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Home/Library/Fingering & Technique/Secrets of the Doubling
🎬 Class ReplayAll LevelsFree Preview📅 Posted March 19, 2026· 1h 6m

Secrets of the Doubling

The Short Version

A doubling is a rhythmic event, not a finger sequence. Because the bagpipe has no rests and no volume control, the doubling exists to add rhythmic emphasis to a note. Think function first — the music guides the fingers, not the other way around.
Crushed doublings come from spacing, not gracenote size. The second gracenote must be delayed just enough that you can hear the theme note in the middle. Tiny gracenotes, well separated, first one on the beat — that's the formula for every doubling.
Consistency beats everything. All nine doublings, from any of nine starting notes, should sound rhythmically identical — like an actor who never breaks character. Use Power Doublings and the Dot Cut Fluidity exercise to build that control.
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Secrets of the Doubling
1h 6m · Full class available to Inner Circle members
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⏱️ In this class

00:33rhythm, finger as sequences not Doublings🔒
02:05No notes exist volume: grace why no rests,🔒
05:41same? timed every the be doubling Should🔒
10:39vs. bottom hand doublings from top the E🔒
16:10back: explicitly Teach it knowing doublings🔒
18:59the F doubling Anatomy and note of the theme🔒
21:53doublings, timing Spacing, crushed and🔒
25:47scale D the doublings and E down🔒
31:42the pattern B doublings: bottom-hand and C🔒
36:32The ones: doublings G rare low A and low🔒
41:41Doublings Power The exercise🔒
44:11Fixing doublings: diagnose crushed the spot🔒
50:58G A: and High doublings odd two the high🔒
56:44note Cut Fluidity: doublings from cut Dot a🔒

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About this class

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

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