Death Grip

[Nanohedron]

Okay, I can see the one hand, your right I think, that is being held out in front of you. But what is it that you do while playing the pipes that would result in your left hand gripping your forearm that way?

That's just to give my left hand something to do après-pipes while it's deciding when it wants to relax.

[Lorenzo]

You get rid of the death grip by forcing yourself to not hold the chanter tightly. It takes a concerted effort at first, but eventually as you become more accustomed to piping, you can focus less and less on the death grip.

Did you ever straighten out that LH middle finger of yours? I remember a picture you posted a couple years ago. The first joint in the middle finger was reversed so you could cover the hole with the fingertip. I remember thinking to myself that would take some tension.

[Joseph E. Smith]

You get rid of the death grip by forcing yourself to not hold the chanter tightly. It takes a concerted effort at first, but eventually as you become more accustomed to piping, you can focus less and less on the death grip.

Did you ever straighten out that LH middle finger of yours? I remember a picture you posted a couple years ago. The first joint in the middle finger was reversed so you could cover the hole with the fingertip. I remember thinking to myself that would take some tension.

Yup, did so.

[Christopher]

What about playing it slower? If you get a death grip trying to play something, play it slowly enough so there is no tension, because there is no struggle trying to switch notes.

You are what you practice. If you practice with a death grip, it isnt going away. You need to practice -without- one. Figure out how to eliminate it. Try long tones, play just an A, focus on relaxing your A fingering, no matter how long it takes, until your fingers feel like they are light and buzzing full of blood. Thats the feeling you need to cultivate. Do the same with every note. Build an awareness of your body.

If you want to play a tune, play it with a metronome, slow it way down, 8th usual speed. Play it so slow its unrecognizable. And play it right. With all the time in the world to change notes, you wont have to tense up or make any mistakes!

It will take a long time to get to where you can play tunes like that, but thats what it takes! If you want it, do it right, and dont screw around building bad habits and trying too hard. The goal is to make these intricate "difficult" physical movements instinctive and automatic. Trying to do something and just doing it are two very different things. You have to train the body to do the correct things, when you want them, how you want them, and they have to happen without hardly any thought. Fighting for each note or *TRI-PE-LET* isnt going to get you anywhere. Slow down. Take it in stride. Its a lifetime of work, and the secret is doing it slowly, with a metronome.

I hope.

[Reepicheep]

But seriously, I found that I have to make a conscious effort to relax (seems contradictory, I know, but it works). I've read one bit of advice in another post that you want to be able to feel the chanter vibrating in your hands, and that seems to be the ticket (for me, anyway). When I can achieve that, I am much more relaxed.

[Nanohedron]

Thanks for the input, people. Much appreciated. If there are any other pointers or personal experiences, I'd welcome that.

Major Death Grip at the pipers' club:

[MarkS]

There's no such thing as the Vulcan Death Grip. But don't tell the Romulans...

[Reepicheep]

There's no such thing as the Vulcan Death Grip. But don't tell the Romulans...

I couldn't resist posting a pic from one of my fave STTOS episodes... so tell me, how long have you been playing the Vulcan?