Chanter and bagpipe are two separate skills — like juggling and riding a unicycle. Get half a dozen tunes solid on the practice chanter first, because nothing transfers on day one. When you pick up the pipes, all your attention goes to powering the instrument, and your fingering will temporarily disappear.
Start with one drone, a pressure gauge, and a stopwatch — not tunes, not tuning. Cork the chanter stock and two drones, hold the drone in its steady second tone, and build from 20 seconds toward five minutes. Constant arm pressure is the secret: the arm never pumps, it just rides the bag as you blow and breathe.
Make the instrument easy before you make yourself strong. Right-size bag, right-length blowpipe, and a chanter reed around 25 inches of water or lighter for a beginner. As the Bagpipe Roadblock section of Rhythmic Fingerwork says, nothing blocks progress like a bagpipe that's too hard to blow.
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Making the Jump from Practice Chanter to Pipes
55m · Full class available to Inner Circle members
19:36carryover wrists, and position, Thumb posture🔒
24:28First the instrument, goals: operate don't tune it🔒
28:1080-20 blowing cadence The🔒
30:59for gauge success and pressure the Setup🔒
33:30constant drone, second lesson: arm First one tone,🔒
40:09adding and stopwatch drones goals Building stamina:🔒
43:21work, mirror and posture chanter, the Adding🔒
49:48conditioning apart tunes fall why and Daily first at🔒
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About this class
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