Hey I’ve never delt with Uilleann pipes before but I wish to get a practice set. I’ve been playing GHBagpipes for about 8 years and also play on bellow blown Scottish Small Pipes.
Has anyone here made the transition from a Great Highland Bagpipe to an Uilleann set?
If so was it difficult to learn Uilleann?
Thanks!
I played GHB off and on, never ‘hard core’ committed (wasn;t in a band, didn’t own a set, didn’t take lessons) but played for fun and occasionally for a gig, etc.
The biggest things I’ve fumbled with:
New system of fingering (complicated by the fact I play GHB lefty)
Getting used to using bellows instead of blowing
Overblowing to get the second octave
And…uh…
If you already play bellows blown SSP, then you probably have some good bellows expierence already. The new fingering pattern (though pretty logical) does take some getting used to, but if you’re already used to doing finger articulations, you shouldn’t have too much trouble.
My $ .02
I have a lot of experience with this. I started on the GHB myself and then in the late 70’s made the switch over to the uilleann pipes. In the years after, I’ve helped a large number of my GHB-playing friends make the leap to the Dark Side.
The differences between the two instruments are so numerous that you have to approach the uilleann pipes like an entirely new instrument, almost as if you were learning the saxophone or something. Almost none of your GHB fingering, and almost none of your GHB technique, will be employed. Even the approach to bag control is quite different.
One thing that is often frustrating to those coming from GHB is a lack of a “one-and-only correct way” of doing things. GHB players want everything in concrete. They want to know the “right” way of playing each thing. And, they want everything written out. Historically, uilleann pipers learned by ear and there is still very little uilleann music out there that approached a detailed transcription of all the little things in the music. Each piper has his own way of doing things: give ten pipers a tune to learn, and they’ll come back playing the tune ten different ways. Rather than tunes existing in any sort of standard version including a set sequence of ornaments, each piper has in is mind a catalogue of ornaments which he can apply to any tune at will. Also tough for GHB players is the large number of alternate fingerings. Many notes on the uilleann pipes can be fingered in a number of different ways depending on whether the passage is being played “on the knee” or “off the knee”, whether vibrato is being used, whether a certain tone colour is desired, whether a certain ornament is to be played, and which octave the note is in.
Anyhow, the most cost-efficient way to begin is with a David Daye “penny chanter” practice set. His stuff looks funky (non-traditional) but plays very well. Avoid like the plague the uilleann pipes made in Pakistan.
Then get the NPU (na Piobairi Uilleann) instructional videos, or better yet, a teacher. Beware that on the NPU videos the instructors don’t necessarily play the tunes the way they appear in the booklet. A good instructor could point this out.
There are a lot of instructional books out there, most of which do not correctly notate the timing of rolls and crans etc. I would get several books and cross-reference to get a clear picture. Many techniques will probably not be learnable from books, for example, I’ve yet to see a book which correctly shows how to “bark”, breaking the movement down to the steps required.
A great source is the book “The Dance Music Of Willie Clancy”. It’s like a Rosetta Stone for the pipes, and it will greatly reward the time you spend carefully reading the analysis of Willie’s playing and reading through (and playing through) the transcriptions. Clancy’s style still exerts an influence on today’s pipers and in Clancy’s music you will hear a lot of things that current players do.
Good luck!
LOTS and PanCeltic have provided some excellent advice and information above; I won’t sully it with my babbling idiocy – except to emphasize the importance of a teacher (or someone who will help you on a regular basis), and a properly working set of pipes. Its essential to have someone to put the small bits together for you. And for the love of fuck save up and spend the cash for a decent practice set. Um, in place of the little “x” C&F put in place of my chosen word, insert a word that sounds like duck but starts with f and makes some people cringe because its a “magic” word and may connote that the speaker wishes the listener to pay particular attention to the message delivered with the word.
If you need to wait for a set, buy a $10.00 whistle and start training your ear.
And don’t quit playing GHB.
Cheers