mortentriesinstrument

[mortentriesinstrument]

A New Song

So the time comes to learn a new song. Why? First of all to annoy the neighbours a bit less (sorry!), but also to improve my skill of operating the bellows and putting my fingers back on the soundholes properly. These are, for now, the things I find most difficult about the pipes.

My reasoning behind it is this: when you focus too much on one song, it becomes a pattern. This is a good thing normally! It makes it possible to learn and play complex parts of music. The downside is, I find myself starting to remember between which notes to pump the bellows. Also, playing the same song makes me practise putting my fingers back in a certain pattern over and over again. That’s good for muscle memory, but not all songs are made up from the same sequence of notes and so it doesn’t get me as far as I need to get.

So I started looking for a new song. There’s many Irish folk songs to choose from, and I choose Cooley’s Reel at first. Simple reason: the band plays it. But Cooley’s proved itself too difficult, especially with the notes in the upper octave. For those of you who don’t know: you play the upper octave on Uilleann Pipes by putting a bit more pressure on the bag, but opening about the same holes as for the notes an octave lower (almost, there are some differences). 

So no Cooley’s for now. I decided it was best I found myself some help in the progress and looked up a teacher. Where I live there aren’t many Uilleann Pipes players though (or at least not that I know of... suggestions are welcome!), but then a band member told me about the Online Academy of Irish Music (OAIM). I registered myself and found a beginners course on Uilleann Pipes. (People, when learning an instrument, find yourself a teacher! This is such an underrated thing and it makes such a difference, even if you are a music teacher yourself and even if it is online, although I still think in person is better). 

One of the first songs in the course is “Britches Full Of Stitches” and I learned (the Irish way of listening and watching) how to play it.... kinda.

[mortentriesinstrument]

Getting a bit further

Learning how to play a new instrument can be frustrating. It’s in stupid little things. For example: I know how to read music. Not only that, I also know how to play pieces on a piano and rhythm is not a problem either. Having played drums and piano for years this is no big deal to me. 

Enter the pipes... Sure, reading is nice, but in Irish school of thought you learn by listening and watching others. Don’t get me wrong! This is a really good practise. It takes the paper mess out of playing in a pub, where you can just join a group and, if you don’t know the songs, learn by playing along or listening first. Both my drum and piano teacher made me listen to what I had to play to learn parts, back when I was just starting out. I’m thankful for it, since listening is such an important skill. I know other teachers sometimes forget about this.

But that’s only part one. Part two is being able to play the melody that you read. On a piano it is, mechanically wise, rather easy. (No, I’m not saying playing piano is easy. Playing any musical instrument is hard, but the difficulty lies in other things depending on the instrument itself). With a piano you press down on a key et voilá, you hear a note. Mechanically, there’s a lot happening in the inside of the piano, but starting out with playing piano you don’t worry about that. With the pipes, you do. 

It starts with the holes on the chanter. Seven of these holes are on the backside of the pipe, which you can not see while playing. One of them is on the backside which you can see, but that is only one. To play a note you have to open only that hole (same goes for instruments like flutes). I taught playing a note was going to be hard. I was wrong. Not playing a note is hard. As soon as you know how to make sound on the pipes, it’s hard not to. Placing your fingers back EXACTLY on the holes proves really difficult.

And then there’s part three: rhythm. I’m a drummer, a music teacher, I know the importance of rhythm. And you know what? Screw it. Screw it for now at least. Operating the bellows with your right elbow, while you have to keep pressure on the bag with your left elbow and than playing the chanter with your left thumb, three fingers on the left (no pinky) and 4 fingers on your right hand (no thumb, because well... you have to hold the chanter as well, remember?) is a big deal. A really big deal. Operating the bellows out of time does not come natural to me. I don’t think it comes naturally to anyone. Know that joke where you have to turn your right leg around in clockwise circles and then draw a six in the air with your right hand? This is it. This is how it feels... But worse. It is like learning how to play drums with different body parts doing different things all over again. (Also, I’m really sure most of you just made a circle with your right foot :p )

Now I’m lucky, since I already play instruments. I won’t deny it makes it easier for me to learn how to play a new instrument. The basics are there. The funny thing is though: the basics don’t matter too much right now. Knowing how to play a melody in rhythm doesn’t mean I can immediately play it on whatever instrument. And it’s frustrating. I can hear it in my head, I can feel what I should be doing. Doing it? No. Not yet at least.

But to look at it a bit brighter: it gets better. Way better. This struggle is what makes it so enjoyable for me, even if it does not sound like it. If it was easy, there would be no fun in it. Seeing and hearing yourself improve is what makes it worthwhile. It is a long term process.  A challenge. I feel like a lot of people tend to forget about that. Nowadays we want things fast, but this is not about fast. It is about making an effort, improving yourself and having some discipline to continue doing so. 

The bellows will come. The silence between notes will come. The playing of proper melodies will come. Why be doing easy things if you can make it a bit harder for yourself? Yes, it is frustrating, and I love every second of it.

[mortentriesinstrument]

Starting Out

Hey People!

So, you’re here wondering what this blog is about, probably. Let me start out with me telling you blogging is absolutely new to me. I’m not even sure if this is the right format to be doing this in, or if this will actually be read by anybody... Why then start a blog?

Because I want to document something I didn’t document before with any other musical instrument: the process of learning how to play it. One of these things a musician often hears between sets is: “Yeah but, you know, for you it’s easy!” or “Nah, I could never do that”. This blog (I’d rather call it a documentation) is to prove all beginnings are hard. I’m writing this a couple of weeks after I actually started playing this new instrument, because I wasn’t sure if I was willing to show myself starting out. Why? Because most of the time it sounds horrible! (No really, it does.) But it is part of the learning process. Yes, this was there with the other instruments I play and most important: yes, it gets better! This part of learning however gets, for me at least, very close and personal. I’m not sure if others have this too: feeling that showing how you started out is rather... private I guess?

If you want to know immediately how it went, scroll down for the video!

So this is how it started: I play in an Irish band, where I play drums and bodhrán. Drums is nice for bigger venues since, well, it’s loud. Not that I play like a caveman, but you’d rather not have it in a tiny pub for a nice cozy session. For those circumstances I play bodhran or cajón, but that really leaves me out of a lot of the songs. Not all songs are nice with percussion. 

So I decided I wanted to play a melodic instrument, meaning an instrument which plays the actual tune (not chords or bass). Not just because it allows me to play most songs, I also just wanted to teach myself a melodic instrument from the Irish music tradition. I’m actually a music teacher and play multiple instruments already, but nothing you could regard as a “world instrument”. So what instrument was still available to choose for me? Our band already had fiddle, accordion, concertina, tin whistle, bouzouki, guitar and banjo covered. Even the occasional hurdy gurdy is there. But there was still one option left which didn’t enter the mix that much: 

Uilleann Pipes.

Now, I already knew about this instrument. When I hear it being played well I find the hairs in my neck immediately standing upright (in a good way!). There is something about bagpipes which really speaks to me and hearing Uilleann Pipes makes me feel Celtic at heart. Stupid maybe, but not less true. Side note: during a lecture about world instruments this instrument was used in an anecdote about the most difficult instruments to play. In front of an audience full of conservatory students, who themselves already play a fair tune on a wide range of instruments. Rather a bold statement to make.

I taught however I was not going to find one. Pipes are expensive! There’s a waiting line just to get one at some builders and after reading a lot I felt discouraged buying a cheaper one made in Asia. So that’s that I taught.

Enter our accordion player: Apparently he had a practise set at home, meaning only a melodypipe (called a “chanter”) with bag and bellows: the necessary basic stuff to learn the instrument. He allowed me to borrow it from him and take it home with me! 

I quickly found myself a chart of fingerings to use with the chanter (the different positions to play certain notes) and tried to get started. I heard you should start with long notes, since you need to pump the bellows out of time with the music. That worked a little, so I searched for a simple tune (know that being able to read sheet music already did make this easier). I tried out some stuff and managed a little bit... 

To make my statement: here’s my first attempt. Shot after some two or three days of practising. Enjoy!    *insert evil laugh*