The point of yesterday’s post… Play the tune as “musically perfect” as possible within your personal abilities. I am not advocating eliminating embellishments for every piper or from every tune. I’m saying that there are more important elements to the music than complicated embellishments that may compromise tone, tempo, timing, phrasing, etc. etc.

Eliminating complicated embellishments doesn’t mean you’re a hack. It means that you have an understanding and respect for the essence of the instrument and its music. It also means that you know your own abilities and those things that matter most.

With this in mind, a friend sent me an audio file that I’ll use as an example. All of the elements that we talked about yesterday are present here. I’m not going to break it down, but I am going to ask you to listen critically. This is not to be critical but to draw lines between what I wrote and what you’re hearing in this audio clip.

I am confident that the overall musical product would improve enormously by applying the thinking and methods expressed in previous posts. By creating a better understanding of the instrument and music, we develop better technique and practice habits that help us to become better performers and better teachers.