B roll problems

[StevieJ]

It has something to do with the upper octave >fingers up for c# > fingers down for B > initial cut on B for the start of the roll. This combination is especially tricky for me. The initial cut sounds just too long and awkward, and is, of course, throwing off the rest of the roll.

If the transition from the c# to the B roll is causing problems, stabilizing the whistle with your bottom-hand ring finger (covering the bottom hole) or little finger may help. In fact you could easily place all three fingers of your bottom hand over their holes without affecting the pitch of the B (depending on your whistle).

As for the roll, you say you are practising it slowly, but are you executing the cut and tap as distinct movements - first one and then the other - rather than trying to do the whole thing at once as it were? If in doubt refer to the Brother Steve da-blah-blah method, and remember that for a roll on an offbeat, such as these ones, you do NOT want to "swing" the roll (which you might want to do on a long roll) but to divide the B into three even notes.

c# (ya) + B (da) + {c}B (blah) + {A}B (blah)

Get that going nice and evenly and speed up very gradually.

[pancelticpiper]

As for the roll, you say you are practising it slowly, but are you executing the cut and tap as distinct movements - first one and then the other - rather than trying to do the whole thing at once as it were?

That's what I was trying to express. A metronome forces you (I should think) to separate the different melody notes, keeping the cut and pat distinct.

Sometimes the roll becomes a jumbled blob, a spasm of the fingers, and not three clearly articulated notes. Once somebody gets sloppy rolls fixed in their muscle memory it's doubly difficult to fix. Best to practice them precisely from the get-go.

[awildman]

After reading through all the comments here, I have narrowed down the problem. Relaxation for sure is an issue that I'm working on.

As far as technical details, it is the lifting up of LH first finger(for the c#), then lifting up again almost immediately(for the cut at the beginning of the roll) that is the culprit. For some reason, this extra movement makes my mind tell my finger to lift higher than I would for a normal cut. Well, that and the following tap which my fingers try to do together. The separate motion thing for each part of the roll is spot on. (Thanks to all who suggested that). I've still got a long ways to go to make it clean and smooth, but at least I have an idea what I'm doing wrong. I think I'll always struggle with this a bit due to working-man-hands, but I'm confident that a bunch of focused practice will net me some big improvements.

Cheers!