergonomic reasons if nothing else.
Perhaps I ought to wait a couple of weeks, because it’s all going to change again when I pick up the rest of the Davy Stephenson half set. In the last two or three months I cracked my Daye reed, bought my Stephenson chanter with MacHarg bag and Dow bellows, bought another penny chanter so I can swap reeds, sell my Daye practice set but still keep a penny chanter, then I bought the Stephenson chanterless half set which I will pick up at the end of the month–so lots of changes. I’ll be selling the MacHarg bag and Dow bellows, and the Daye practice set soon.
I’m sure that I’m often holding the chanter at more of an angle now, which is a result of the way that the bag, bellows, blowpipe fit me, rather than the almost vertical position that most is most common with practice sets. Is it worth trying to stick with the the more slanted angle, which is what full set players do? Or should I be adjusting my position so that the chanter is almost upright again, but I can actually play the damn thing?
My advice is stick with the slanted angle. But really you should do the mirror thing, re-evaluate your wrist positions, etc. in conjunction with any decisions you take on posture/position. Just hoping the new bag/bellows/etc. “fixes” things leaves too much to chance - take this as an opportunity to improve your setup.
FWIW, Andrew, I think you should pay attention to your choice of words, in particular “grip”, as in “death grip”. I’ve been playing for about six years, and have noticed, in the last few months, the same tendency to flub the bottom D, as you just described. Nothing has changed in my pipe setup in the last three years.
At first my natural inclination was to “grip” the chanter harder, which of course did nothing but give me stiff fingers, and sore thumbs. Instead, I now prefer to imagine that I’m not really even holding the chanter at all: the chanter stands where it wants to, leaning heavily over towards my left (I’m right-handed, and the heavy slant - about 45 degrees to the horizontal - seems natural to me), and in playing, I imagine that all I’m doing is laying my fingers gently across the toneholes. If I’m flubbing the bottom D, I think in terms of splaying my right hand fingers just a little wider (not gripping the chanter harder), and try laying them gently back on the chanter. It really works for me. It’s a constant struggle, and I have to remind myself, sometimes several times during the course of a single playing session.
I think billh is on the money with “the mirror thing”. I feel like the pipes are fairly ergonomic in many ways (I’m a recovering flute-player, if that helps explain things…), or at least they should look and feel ergonomic to you, the player. I think that’s why there’s a fairly wide range in playing positions: take a look at photos of Paddy Keenan playing - his chanter is almost horizontal, like a flute. With padding in the right places, and a reed that’s reasonable to blow, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to sit and play for as long as you want. Todd Denman has spoken before about how his pipes are set up so that he just lays his elbow gently on the bad, and it plays, no conscious squeezing required.
I know we speak in terms of having the chanter “on/off the knee”, which I think encourages some people to hold the chanter vertical, literally as close to the knee as possible. In reality, it seems to me that most advanced players find it more comfortable to play it “on/off the inner mid-thigh”. Of course, in the intensely Catholic mid-twentieth century Ireland in which the pipes were revived from near extinction, such talk of thighs, be they inner, mid, outer or any other kind, was probably somewhat taboo. But the pipes are sort of unique in that you wear them, so they do need to be custom-fit to the individual. (Quiz: what makes thes uilleann pipes the safest of all musical instruments? They’re the only ones that come with both a seatbelt AND an airbag!)
So you know, find that experienced player who’ll help you weed out your problems before they take root, as others have said; take a look in the mirror, and see if you look comfortable (you should); ask yourself if it feels comfortable (it should). Maybe you need a longer neck (on the bag, that is!), a shorter blow-pipe, pads on your bellows, etc. But do it before you get discouraged.
