Sometimes it’s the little things that matter. Let’s take example #1 in the image above. We’re going from E to F with a G grace note on the F. It doesn’t seem complicated however you may be surprised at how many pipers don’t execute this properly.

What I find sometimes is that a piper will put the G grace note on the E as they’re moving to F as seen in the second line of the example. They simply “flip” from E to F and throw a G grace note on top of it. If you break it down, they’re actually putting the G grace note on the E and then moving to F. There is also a crossing-noise occurring between the E and F as they’re doing this. The end result is a dirty transition and incorrect technique. You wind up with “the flippy thing”. I’ve tried to express this in as staff notation in example # 2.

Example #3 – Properly executed you move from E to a full three-fingers-off-the-chanter High G. Then simply hammer your index finger down to play F. That is the correct way to transition from an E to an F with a G grace note on the F.

If you’re not sure whether or not you’re doing this transition correctly, slow things down and exaggerate everything. Get your fingers off the chanter. You might not think that this is a big deal…, but it is!