Does anyone have printed out a good bunch of exercises to do, like crans, rolls, back-stitching up and down the scale? If so, is it possible to post somehow here and I can print it out? Thanks…cheers
Pat D’Arcy’s site has some explanation of piping techniques which could also serve as exercises.
i still don’t know exactly back-stitching is but i don’t think you need to worry about trying it yet
i don’t know about everyone else but i found the only way to learn about ornamentation was to slowly incorporate them into some tunes - i don’t think it’s necessarily the right thing to spend too much time practicing them in isolation as this might be a bit boring and also you need to start thinking about where to put them not just how to play them - also, i’m not sure if exercises are as important in piping as say when playing the piano - remember you only really have 2 scales you can practice (d and g), it’s not like playing a classical instrument where you have to be able to find your way through key signatures for every note - one other thing i’ve found with the pipes is that each tune you learn leads you to be able to tackle another as so many tunes are similar to one another in what they demand of you, and learning new tunes slowly stretches you
i hope some of what i’ve said is helpful
PJ, thats the ticket, thanks…just something to kind of go over slowly…looks like good stuff…cheers.
thanks, I get what you are saying…its early for me to try to figure out the real technical stuff, but it’s good to see it on paper and hear it in a tune and try to work it out…
Back-stitching a lower-hand note is usually done by playing tight B and A (or C and A) notes in the middle of playing the long lower-hand note, so that you get something like D (BA) D, or E (BA) E, etc.
Listen to Patsy Touhey playing Jackson’s Jig. In the 2nd part, he plays lots of back-stitching, particularly the second time he plays the 2nd part.
PJ…you da man
Scales are an excellent exercise for developing control. Try playing a SLOW open scale, then a SLOW closed scale (“closed” means that you stop the chanter completely after each note, which you will be able to do up to the second octave G). Ten minutes of that a day for a month, perhaps as a warm-up before playing whatever tune currently is chasing you around the house, and you will definitely see improvement.
You might have a look at one of the oldest tutors, the one by O’Farrell:
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/music/index.html
And if you’re not a member of NPU, join up and check out the section of their website called “Source.” Video tutors!
You don’t need to be a member to access the tutors via Source. Still, it’s a good idea to join NPU.
if, for instance in the rambling pitcfork you play ‘f A-C-A/e A-C-A/ f A-C-A/ g A-C-A’ as keenan does is this back-stitching?
Looks more like it’s an A-C-A triplet to me.
it would start on f and end on f with a c, a grace note seperating? likewise with d, e, g
then start on A and end on A with a g, f grace note. b, c, back d same formula?