I am having trouble with consistent jumps to any notes in the 2nd octave. Once I am there it seems to be a matter of keeping the bag pressure up and not having too many holes open at the same time. But jumping from any 1st octave note to the higher D,E,F,G,A,B,C seems to be a little inconsistent. Instead of the higher note I get the lower note or sometimes no note at all like the reed clamps shut. I can get there but not as regularly as I like. Any tips, tricks, techniques.
I have also noticed that once I have done some work in the 2nd octave that small variations in bag pressure can jump me back up to that higher octave when I don’t want to be there. Is that normal?
Getting to E’,F’ and G’ should only be a matter of pressure and practice. However, getting A’, B’ and C’nat mostly require a little trick. To get to A’ you need to open G’ very quickly. Likewise with B’. Seamus Ennis’s book the Master’s Touch gives great tips on getting to the second octave and staying there. After that, it’s just practice.
there are those who make strange recommendations like beginners should not be in the upper octave at all for the first year. that is a little extreme. but you certainly should not need or want the third octave D or the second octave c#, or C nat hardly at all the first couple of years. the second octave B does come up, and you jump to it with another high note as has been described.
good tunes for practicing jumps up to the second octave notes:
The Harvest Home as notated in the Clarke tutor. This is a slow hornpipe. Both the a and b parts involve frequent jumps from first to second octave notes. also, the B part of the dublin reel is good to practice.
there are those who make strange recommendations like beginners should not be in the upper octave at all for the first year. that is a little extreme. but you certainly should not need or want the third octave D or the second octave c#, or C nat hardly at all the first couple of years. the second octave B does come up, and you jump to it with another high note as has been described.
good tunes for practicing jumps up to the second octave notes:
The Harvest Home as notated in the Clarke tutor. This is a slow hornpipe. Both the a and b parts involve frequent jumps from first to second octave notes. also, the B part of the dublin reel is good to practice.
