Is it bad if your teacher laughs at you?

Sorry gang, no beer reviews this week... only a heathy glass full O'shame...

Wow... of all the instruments I've learned (Up to 12 if my count is right...) Bagpipes are by far the most difficult!! The fingering alone has been a process but WELL worth it. My goal is to get these perfected over time to Gordon Duncan like consistancy. I've gotten as far as the Lemluath and the Touralouath (sp), however this week, I recieved my first lesson in humility. The practice chanter vs. the actual pipes is a completely different animal. While I've done fairly well at the Chanter, the phrase "playing the pipes is more taming a beast than playing an instrument" has never been more true. My teacher Brian has been remarkably patient, however his sadistic side has now come to light. Ahhh sweet revenge for all my poor playing over the last 10 months. I received my new pipes, a set of Duncan Soutars, the news of which the Band responds with either quizzical looks or gazes of admiration. They are, in short an exemplary example of the Great Highland Bagpipes. So... that brings me to my lesson on Thursday. This by the way is my Second time inflating the bag beyond the day that I bought the pipes (being last Sunday...)

The most important thing that I've learned so far is that you don't blow the bagpipes, you squeeze them. This for me is like when I learned jazz music... it's about the notes you DON'T play. Equal parts enigmatic and rediculous. However, there is an ounce of truth to both sayings. Please don't ask me to elaborate. It's much like figuring out what the sound of one hand clapping sounds like... I can get the drones going and fairly steady for the most part thanks to my training as a singer (thank you Carol Ann, my chamber singer director). Diaphram breathing is MOST important as it allows for the most air to enter the bag. So long and short of it, the drones are going OK and somewhat steady.

Now comes the hard part. Fire up the drones AND the chanter... I only have so much air. I have to say, I've got a LOT of hot air to spare but this is was a challenge for me. This task was only made more difficult by the fact that my instructor gave me a hard reed to work with. Whoooooo! It's tough! On a medium reed, like the one that I tried at Dick Chane's shop, I could get out a full scale, with some difficulty. BUT... On the hard reed, it takes a TON of air and quite a bit of coordination to get this thing going. If I get one note at a time, I'm lucky at best. Suffice it to say... it will be quite some time before I get a full song on the books. I WILL tame this beast!!!

Cheers!

Rob Anderson