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03 Jan 00 - 09:49 PM (#157658) Subject: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: Mbo HELP! My lips are about to fall off! For Christmas I received a Highland bagpipe practice chanter. It's lots of fun to play, and I'm getting better on the fingering BUT I can only play for 30 seconds or so before I run out of air. So I have to stop in the middle of a piece and inhale again. I keep doing this, but soon my lips become flabby and do not respond to holding the mouthpiece, and I get horribly out of breath. This is my first woodwind instrument, so does anyone (pipers, woodwind players, flautists) have any tips for methods of breathing and blowing so I can play for more than 30 secs without huffing, puffing, and my face turning red? --Mbo |
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03 Jan 00 - 10:25 PM (#157675) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: InOBU Well old bean! Congrats. Find a teacher, because the pipes must be in good order to get the most from your wind, and you have to get in shape. Make sure the regulator valve in the blow pipe is working, and the bag is well seasoned. Bag pipes reads are of varring degrees of hardness, and though the hard reads are best for tone and action, you may want to work up to them. If all fails, try the Uilleann Pipes for a while, and the highland pipes will seem easy in spite of the bellows. Good luck Larry |
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03 Jan 00 - 10:37 PM (#157680) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: sophocleese Mbo, from my husband, the piper. 1: don't stop fingering through a piece when you take a breath. If you practice this way you may find it harder when you play the full pipes to keep fingering throughout the whole piece at tempo. just leave some notes unvoiced as you breath in. 2: the sensation of your lips is just the feel of them getting into shape. you will get better. try kissing for practice. 3: some pipers, not him though, have developed circular breathing techniques. Caitrin, I think, described this in a past thread. He's on his way to bed at the moment but if he thinks of anything else you should know we'll write it in. Have fun. Sophocleese |
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03 Jan 00 - 11:37 PM (#157703) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: Barry T The advice from Sophocleese is bang on target... especially #1 and #2. One other thing to try is to put a small elastic (the ones for dental braces are best) round the reed to close it down a wee bit. Move it towards the top to reduce the airflow required. That will make it easier to blow, but don't close down the opening so much that the scale is distorted. |
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04 Jan 00 - 05:41 PM (#157972) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: Mbo Thanks for the tips, folks! Now if only I had someone TO kiss... --Mbo |
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04 Jan 00 - 06:41 PM (#158020) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: JenEllen Are you familiar with any Yoga? The deep breathing exercises will really help improve lung volume and give you a sense of what a full lung should feel like. I agree with the practice, practice, practice...15 minutes a day at least, it'll help keep up your condition as well as the pipes. Also in finding an instructor, a good global resource for pipers can be found at http://www.ceolas.org/instruments/pipes/teachers You can find instructors in your area. Also, get a Lunasa CD for inspiration! Elle |
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05 Jan 00 - 12:38 AM (#158215) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: Roger in Baltimore Mbo,
At the risk of thread creep and of offending all pipers: Roger in Baltimore (with tongue firmly in cheek) |
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05 Jan 00 - 12:48 AM (#158216) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: catspaw49 Who was it said, "At least there is no smell?" Spaw |
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05 Jan 00 - 04:46 PM (#158545) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: sophocleese Mbo, what kind of instruction, book, pamphlet, or friend who plays, are you using? My husband says that if you are not fingering correctly you may not notice it on the practice chanter but when you get to using thefull set of pipes it will become apparent. Two books that he would recommend are; The College of Piping, Book 1 and one which he calls The Logan Book because he can't remember the full title but it has the word Logan in it somewhere. He also suggests if you have a local Legion you might head on down there one day, they'll likely have a piper or two hanging around witing to impart their knowledge to all and sundry. To hear some neat pipe music listen to Rare Air or a Halifax band called MacCrimmon's Revenge. |
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06 Jan 00 - 05:39 AM (#158903) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: Banjer Mbo, just never you mind them as would pick on you. You just keep right on learning the pipes and work your way up to the full set! I admire any one with the fortitude to want to learn what to me seems like a very difficult instrument to play! Never mind those that tell ya that if they were going to blow a pig they surely wouldn't do it in public, or those naybobs who, after listening to you for a while, ask you to play something you know. Especially ignore those that would tell you that you would kill it faster stabbing it with a knife rather than trying to squeeze it to death! Good luck to you! |
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06 Jan 00 - 06:02 AM (#158906) Subject: RE: Help: Tips for Piping, PLEASE!! From: Magpie Mbo You said a practice chanter, right? Well, it's not possible to blow them for much more than a few seconds. If you can blow on it for 30 seconds, you're superhuman!! That's why the real pipes have the bag, so that you can breathe whenever you feel like it. Don't worry about the lips, they're just not used to being exercised. But- even good, experienced pipers will get numb lips after a spell of piping, producing funny farting noices accompanying the real playing. You may also feel a bit light headed after a while, because you are actually hyperventilating. But you'll get used to that. (In fact many people drink alcohol to get the same feeling! :)) Good luck, be patient, and don't skip the fingering exercises! Magpie |