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Home/Library/Beginners & Foundations/Attacks and Cut-Offs: Building Skills and Confidence
🎬 Class ReplayIntermediateFree Preview📅 Posted July 8, 2025· 1h 12m

Attacks and Cut-Offs: Building Skills and Confidence

⚡ The Short Version

Your bagpipe has three levels: no sound, drones only, and drones with chanter. The strike-in jumps you past the squeal zone straight into the drones' first tone. The second tone arrives later, at the same moment the chanter reed kicks in. Knowing that changes what you're aiming for when you strike.
Two separate things make pipes hard to play, and they have different fixes. Pressure that's too high comes from the chanter reed. Running out of air comes from drone reeds that are open too wide, or a leak. Sort out which one you have before you start changing things.
The attack has a hidden second breath, and the cut-off needs full pressure right to the end. You blow as you strike the drones, take a quick inhale, then blow again into the E. On the cut-off you squeeze the bag far lower than you ever do while playing, hold the pressure, and pull the arm off sharply.
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Attacks and Cut-Offs: Building Skills and Confidence
1h 12m · Full class available to Inner Circle members

⏱️ In this class

06:48and topic: attacks cut-offs Today's🔒
12:21strike-in drone two tones and The the🔒
15:23squeal zone graph and the pressure The🔒
16:54going drones Keeping with new chanter a reed🔒
22:23for if How is reed a to tell you too hard🔒
24:40elastic Using to a an reed soften bridle🔒
26:59need the Drones be in to fully strike don't on🔒
34:51air hard versus much too taking Too🔒
39:24down bridles as as go Closing the they far drone🔒
43:54right: the command by comes where the from Band🔒
48:20attack by broken beat The down beat🔒
52:52the inside breaths The two attack hidden🔒
58:20pressure holding full the end to Cut-offs:🔒
01:06:13or downbeat note Hills: pickup Green🔒

About this class

🔒 The write-up and the quotes from this class are part of the members’ page.

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