Your left ring finger is the least coordinated finger for most right-handed pipers, and low-A strikes from E expose that. It's a different kind of control than a gracenote — on a strike, any tightness in that finger slows you down and stops you from getting a clean pop.
The exercise builds in five stages, from a plain strike up to a full doubling strike on E. I go from a simple low-A strike, to adding a dot, to a gracenote strike, and finally to a doubling strike — each stage adding one more layer while keeping the hand relaxed.
Relaxed control means using just enough muscle to move the finger, with no extra tension held in the hand. If you clench down to get precision on the gracenotes, that same tension blocks you from executing a fast, clean strike right after.
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New Exercise: Advanced E Strike Progression
11m · Full class available to Inner Circle members
⏱️ In this class
00:01finger needs left work Why ring the extra🔒
01:25strong Relaxed tension without control: and quick🔒
02:47low A the the strike to Adding🔒
03:29Adding before the dot strike the🔒
04:18G E The gracenote high strike, into🔒
05:53and A low the to gracenote dot the strike Adding🔒
05:53or shake, The on strike, Irish E full doubling🔒
08:08by is exercise out, the laid line line How🔒
10:29the strike Tension of enemy clean is a🔒
About this class
🔒 The write-up and the quotes from this class are part of the members’ page.
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📜 Full class transcript
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