Two questions from a future beginner--read at your own risk!

[Cynth]

Gee, thank you for all the very helpful responses. I will stick to the term "piping" and I think I may try bit of arm strengthening but without the added burden of being worried about being able to use my instrument at all---I think I will be able to, particularly since my pipemaker will also be my teacher and can adjust things at the beginning if I'm obviously having more trouble than most people. Thank you again.

Pipering is a deliberate slang term, and is only used by the roughest element in the piping community.

Like you guys?

thank you for having the courage to ask this question.

Well, I put the "read at your own risk" in the title to cover myself just in case .

Check some of these: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/upperbod.html

Dude, push-ups? I said I normally just turn the pages in books! Actually, some of those look like I could do them just fine. Thank you for the reference.

Of course doing anything new with your arms will take some getting used to - try holding your arm straight out for 3 minutes, for example.

Okay, I like this better. I can do this right now.

Maximum power output for a pipe chanter is around 50 to 100 milliwatts.

So, like, I can use batteries? Why didn't you mention this before???

as a fellow female piper I can sympathize with the arm strength issue.

Your experience is very helpful to hear about. I'm glad to meet another woman too!

did you specify your need to the maker?

I may just get in touch with him and tell him about my concern. He lives in Iowa (Tim Britton) and so luckily I'm just a couple of hours away if something needed to be tried out. He has been very nice to deal with.

the most important thing is that you are taking
lessons. anyone knowledgeable enough to teach piping can also help you adjust your reed safely so that it is on the easy side.

I am thinking that this will be the most important thing too.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Moderate weight lifting may help, but I would avoid power building. Stetching properly before and after playing (IMHO) is far more important. I think that the best thing you can do right now is order what tutorials you will be using (if you haven't already done so), and watching/listening/reading them every free moment you can.

Also, listening to great pipers. Surround youself with, and focus on the music. You may not know or hear what you should be listening to at first, but in time (especially once you begin lessons) it will become clearer. Immerse yourself fully into the 'sound' of piping... I feel this is a very important thing to do.

[Joseph E. Smith]

As a side note, joining the Irish Piper's club and receiving The Piper's Review is a very good thing to do. Loads of info and tionol scheduling among other good content is to be had in that publication.

You can go here for more info: http://www.irishpipersclub.org/

[Cynth]

Thanks JES. Okay, I will avoid power building . I hadn't thought about stretching, but I have heard of people who exercise doing it so I'll remember that. I have been listening to CD's and just ordered some more today. I listened to Johnny Doran for the first time yesterday. What an experience that was! Wow! I do have the H. Clarke book and NPU dvd on order. I will make sure to to join this club. Thank you very much for this link. I don't know anything about important periodicals at all.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Stretching will aid in avoiding injury. You may also want to consider joing NPU.

[misterpatrick]

I am an active rock climber and kayaker. I can do many two-fingered pull-ups. Has this helped with piping? Not one bit that I can tell. My arms still hurt after a long session and I am always battling the dreaded chanter grip-o-death. Piping will make you a stronger piping. When you start getting cramped or tired when you're playing, just take five minutes to walk around and you'll feel better.

-Patrick

[Jon Cooper]

Hi Cynth,

Just a quick comment to reassure you that if Tim Britton is your teacher then you are well on your way. You simply could not be in better hands.

With 1- 2 hours of focused practice each day you will be surprised at the progress that can be made even in the first year.

As far as exercises go, listen to your shoulder and rest as you need to during those hours of practice. The best exercise for developing UP muscles is obsessively focusing and practicing UP's. It even looks like an exercise machine!...Tim will set your reed up fine and be the best source for advice.

A good teacher and the 1 to 2 hours of practice each day is the key.

(In your case, you have one of the best teachers... the practice is the other half of the equation and that is solely up to the piper)

Oh and did I mention it is important to practice 1 - 2 hours a day : )
I've been at it 8 years and still consider it the most important part for me. It always pays off in the end, but only if you put in the time and never give up.

You are in for an amazingly fun ride if you are serious about becoming a piper.

Oh and I am in Davenport and help host a session here. We are very lucky to have some very talented folk show up most of the time. You are more than welcome to come see what's what. The bar also serves the best Guinness from here to the Mississippi. (Everyone else may need to consult the atlas to figure out that one)

Best
Jon Cooper

[Cynth]

I can do many two-fingered pull-ups.

For just one second there I was going to scream . I did get into some trouble with the whistle and I think the resting and stretching and not allowing a problem to develop is something I will pay a lot of attention to.

JES, I thought I would join NPU. I wish I had done it before I bought all my CD's.

You simply could not be in better hands. ......The bar also serves the best Guinness from here to the Mississippi.

That was my impression before I talked to him and that was very definitely my impression after I talked to him. I feel very lucky. I have the time to practice, so it will be up to me. I live in Grinnell. If I can get out your way sometime I'll check with you about listening in, that would be fun. With a bar like that, who wouldn't be up for a mighty long drive ! Just make sure you get those brakes on before you hit the river.

[Fiddle piper]

Cynth,

I wouldn't worry about your armstrength too much -
it will improve gradually once you get your pipes!

Sam

[John S]

Nice one Bill, this site needs more of us rigorous scientific types.

Perhaps the easiest way to calculate the energy requirements would be to measure the bag pressure and calculate the flow rate (bellows volume x pumps/unit time).

John S

[billh]

the point of the milliwatt talk is that there is no fundamental physical reason why this should require huge exertion. When the sound output is measurable in tens of milliwatts, then if it's requiring huge exertion, something very inefficient is going on.

The one percent efficiency figure suggests that you should be able to get plenty of sound for a few tens of watts exertion. One (kilo)calorie per minute is about 70 watts.

I don't see any advantage to deliberately setting up a set of pipes to a much lower standard than other wind instruments.

Bill

[Cynth]

All jokes aside billh, I do see your point and it makes sense. It doesn't really make sense for anything to use energy more inefficiently than necessary. And I guess the set up of the pipes and the technique of the person playing them would both be affecting how the energy is used. I am really glad I will have a teacher! I do think it sounds as though I don't need to worry about getting an instrument I just plain can't even get started on, and that was what was going through my mind.

[Donald E Baltus]

Piping will make you a stronger piping. When you start getting cramped or tired when you're playing, just take five minutes to walk around and you'll feel better.

-Patrick

Glad you said that and not me. It would sound like boasting to describe myself as a fat, lazy, tired old guy who thinks UP are a walk in the park in terms of physically playing them. It's all down to pipering.

By the way, "pipering" is just an older term for the same thing, it's not slang at all, it's just old.

[ausdag]

With 1- 2 hours of focused practice each day you will be surprised at the progress that can be made even in the first year.

The 2nd year will then be spent searching around for replacement rotator cuffs.

DG

[Jon Cooper]

Just to clarify, I have had good luck practicing in 25 – 40 minute pops (Stopping mostly because of brain strain), 3 to 4 times over the entire course of an evening. And 85% of it doing only chanter work.

Wholeheartedly, I am in complete agreement with the “strain” warnings form people on this list. The safety aspect comes first and then the logging the practice hours. Make sure you have the safety end of the equation shored up. At no time should you ever be thinking “well this really hurts, but maybe I just need to work through it”… If it hurts, stop immediately and seek advice from Mr. Tim.

I also completely agree with others that the first few weeks to a month you may not be able to log a lot of practicing time.

Generically I would say practice as much as your muscles will safely allow and always-always listen to what your shoulders and hands are telling you. I am positive that the strong warnings about strain in the recent forum discussions were generated for a very very good reasons.

Have a blast (it is fun) and yup definitely look the Davenport sessioners up if you are ever in the area on the first Saturday of a month.

Best
Jon