question about technique

[john]

this question is a bit too specific to probably be of much interest but i'll go ahead anyway

basically, it's about going into a gfe tight triplet from an f, and more often than not a e before that - I've always found this a finger-twister and often adapt a tune to avoid it - when I do try it it's like a big obstacle looming that I have to try to clamber over and that often derails me

I don't know what it is about it that's so hard for me - does anyone have the same issue or is just me?

[Mr.Gumby]

Everybody has some sticky points, most people have slow C fingers (or more generally slow top hand cbc.. cdc.. and movements like that circling the C nat being hard to get into) and others will have some other 'blind spot'. I never found the f (3gfe a problem but it took me very very long to finally get the for example gfg triplet right and I will probably never manage something like eA (3AcA (probably because I use eA (3BcA and haven't bothered practicing the other one).

Practice enough and your finger/brain coordination will eventually improve and leave you wondering what the fuss was all about.

[Patrick D'Arcy]

A brilliant exercise is Seamus Ennis's GFG FGF GFG FGF GFG FGF GFG FGF ... do that a few thousand times and hey presto! You're problems will be solved!

Patrick

[Mr.Gumby]

Well, I have it now, it was just he one that took me a while.

[RLines]

I have been focussing on improving the tightness, variety and control of my top hand triplets for the last year. What I have found really helpful in this is using a metronome, where each note sounded on the chanter equals one beat of the metronome.

Typically what most of us find in doing triplets, especially top hand triplets, is that some fingers move more easily, quickly and with more control than others. Therefore, what might seems like a triplet is actually not in proper time/rhythm when dropped into a tune, and not all notes are of equal measure. Similarly, not all fingers are as tight in closing the chanter.

Working with a metronome (and as Pat and Peter have said going through the ornament a hundred times at a sitting) I have found really helps. As your weaker finger/s grow in strength and control, you can gradually increase the tempo of the metronome, to ensure that you are always progressing only as quickly as your weakest finger, and most importantly staying in time.

One thing I have found a godsend in this (and in practicing in general) is the availability of online metronomes. In the past, I have always struggled to hear the beat of a standard metronome over the volume of the pipes (and I can't seem to use a visual beat very well). But with the online metronome I just crank up my speakers and can hear the beat perfectly.

Rick

[JR]

Playing the triplets 100 times is a good start but I'd always pick a tune to give the ornament some context.

I always think of Alexander's Hornpipe as a good one to play for the gfe triplet. It's a great tune to play open but when you start with the staccato it really comes to life.

[RLines]

Yes indeed. Do whatever works for you, and inspires your practice.

An elderly piper friend of mine in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim (who passed some years ago) used to tell me that in every tune there is one tricky phrase, and in our rush to learn a tune there is a tendency to fudge our way through that tricky part. But of course it is important to learn it and play it properly, even if doing so slows down our overall tempo and playing of the tune. So for me, as a result, my approach has been to work on those tricky parts in isolation.

In terms of top hand triplets, I totally agree on learning them in the context of a tune. But for me, I realise (when I record myself and listen back) that sometimes when I have a tight triplet in a tune, it is easy to overlook whether it is actually being played properly, in time and with the proper crisp separation of notes needed for tight playing. That is why I personally have started taking some of my weaker ornaments in isolation for a while, before reinserting them (hopefully in an improved state!) in the tune I originally wanted to play.

Whatever works best for you is definitely what you should focus on.

R

[Christian Tietje]

Dear John,

for all of us it's the same: We have not got the movements of the fingers for the Uilleann Pipes as necessary by natural givings. The same is valid for any other exercise.

The proved way is to start the correct sequence of fingering very, very slowly, one finger movement every second and then increase the speed step by step until very fast, faster than in tunes. Repeat as often as necessary combined with playing slowly and steadily in tunes. Nothing else is reality but practising. Some have to practice more, some less time, but nothing works apart from doing until it works. Don't give up!!! If it does't work today or this week, let it settle down for a few days and then try it once again in one week, again in two weeks. If you do that, then you will get it in a certain future! That's my own expierence after 50 years of playing music.

The brain has to hard-wire the new movement until it works without thinking about it. That takes time.

[rorybbellows]

I had terrible trouble as a beginner with tight GFE triplets until I was told that the G was played with one finger. We live and learn.

RORY

[Calum]

I have one comment to make, and I'd appreciate any wiser thoughts on it than mine. I have observed that in many staccato phraselets, often the first note is not really played staccato - instead it is essentially a normal melody note, as one plays into the first note legato. For example the dcA in the third bar of Garret Barry's. Of course this isn't always true but for runs up and down the scale is seems it very often is.

I've found bearing this in mind can be handy when thinking about the phrasing of some troublesome triplets. Though Bcd still frustrates me...

[john]

i'm trying to close the f# very firmly and take a tiny break before the triplet - this seems to be a compromise that might be useful but i'm not sure yet if it's a solution - I think it's a case of seeing how it works at speed - it might be an idea to shorten the f# a tiny bit to try to avoid too much of a gap

[mke_mick]

In my opinion, gfe is the staccato triplet to learn -- I find myself slipping it in all over the place. (I can't imagine "Garret Barry's Jig" without it.) As Rory says, the trick is to use a one-fingered g. I'll add that you shouldn't bother trying to close off (shorten) the e: in any staccato triplet, the last note is the least necessary to shorten, to achieve the desired effect. And two-fingered notes in rapid staccato triplets are beastly difficult.

Also, how tense is your right hand before you attempt the gfe triplet? I find that my triplets suffer enormously when I'm fatigued, which is usually when I revert to a "death grip" on one or both hands. This can make it quite difficult to lift your fingers, which is just as important as closing them rapidly.

Cheers,
Mick

[john]

if anyone has the time or inclination could they have a look at ceo na gcnoc, specifically at the e and f# that precede the g and e that can be played as a triplet

I was trying this today with the triplet and kept on tripping over on it - there's something wrong with the way I approach it and it's probably not something anyone can help me with without seeing me play it in person

all the same i'd like to know if anyone else finds this phrase difficult

thanks

[Brazenkane]

It's very easy to feel that "this is impossible," or " I'll never get it."

The great news is that piping technique has been difficult for all pipers (at one point in time). Johnny Doran, Patsy Touhy, Seamus Ennis, Willie Clancy, on to all the modern day masters, they ALL had a tough time of it at one point or another.

It's difficult to imagine Ennis, Clancy, or Touhy sweating away struggling to get things together, but the fact is they all did. We only tuned in to their (musical) lives sometime wayyyyyyYYYyyy AFTER that stage!

So, the great news is that piping technique has not only been "figured out," but hundreds of players, if not more, have accomplished this, and there's no reason you can't do it either!

If you can commit to the thousands of hours it will take to get there ("there" being relaxed and in-time technique) as Peter says, when you do arrive...you'll be asking yourself "what all the fuss was about," but you'll remember so you will!!!

**Play extremely slow, deliberate, and you will be playing it perfectly from day 1. Gradually increase tempo of weeks and months, and you're there!"

[tommykleen]

The most important note of a (successful) tight or staccato "triplet" might be the note before the triplet. Often that note has to be incredibly abbreviated...hardly a note at all...to get the attack on the triplet correct.