curious about the bag pipes.

[irishduffy]

First I have always been intrested in the pipes, yet never could find teachers untill now. I feel that as much as I love the uilleann pipes I could not fill the commitment to them, Thus would not try untill I fully could. I respect them and thus would not shame them or myself. There are enough wannabe pipers as many of you have said.

Please do not send hate just correct me if I'm wrong.

Not sure when or if I would, But I have thought to learn to play the small pipes. Would this be advisible. I UNDERSTAND they to take commitment. But have been told by a few local pipers it would be a good choice for someone who could not practice the uilleann like you should.
No I dont seek to shame the small pipes I would fully comit myself but my problem as far as commitment is the time between lessons I would be taking. Pipers tell me with a small pipe it would take longer to learn with spread out lessons by far but is (easy enough). :roll:

Second this just came to my mind can you play small pipes right hand on top. Give me a break old habits die hard self taught myself whistle and did not know better.

If you could start the small pipes under these conditions could some one lead me to a starters guide. (Or even if you cant.)EDITED

Sorry about all that info.

[L42B]

Hi Irishduffy

Do you mean the Scotts Smallpipes? If your interested in learning those, I'd strongly recommend learning the Highland pipes first. The fingering is identical to the smallpipes. There are a few slite differences between the highland pipes and smallpipes, but the basics are pritty much the same. I know, I play both.

L42B

[Joseph E. Smith]

'Duffy', go with what you heart feels is best. Any form of bagpipe is going to take time and practice, whether they are bellows blown or not. If you really want to learn the Uilleann Pipes, then go with it. Choose a maker, purchase a practice set (eBay always has these listed), find an experienced piper you can communicate well with (where do you live, geographically?), there are good tutors out there, though they are not the same as a real live instructor, they will go a long way in getting you started in the right direction.

Don't 'settle' for something else if it is the Uillean Pipes you want to play. You will regret it later, as I did. I took up the GHBs because the UPs were hard to find and expensive. I got good on the GHB, but it wasn't what I wanted to do and it took twenty years to finally get the right bag beneath the arm.

Good luck in you pursuit.

[djm]

I'd have to agree with Joseph (sorry, Joseph ). One type of bagpipe is not going to require any less commitment than another. If its UPs you want then you might as well spend the time learning those, rather than learn something you didn't want, and then still have to spend the same amount of time to learn the UPs later. See the FAQs on this forum to answer some of your questions.

djm

[Joseph E. Smith]

djm wrote: "I'd have to agree with Joseph (sorry, Joseph ). "
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Hey, it's alright...but I wouldn't make it a habit.

[texasbagpiper]

I have seen very few pipers playing with the right hand on top, and it might be hard to find a teacher that wont try to make you change that style. I have competed against GHB's playing right hand on top....

[Joseph E. Smith]

Simple solution: have a left handed practice set made for you.

[j dasinger]

Well, I think highland-style fingering is alot harder to learn than uilleann fingering. The scottish style is very rigid and if you are not including all of the embellishments, then you are playing it "wrong." There are standard settings for most tunes. In general there is a lot more demanded of your manual dexterity playing in a highland style, as it's an all-or-nothing approach. Highland pipes (or smallpipes) are probably the most heavily embellished instrument in the world. Not easy unless you have the fingers for it. When playing uilleanns, it is at your discretion how much or how little embellishing to include, if you don't like/can't play a certain ornament in a certain place, you don't have to. This makes the learning curve a bit easier, and you will probably be making something approximating music alot earlier than you would on the smallpipes. Don't worry about learning the bellows. It just takes a bit of practice. All the best smallpipes use bellows anyway, so you'll need to learn them one way or another. The upshot is, you aren't saving yourself anything learning smallpipes as opposed to uilleanns. As a matter of fact, you'll probably save some effort learning the uilleanns, and if thats what you like better anyway....
james

[Unseen122]

Well to really master the UPs it takes longer than to master the GHBs/SPs that is what I have heard and it is true GHBs after two years or so you're an expert piper UPs takes longer than that. Good to know UPs take less embelleshment that was the hardest thing on the GHBs I was thinking of taking up the UPs.

[Pat Cannady]

I hate to toss a turd in the punch bowl, but they're both equally difficult in different ways. They're all-or-nothing instruments IMO. You can be a mediocre guitarist and get by in rock bands. You can be a so-so singer and be admired for your stage presence and your delivery. If you're struggling at the GHB, you won't find UP any easier, believe me.

The GHB and UP have no saftey nets. You can either play them - or you can't. No ifs ands or buts about it. If you can't, you'd better be ready to work hard, or else don't bother going to the expense. If you really want to try them and will not be able to die happy without knowing whether you can play them, then you may be good student material. You need to be able to devote time to daily practice and listening - progress is impossible without them.

A friend of mine from Dublin tells a story about a whim he had as a younger man back in the 1970s. He became curious about the pipes thanks to Planxty and the Bothy Band so he rings up NPU to ask for advice.
The man on the other end of the line said "You don't want to play the pipes. Take up a real instrument like saxophone. You have to be a monk to play the pipes".

[Joseph E. Smith]

I say, this punch tastes...well...sort of nutty..

[irishduffy]

Thanks everyone for their ideals. I have plenty of time to practice but finding a uilleann teacher close by is hard. so my time with a teacher would be spread out. But I think your right if I started to play GHB I would probaly still regret not taking up uilleann. that said.

Can I get a chanter and practice for a while before lessons or do you need lessons right away.

what chanters do you suggest?

For Both small pipe and uilleann if you could

One other thing I liked about the small pipes is you can move around. Yes that is important to me as when I play a insturment I just get drawn in a start to flow with it moving around. But I guess with uilleann I could learn to tap my feet.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Just because you are sitting, doesn't mean you have to keep still. Ever hear of 'chair dancing'?...well, perhaps that isn't exactly what I mean.

There are a bunch of good makers out there, you may want to pick one that resides fairly close to you...and then again, maybe it does not matter. There have been a ton of names mentioned on previous pages of this forum, some with praise, and others...well...I just won't go there. A good bet is to surf the net under 'uilleann bagpipe', and see what that turns up. Stay away from the 'buy it now' bagpipes, as they are more than likely not worth your time or money.

[irishduffy]

sounds good just was curious if there was a clear cut beginners chanter. I will search through the old sections. I found alot of the websites ive find
contradicting each other, and atleast on a forum you can read multiple opinions side by side. Thanks again.

[Antaine]

good value for beginner's money: Bruce Childress

that's my 2¢

near you is important for repairs and modifications, but also look for similar climate to your own...