Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hello,

I just ordered a practice set of pipes from David Daye. It'll be a few months until they come so I was wondering what would be the best use of my time to make starting on the pipes easier. I have been playing Irish trad on accordion for a little over 6 years now and know a few tunes. I also have a few tinwhistles laying around the house. Would it be best to start focusing on learning my tunes on the tinwhistle or are the fingerings between whistle and pipes far enough apart that it wouldn't really help? I know the pipes are played with a closed finger style and I'm a big guy and would have trouble stopping the hole at the end of a tin whistle on my knee

Cheers,
Sean

Whistle is a good start, " we all learnt to play the whistle first" was a legendary players comment last week in my kitchen.
Personally id echoe the good advice of patsy touhey, who said roughly, that a begining piper should stick to scales and airs for the first 6month and not under any circumstance attempt to play dance tunes at pace.

Never underestimate listening. I recommend 80/20 for listening/playing. If you get stuck into some proper listening while you are waiting for the pipes it will give you a good bit of a head start.

Most will tell you that solo piping is the way to go.

Thanks for the tips!

Any solo albums you can recommend? I have a few Planxty, Cheiftains and Lúnasa albums along with 2 Cillian Vallely albums (including the duo he did with his brother) but I don't know of much that is just solo piping.

Some good solo piping:

Robbie Hannan's "Traditional Music Played On The Uilleann Pipes"
Mick O'Brien "The May Morning Dew"
Brian McNamara "A Piper's Dream"
David Power "The 18 Moloney"
Kieran O'Hare's eponymous solo album
Ennis/Clancy if you want the older generation
NPU's "The Drones and The Chanters" series
Anything by Paddy Keenan (not solo, I know, but still...)

Listen a lot, as has been said.

The whistle is dandy for practicing rolls and cuts, even though the fingering is not the same as a chanter.

There is no real susbstitute for the pipes. They are a unique beast. Anything that helps you grow musically will apply to the pipes. And there are a few technical things that transfer. Cuts, rolls, sliding into notes, and a general approach to the function of wind instruments.

But, ultimately, all of that stuff can be learned on the pipes. Dont force yourself to learn an instrument you're not in love with just to get a small advantage on the pipes. IMO, play the instrument you want to play and dont sweat prepping. Except for the listening.

Not sure how I feel about learning tunes you already know on a new instrument......there is a lot of mental baggage and biases attached to familiar tunes. There is a lot to be said for a clean slate. Dont sweat learning specific pipe tunes yet.

Listen to this a few million times!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsTk_WJ4y70&t=4585s

One thing I found helpful in a small way when just starting out was to buy a B flat whistle and play on it. The finger-stretch begins to approach that on a UP chanter.

BTW, in my experience, almost all pipers can play the whistle, but a few who do will not admit it.

Nick