Posts

The Average Piper - Complicated Tunes!

I’m going to hit “reset” today and go back to our list of 7 deadly sins. #2 was choosing tunes that are too complicated. Most of the tune books today are written by Grade 1 pipers for Grade 1 pipers. There is little that is within the…

The Average Piper - Understanding...the Music!

I'm expecting some push-back on what I'm about to say. I’ve thrown a lot of information at you these past couple of days as we broke down the first measure of Scotland the Brave. Now I’m going to throw a monkey-wrench into the machinery. Scotland…

The Average Piper - Understanding Notation...#2

Following the notion that a "lack of understanding" is a primary issue impacting The Average Piper, let's continue to explore the first measure of Scotland the Brave. Point of clarification…when I talk about playing a note “on the beat”…

The Average Piper - Understanding!

What do we mean by “lack of understanding”? How does one go obtaining that deeper knowledge and understanding of the instrument and the music? This series is moving along slowly with the hope that questions will be asked and we can drill…

The Average Piper - 7 Deadly Sins

The following list was compiled by several “Average Pipers.” It is intended to provide a glimpse into some of the main challenges that the average piper faces. These “sins” compromise both the music and the experience, mostly leading…

The Average Piper - Note Errors Pt II

Dan Bell hit the nail on the head by summing up note errors to "lack of preparedness" and "lack of focus". We talked about preparedness yesterday so let’s talk about focus. Research tells us that the human brain processes 400 billion bits…

The Average Piper - Blowing Tone III

Just to recap, we talked about the need to maintain steady pressure within the bag whether you’re blowing or taking a breath (I hate the term “squeezing” as the action is more subtle than “squeezing”). We also talked about the need…

The Average Piper - Blowing Tone Pt II

I can remember the exact moment when I heard it. I’m talking about that moment when I heard the harmonics of my chanter blend with those being produced by my drones. It was an entirely new world opened up. I had placed myself in a corner…

The Average Piper - Protect Your Tone!

In the old days, I both loved and hated practice. I always made certain that my bagpipe was ready to go and after about ten minutes of playing it was tuned and completely settled. Others would arrive having not touched their pipes since the…

The Average Piper - The Bag #4

So, what’s going on inside my bag and what can I do about it? Great questions. As I said earlier, you’re pumping air that’s close to body temperature into the bag and about 100% RH. Under moderate conditions, with everything working as…