I may have mentioned that I've had Out on the Ocean in my head a lot of late, so I decided to learn it. It's quite basic, it's lively, it's Irish, people at the session know it...
The fan had no dots for the version he plays. He printed some from the session for me. They were all in keys I can play...but they all had too many notes. So the fan taked me through the tune until I could play it. The B part was a challenge as some of those extra notes had to be turned into other notes. I actually used my extra keyed note, and discovered that gracing on that is a serious challenge. I played phrases over and over until I had them nailed. And then...life intervened, the tune went out of my head, and I 've only just this evening had the opportunity to get back to my pipes. I asked the fan to hum the tune, then he went out. I picked up my pipes and...no tune. Totally forgotten. I googled. I found a version. Got it. Picked up pipes and...no tune.
The fan will come home later and I'll be able to ask him to take me through the tune again. Hopefully the tune will sink in, my fingers will remember and the tune will be learned. But what would have happened if I'd got the tune from someone in a session? Someone just passing through and not intending to return. Am I supposed to play the tune for several hours solid and thus remember it forever from that one time of playing it? Or does learning from ear only really work if you are learning the tune from a neighbour or someone who you see every month or week at a session? I think that next time I go through the tune with the fan I'll be noting the dots down and getting the best of both worlds!
Ramblings of an easily distracted learner piper
Showing posts with label keys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keys. Show all posts
Thursday, 9 July 2015
Thursday, 9 May 2013
Repeat
A repeat of yesterday in more ways than one. Again not feeling quite comfortable. I'd fiddled with straps and where I have the bag exactly, and where the drones sit. My arms feel terribly tired for no apparent reason, and I've been tense playing: neck, shoulder and thumb all now ache. Too much bellows action, which I think does prove that the problem is me and not the pipes (poor maligned Morag!)
I tried standing to play, but that made me feel more tired. I suppose starting a new tune isn't helping because it's something else to concentrate on. Same tune as yesterday, I think better today: I've added more gracing, I've paused awhile on that top B instead of doing a hit and run. I've managed a cleaner finish, but starting is a mess: the drones seem to come in at different times, and then the chanter. Still mucking up the second ending of the A part. I think I also once knocked a finger on the key, which then threw me for the next note.
I did also play Galloway, trying to run through without and then with drones, but need to get faster and cleaner at hitting the switch.
Check this out on Chirbit
I tried standing to play, but that made me feel more tired. I suppose starting a new tune isn't helping because it's something else to concentrate on. Same tune as yesterday, I think better today: I've added more gracing, I've paused awhile on that top B instead of doing a hit and run. I've managed a cleaner finish, but starting is a mess: the drones seem to come in at different times, and then the chanter. Still mucking up the second ending of the A part. I think I also once knocked a finger on the key, which then threw me for the next note.
I did also play Galloway, trying to run through without and then with drones, but need to get faster and cleaner at hitting the switch.
Check this out on Chirbit
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Down to earth
Struggling a little this evening, failing to feel comfortable. I'm not sure why: I'm not particularly tired. Struggling to get a clean start: everything seems to start from a squeak or a growl before it settles in. In some ways it's helpful, though, because it explodes that little myth I've been hanging on to that somehow Morag was holding me back, when actually Morag is a perfectly decent set of pipes and my faults and failings are mine alone.
Speaking of faults and failings... I've tried The Willows this evening as Vicki covered it on her podcast. She does some sneaky gracing which she doesn't mention at all, but on the plus side she explained how you might play the tune without G sharp and high B. High B I have! I keep making a pig's ear of the second A part ending - I just keep forgetting to skip to the next bars, or I hang aroung at the end of one bar pondering. A couple of times I've forgotten to play AA as instructed and have played AG instead, because that's what the dots say (and serve me right for an over reliance on the dots). Triplets not good. Oh, and ending on B feels all wrong, as does ending without running in to the The Three Ashes, which Vicki and Johnny normally put with the Willows. I find Johnny's tunes catch me out because they often do unexpected things, and I keep playing the expected note, only to find it's the wrong one.
On the positive side I hit that high B each time, without any squawking, albeit in a sort of hurried way, they way you yell "look! Look!" 2 seconds before whatever you're doing ends in disaster...
And as we're on the subject of disaster, I see that the error message that flashed up on the recorder meant that it ate the last bit of the tune. Botheration.
Check this out on Chirbit
Speaking of faults and failings... I've tried The Willows this evening as Vicki covered it on her podcast. She does some sneaky gracing which she doesn't mention at all, but on the plus side she explained how you might play the tune without G sharp and high B. High B I have! I keep making a pig's ear of the second A part ending - I just keep forgetting to skip to the next bars, or I hang aroung at the end of one bar pondering. A couple of times I've forgotten to play AA as instructed and have played AG instead, because that's what the dots say (and serve me right for an over reliance on the dots). Triplets not good. Oh, and ending on B feels all wrong, as does ending without running in to the The Three Ashes, which Vicki and Johnny normally put with the Willows. I find Johnny's tunes catch me out because they often do unexpected things, and I keep playing the expected note, only to find it's the wrong one.
On the positive side I hit that high B each time, without any squawking, albeit in a sort of hurried way, they way you yell "look! Look!" 2 seconds before whatever you're doing ends in disaster...
And as we're on the subject of disaster, I see that the error message that flashed up on the recorder meant that it ate the last bit of the tune. Botheration.
Check this out on Chirbit
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Getting to know you
I've had the Monkey out again this evening. I'm staring to get used to him. Sometimes when I start up I get a sound something between a fan belt going and gears being crunched: there just seems to be one point at which the pressure is balancing out that does it. The fan got his tuner out and retuned the drones to A and E. I still can't hear the drones singly, but as a set they are fab - the bass drones really resonate, and the full set sounds something like a church organ, somehow.
I've fiddled around with the usual tunes, but also with Ye Banks and Braes (which I used to play on my recorder a million years ago) and The Willows, both being tunes that involve a high B. Playing it took some getting used to. For some reason I kept wanting to hit it with my thumb instead of my little finger, but I'm getting the hang of it, mostly through playing some bits of scales to include it.When I'm not playing it I already find I'm not too aware of it: when I first picked up the Monkey the key felt as thought it was all over the place and getting under my fingers' feet, as it were.
One thing I can't seem to manage is my usual style of ending. Still, this was only the third time I've played the Monkey and it will take us a while to get to know each other.
Bonus tracks tonight because I didn't think I'd recorded at all the first time round so did a second tune. First up is Flett, and the second is Bonnie Galloway. If I hadn't just wanted to get a tune recorded I would have thought to try my drones' switch and play first time round without. Another time, certainly.
Oh - and another random person at work asking if that was me they saw in a pub with a set of pipes. I suppose there is no reason why everyone shouldn't know: I think most people know I knit and have an allotment, but I feel a little shy about it. I am still only a beginner, not a real musician or a real piper yet.
Anyway - enough chat. Here's some music!
Check this out on Chirbit
Check this out on Chirbit
I've fiddled around with the usual tunes, but also with Ye Banks and Braes (which I used to play on my recorder a million years ago) and The Willows, both being tunes that involve a high B. Playing it took some getting used to. For some reason I kept wanting to hit it with my thumb instead of my little finger, but I'm getting the hang of it, mostly through playing some bits of scales to include it.When I'm not playing it I already find I'm not too aware of it: when I first picked up the Monkey the key felt as thought it was all over the place and getting under my fingers' feet, as it were.
One thing I can't seem to manage is my usual style of ending. Still, this was only the third time I've played the Monkey and it will take us a while to get to know each other.
Bonus tracks tonight because I didn't think I'd recorded at all the first time round so did a second tune. First up is Flett, and the second is Bonnie Galloway. If I hadn't just wanted to get a tune recorded I would have thought to try my drones' switch and play first time round without. Another time, certainly.
Oh - and another random person at work asking if that was me they saw in a pub with a set of pipes. I suppose there is no reason why everyone shouldn't know: I think most people know I knit and have an allotment, but I feel a little shy about it. I am still only a beginner, not a real musician or a real piper yet.
Anyway - enough chat. Here's some music!
Check this out on Chirbit
Check this out on Chirbit
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