Bagpipes in the future

[SteveB]

I am psyched. I had my first lesson with a tutor on the practice chanter. I am thrilled. The sticky above has good practical advise. I went prepared with my McCallum long practice chanter, hemp, beeswax, plenty of reeds, notebook(very important), the "Green Book" and a lot of energy. The piper that has taken me on (a real big challenge) is a grade three piper with Crann Tara, a local pipe band. He has been playing the GHB for seven years and started when he was fourteen. I am an old man, and expect to take some time to get this going. After initial introductions, we started. He was delighted that I had read the "Green Book", and had been reading up on the practice chanter on the bobdunshire.com website. He and I are glad that I left the chanter in the box until I could sit down with a tutor. His guidance with finger placement, posture, and hand motion technique were a great help in starting off in the right direction. We worked together for two hours. He took the time to demonstrate how to properly set the reed and care for the chanter. Going through the reeds that I had, he fitted several before settling on one he felt would work for me.
The one thing that I would like to add to what the pipers of XMTS have stated above. If at all possible, leave the chanter in the box until you can start working with a tutor. The exercises that the tutor will teach you are very important to the comfort and enjoyment of this instrument. The jones is well worth it. My McCallum long chanter is good, and the finger spacing is close to the bagpipe chanter, but not as close as the Dunbar long chanter.
The tutor I am working with demonstrated working from the spacing on our respective practice chanters to the Sheppard bagpipe chanter that the band uses. By the end of the first session, I have many exercises to work on between now and Tuesday's session.

Yay! I am now making sounds that delight me, and annoy my neighbours.

[george7]

Good stuff. Try not to annoy your neighbors too early on and they might hire you when you're a great piper.

[Spartan]

Way to go, Steve. My first lesson is next week! So I'm jonesing until then.

[parker_db]

Sounds like you were a little better prepared then I. I have my first lesson this past Monday and really enjoyed it, but I didn’t have extra reeds. The instructor was kind enough to share one with me. I to have the McCallum practice chanter and find it a challenge with an old injury to my last two fingers on the right hand. But I think with a little diligent practice I may be able to overcome that. I was gifted a set of McCallum ab1 pipes, along with my Tartan bag cover for Christmas. How wonderful. I look forward to hearing of everyone’s progress.

[vmac3205]

I'm progressing on the chanter. My grace notes are still slow, but with practice and patience, it's coming. I have a set of Sherherd pipes that I can't wait to get playing!!

[kypnkilt]

What you ought to do is record yourself now...then a year from now. Listening to the difference a year makes... It's jaw-dropping!


Let us know how it goes in 3 months.....

[vmac3205]

What you ought to do is record yourself now...then a year from now. Listening to the difference a year makes... It's jaw-dropping!


Let us know how it goes in 3 months.....

What a great idea.
Hey, have you guys washed away yet?

[SteveB]

George,
I do not think I will be able to annoy two of my neighbors - they play the pipes! For the rest of them, I am another chanter in the day to day sound on the street.

Kypnkilt,
The tutor has suggested the same thing. He played a tape of his first week on the practice chanter. Then performed the same exercise live right after. What a big difference.


The next item I will soon have is a metronome, a more modern recording device, and a notebook with pages for musical notation. My tutor is trying to have me learn the note on the page directly to my fingers. The first exercise regimen includes G gracenotes at each step of the scale on the lower hand. He does not want me to grace on the upper hand yet.
I can sure tell the difference of sounds when I hit the ungraced upper part of the scale.
The only recording device that I currently own is a reel to reel tape recorder that I bought in my teens. It takes half an hour for the tubes to warm up. But I feel the sound quality is better than most of the solid state units on the market.

I thank all on XMTS for the information and the encouragement. Among the pipers that live near me, and the tutors for the band, including the pipe major, pipe sargeant, and lead pipers, every one has been encouraging and helpful. I hope to reward that with quality piping in a few years.

Slainte

[Andrew Cameron Goodman]

"To the make of a piper, go seven years of his own learning, and seven generations before. At he end of his seven years one born to it will stand at the start of knowledge. And leaning a fond ear to the drone, he may have parlay with old folks of old affairs"
-Neil Munro (Scottish Author)

If I can be of any help please don't hesitate to contact me..

-- Andy

[Derek Conley]

Bravo! I have a Dunbar standard-length PC and am considering moving to a long chanter.