In reading over these posts I’m not sure if everyone is on the same page when they use the term “piper’s grip”.
On the lower hand it simply is a matter of keeping the fingers somewhat flatter rather than arched. If you see Matt Molloy playing you’ll see that his index and ring fingers are flat but the middle finger (being longer) has a crook in it (he’s still using the flat of the end-joint pad but the next two joints go up in a gentle “V”).
The upper hand is a very different issue. The vast majority of the Irish players I’ve seen use an upper-hand grip fairly close to the “classical” grip (fingers, though fairly flat, are at an approx 70 degree angle to the wrist). Occasionally you’ll see an Irish player with a true “piper’s grip” in the upper hand: the fingers held straight, wrist held out straight (in other words, fingers, wrist, and forearm are all perfectly in-line) which puts the thumb to the outside of the flute tube. These players often hold the flute pointing forward rather than to the side. I have a video of Matt Molloy at a concert playing along with a fluteplayer who holds his flute in this way and it’s very interesting to see the two utterly different grips side-by-side.
Rob!!! Not only should you refrain and desist from any kind of pedal percussion forthwith, but you should also NOT keep your eggs (unnecessarily) in the fridge! You’re no sucker, though, but I bet you’re a little ender… Heretic!
Interestingly enough, my great uncle was a renowned egg-farmer in my home town of Rocky Mount, NC (it’s in the flattest part of the state - let’s just say that the “mount” isn’t going to give Erarat a run for its money any time soon), where he was the sole proprietor of a farm called Brake Acres. As befit his post, he was full of egg lore. His famous recipe for eggnog called for “12 eggs, three days old.” Additionally, he maintained to the last that eggs need not be refrigerated, having been endowed by Mother Nature with the perfect packaging.
Sadly, he’s no longer with us. If he were, I’d turn him loose on my over-fastidious wife, who starts to look askance at eggs after a week, even if they’ve been, at her repeated insistence, in the fridge. Cheers,
Rob
Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Eggs in the fridge? Is this on topic? Oh well, here’s the scoop. Though the jury’s out on this:
The Old Eggs in the Fridge Discussion
It’s rather like talking about the proper grip, isn’t it? Moot.
Ah, Cocus, your grip of irony has deserted you so soon? 
That’s also why I made my Swiftian reference (a Dubliner, so at least tangentially “on topic”?). 'Sides, it was fun to be able to accuse Rob of heresy… 
, though he hasn’t risen to the bait… yet. (Oooooh, the mixed metaphors! 
)
(I enjoyed the link, though - thanks!)
Well back to the grip thing, I’ve found that video on YouTube (isn’t it great?).
On YouTube it’s titled “Cormac Breatnach” (shouldn’t it be “Breathnach”?). Or it’s called “Matt Molloy on The Session Live”. Anyhow you can see Matt with his semi-classical grip beside Cormac Breatnach/Breathnach using a piper’s grip. Note that Cormac is holding the flute pointing somewhat to the front.
I really enjoyed seeing several classic videos of Matt. Note that he keeps his pinkie down at all times- there’s a fluteplayer around here that does the same. When I try that I find it clumsy to play pats on E but Matt has no troubles.
An old Clare fluteplayer named Ray Tubridy (cousin of Michael) told me once, “Tat Matt Molloy- tere’s no flies on him…”