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.