I’ve had a week’s trip away without pipes, meaning no practice.  Of course, Murphy’s Law kicked in: my return from the trip was followed closely by attending a concert and followup session at which I was expected to start some tunes, and after a week off from playing I couldn’t think of a single one.  Gah. Embarrassing.

Anyhoo, I’m in a somewhat reflective state of mind today, so here’s a swipe at playing an air, The Green Fields of America.  The booklet is missing from my copy of Éanna Ó Cróinín’s CD, so the best I can do for tune information is this:

http://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Greenfields_of_America_%281%29

Things to work on: I’m still having trouble with those lower reg chords — some pressure management issues, my baritone D honks unless you hit it just right, and all the texture goes right out of my chanter playing whenever I hit a chord (can manage to keep the texture with a single reg note, at least).  Practice, practice, practice…

Green Fields of America

Yet another perennial goal is to become competent both on concert pitch and flat (C) sets.  I have a lovely set in C that doesn’t get as much exercise as it ought to, and as a result, my fingers are always a bit uncertain as to where the holes are on the C chanter.  Lots of squeaks and squawks.  This is an issue that would fade with time if I just sat down with the C set to practice once in a while.  So today I did.

I began with a fun nonsense song “Na hIontaisi” from the singing of Ann Mulqueen and her daughters on Briseann an Dúchas. It’s a lovely song that I’ve caught myself humming, and I thought it would sound great on the flat set.  I’m ashamed to say it took me about 25 minutes to realize that — facepalm — it’s a very slightly altered version of the A part of “The Burnt Old Man.” Boy, am I out of practice at recognizing tunes!  After that I ran briefly through a reel set that I’ve enjoyed playing flat with a fiddler friend, The West Clare Railway/Boy in the Gap.  Then I started trying to reacquaint myself with the flat set regs; it’s a different ballgame with the slightly longer flat set.  Jigs in G are a bit easier because I’m using the upper keys more often, so I tried to tap off-beat along with “Humours of Ennistymon” for a while, and then thought I should probably review “Trip to Killarney.”  At that point I forgot about the regs and just tried to remember what slight variations I had thought of yesterday.

triptokillarney2

Although I wasn’t crazy about it at first, I’m coming really to like this little two-bar lick from one of the transcriptions:

it’s very handy for balance at the end of the B part, in particular, and I would like to insert it in the fourth part occasionally, too.  This transcription uses it repeatedly at the end of the B,C, and D parts, which seems like overkill to me.  I’ve also gotten into dropping this lick from the first part

into the lower octave and using it at the end of a part, too. Dead easy, just don’t depend on it.

Techniques to work on:  1) Still squawking a lot on the back C (gotta keep those other fingers down!), and 2) there are definitely some notes on the C chanter that need help too: my second octave F needs to be opened more cleanly, for instance. 3)  I did practice some back-stitching for the last few bars of the D part, and I’m feeling as though it’s a bit more crisp, but I’d like to cement that. Finally, 4) I need to practice holding reg keys and chords with each individual note on the chanter, in all possible combinations.  I’m squawking and contorting my body for some of them and I need to think the posture and position through.

Well, here goes.  This is a tune I’ve just learned; I had a listen to the Fisher Street version (at about a billion miles per hour in what I think is probably E flat), and then looked at a couple different versions of the tune from the ABC Tunefinder. You can see that the tune is pretty bare bones:

This means it’s badly in need of variations both ornamental and melodic to keep from being BOOORING.  That’s 1) one thing I’ll need to work on.  I’m also 2) not terribly strong on regs, either chordally or in terms of placing the chanter in time to reach the lower chords, so that’ll be another thing to think about (or try not to think about) as I work on it.  Finally, 3) after listening to myself, I’m not happy with the lack of tone and texture in my lower octave, especially the right hand notes.

Work cut out for me!

Trip To Killarney

…I’m a perpetually aspiring uilleann piper. I’ve always greatly preferred to play with people rather than for people. I hate listening to recordings of myself, and I start to fumble a tune even just thinking about having other people listen to me. Actually performing solo? Sheer panic!

So, of course, I’m starting a piping practice blog where I can post audio snippets of myself for all the world to hear.

You ask: Am I crazy? Why am I doing this?

Of course I’m crazy. All uilleann pipers are crazy. Most of us are nuts long before we pick up the instrument — then we lose what remains of our sanity along the way.

OK, OK. The real reason I’m starting the blog is to hold myself publicly accountable for using my practice time wisely.   In theory, if I’m going to post a tune, I’m somewhat more likely to practice it diligently and carefully and thoughtfully. And if, in the process, I manage to face down some of those other fears, so much the better.

P.S. Since this is the internet, I may occasionally also post a cat picture.