St. Laurence O'Toole Pipe Band Concert at Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, PA.

This is the finale for the concert with piper James Quirke singing an old Irish folk song, The Auld Triangle.

Bonnie and I had great seats in the balconey. Front row and next to the aisle. We had lot's of fun and had lunch AND dinner at the Union Grille, about a block from the Music Hall. They have the best Butternut Squash Soup. If you're in Pittsburgh, give the Union grill a try. It's near the Pitt campus and off of Forbes Avenue.

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Emily and Sue, I hope you don't get home sick when you see this. Our first snowfall this winter on 12-5-2007. Accumulation of about 3". You can see my neighbor Dave in the background, shoveling his driveway. I cleaned my car and drove to the toy store (for Big Will), not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Retirement is fun.

William Vaughn Mathews with his Great Grandpa, Clyde William Strother. There have been 16 Williams (either first or middle name) in the Strother family, since William Strother was born in 1298. Vaughn is Jesse's father's first name. William Vaughn has a nice regal ring to it, don't you think?

Fun Videos

Bonnie having fun with a Cape Breton reel on the practice chanter. Reels are tunes in cut common time or 2/2, and played pretty round. The reel has two accents (or pulses) to the bar. Check it out yourself. But, if you aren't tapping your foot, you better check your pulse to see if you're still alive. Follow along with Bonnie, she's very musical.

During a basketball timeout in the 14,000 seat WVU Coliseum, the cheerleaders dance to "That Good Ol' Mountain Dew". The Mountaineers were playing Winthrop and won the game, 70-53. WVU has an alumnus as the head coach in Bob Huggins. West Virginia's mens basketball team is now 7-1.

Scottish bell ringers at the Ligonier Highland Games in Pennsylvania. My first time experiencing this type of music and found it very enjoyable.

William Vaughn Mathews and Friends.

Big Will with his first big stick. He does a nice job of handling it.

Big Will, my grandson, doing what he does best.......playing and having fun.

Bonnie and I at "Swallow at the Hollow", a fantastic barbeque restaurant in Marietta, Georgia. A must visit if you're in the area. The BEST barbeque, period.

The wee laddie in his kilt with Grandpa. Maybe he'll play the pipes someday.

Stone Mountain Highland Games, Georgia

Getting words of wisdom from Winkie Taylor of Marietta, Georgia, my instructor. She has more musical knowledge about the pipes than anyone I know. Everything I know about piobaireachd, I learned from Winkie. Everything I know about competing, I learned from Winkie. Fantastic instructor.

Playing for Pipe Major Sandy Jones. A great place to compete. Perfect weather, the venue is wooded and shady, the stewards are knowledgeable, and all the information you need is at the competition table or result board. I was pleased to place fourth. I have 34 total points for the year in 3 competitions. That puts me at number 39 out of 776 pipers in Grade 4. I'm looking forward to next year and competing at several more Highland Games. Winkie has told me, one of her jobs as my instructor is to empower me with confidence. I feel much more confident with my playing and know what is expected of a competition piper.

Ligonier Highland Games, Pennsylvania

I've got a lot of catching up to do. Here's a start. That's me playing "Struan Robertson's Salute" for piping judge Ed Neigh of Canada, at the Ligonier Games in Pennsylvania. I got third (and a bronze medal) at Ligonier and a fifth at the McHenry Games in Garrett County, Maryland. Both were full piobaireachds.

Patience

I did not compete at Loch Norman due to my back injury. I canceled my room at the Holiday Inn, emailed the pipe competition director, and canceled attendance to the Piobaireachd Enclave. I went to an MD and got Vicodin (pain) and Flexoril (muscle relaxer). I have visited my chiropractor several times and I'm finally getting relief. I'm surprised how playing the pipes put a strain on the back muscles. The highland games at Bridgeport are next weekend, May 5. I had planned to play a full piobaireachd, but I must have patience with my recovery. I don't want to sacrifice a complete healing just to play at the games in Bridgeport. My next possible competition would be the McHenry Games in Garrett County, Maryland. We'll have to wait and see. I'm keeping an optimistic outlook.

Injury.........drat!

I had to cancel my scheduled lesson on April 9. A back injury flared up again. Very agonizing, VERY.

I was able to have a good practice on Thursday. I recorded and critiqued myself on Friday. I played Struan the best I have played. I was very relaxed, didn't over blow or squeeze too hard. Didn't rush the music. Relaxed grip on the chanter for most of the tune. Crunluath is still a work in progress, but slowly improving.

Hiharin is coming along. I think I've had the chanter turned "out" just a little and it was making my birl sound funky. I've got a mark on the stock and chanter (used white out) to line the chanter correctly.

Next Saturday, April 21, is Loch Norman. My first competition. I'm looking forward to Monday's lesson. I need some final tweaking and wisdom from Winkie.

More Tweaks

I have continued to work on the crunluath (and will, for awhile) with emphasis on Winkie's exercises with a metronome. Practice, practice, practice, correctly, correctly, correctly. I'm getting more comfortable playing the crunluath, now I have to refine it.

Still working on the high G with an A gracenote. The gracenote should be a chirp, just as the G gracenote. I'm continuing to work on this.

Taorluath doubling. Last bar of each line, the last 2 notes are a cut A and then a D gracenote on A. Cut the first A, don't round.

I recorded myself several times and reviewed. When I get the adrenaline going, I don't blow steady. I've been working on steady blowing when I'm pumped up. During the tune, I noticed E was the main culprit, just a little unsteady. Also, don't play too fast when the adrenaline is going. I can also start with the crunluath, play the whole tune and end with the urlar with no problem with endurance.

I used a Naill ABW chanter with a McCann reed and it was at 475 on Monday. I spoke with Winkie about using an old Hardie chanter that tuned at 468. She likes the lower tuned pipes, but commented the judges don't. The lower tuned chanter would sound dull to the judges.

Next lesson is on Monday, April 9 at about 8:15 pm. That will be 4 in a row, a record. Loch Norman is April 21.

This Week's Practice

Tweaks to Monday's lesson of 3-19-07. I again played Struan Robertson's Salute, but started with the crunluath and continued through to the taorluath doubling. Winkie highlighted the following and it has been my focus for this week.

1. My crunluath is improving. Still working on the F. I have heard improvement because the F is becoming more prominent. It has been weak, but I can hear a better crunluath since the F has been balanced with the rest of the gracenotes. Still a work in progress. This particular movement is called a crunluath breabach. I'm also doing finger exercises to strengthen the E and F notes. Hands flat on the desk, then raise each finger up and down (both hands simultaneously) continuously for 5 sets of 10 reps. I raise the fingers up as far as possible during the exercise. Stretch and shake the hands afterwards.

2. The piobaireachd high G with a high A gracenote, in canntaireachd is pronounced "hee". My high A gracenote was big and floppy. I have shortened the gracenote to keep it in balance with the other gracenotes. It is somewhat prominent, being found in the first bar, 2nd and 3rd line of the urlar, T singling and doubling, C singling and doubling, for a total of 20. Correction has been made.

3. For some reason, while playing the full tune on Monday, my hiharin went south. The more I thought about it while playing, the worse it got. I've dropped back to the basics, and have the timing down and getting the distinct A-G-A. The right hand index finger and little finger should touch the chanter at the same time. Self 1 caused some problems. Correction has been made and Self 1 will be kept plenty busy. Self 2 is very capable to perform this movement. An interesting side note, Jimmy McIntosh calls this movement an "eallach".

4. The ebb and flow of music is very important. The next tweak has a bearing on this. The last bar of all 3 lines of the urlar, T singling, C singling. The phrase, "chay um toe", I was parking on the D (toe) much too long. This was disrupting the flow of the music. This is not a march. Play with feeling.

5. Instrument. High G was sharp and will correct with a little tape. I have way too much adrenaline going and need to play relaxed. Squeezing too hard will sharpen the notes and cause playing out of tune and unsteadiness.

I have been playing the C first, then the rest of the tune and finish with the C. Another exercise I have added is doing the John Cairns gracenote exercise with an F gracenote. Also, I have been working on listening at a higher level and staying in the zone. The Inner Game of Tennis is a must read for all pipers.

Winkie gave me positive feedback on my playing. Ebb and flow of the tune has improved. The transition from singling to doubling is much better.

Winkie also talked about playing too hard of a chanter reed. Don't. When manipulating a reed, start with one that is close to your finished water column in inches. Better to start with a 32" WC and finish at 29", than starting with a 38" WC. Food for thought from Donald Lindsay. She also suggested an alternate method of squeezing the bag. Rather than pinching it with the elbow against the body, use a slight arc. This will prevent the bag from sliding down your body. I've been working on this technique. I may try a smaller bag to get it up under my arm in a better leveraged position.

I love piobaireachd. Good bye band, hello ceol mor.

Tweaking Struan Robertson's Salute

Kron Heritage pipes
Mark Lee Rocket tenor drone reeds
Kinnaird bass or Henderson cane bass
Naill African blackwood chanter and a Ross chanter reed or
Kron Medallist with Troy/MacAllister chanter reed

Instructor: Winkie Taylor of Marietta, Georgia.

March 19, 2007. I played for my instructor, the full piobaireachd on the pipes, Struan Robertson's Salute. Not an especially long piobaireachd, about 9 minutes. The following tweaks will be noted and made:

1. Urlar,first line, after the second bar, a slight pause. Ceol mor is in phrases and imagine a comma after the second bar. I held it, but needs to be held a little longer. This will be redundant in this particular place, all through the tune including taorluath and crunluath singling. Be musical and don't rush. Not clipped or herky jerky. Let the music flow, like waves coming in on the beach.

2. Last bar of each line of the urlar, taorluath singling, and crunluath singling. The third note, D gracenote on B, hold longer. (Canntaireachd for D gracenote on B is "to", pronounced "toe".) This lets the listener know something is coming. A hiharin (piobaireachd birl) is next and then the end of the line.

3. At the end of each line, a slight pause. We inserted a comma after the second bar, now we place a period. This is the end of this sentence, so pause. Don't rush, but don't hold too long. This is where you need one on one instruction to get the correct duration of the pause. I was holding slightly too long.

4. This will also be a redundant tweak. Urlar, line 2, first bar. The phrase "hee ay ee tay ay ee ay o ah hio um" the high A (ee) is shorter than the F (tay). Hold the F. When playing the high A, keep consistent thumb and forefinger gap to establish the duration to the note. Give the fingers plenty of air, be consistent in duration. Winkie demonstrated this for me. The phrase "hee ay ee tay" is found 2nd and 3rd line urlar and 2nd and 3rd line of T and C singling.

5. Taorluath and crunluath singling. In each line, the 2nd bar, 3rd note is a D (ah). I slightly rushed this note. Canntaireachd phrase,"o ah hio um". Musically there's a world of difference if you rush the D. Again, let the music flow.

6. Crunluath. I need to strengthen my F finger. I need a little air under the F to get the proper rhythm. I'm practicing C at 140 bpm with the metronome. Winkie emphasized speed is the enemy at this stage of my playing. Practicing up and down the scale, on the beat. The nice ripple will eventually happen, I'm not going to rush it.

7. Pitch was high, at 478.

I'm incorporating these tweaks for my next lesson. My lessons are every Monday at 8:15 pm for an hour.

Focus is also an element that is sometimes overlooked. I'm working on staying in the zone for the full tune. Winkie recommended the book, "The Inner Game of Tennis." I purchased it at Borders and I'm going to start reading it tonight.

I'm feeling better about my taorluaths and feeling more confident about my hiharin. Daily exercise is a hiharin 3 minute drill. 3 minutes of hiharins. That's about 90 of them. My favorite part of this piobaireachd is the crunluath singling.