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.

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.