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Home/Tunes/Bagpipe Essentials Collection #13: Thumb Gracenotes
🎓 MasterclassBeginnerFree PreviewPart 13 of 31 · Bagpipe Essentials Masterclass

Bagpipe Essentials Collection #13: Thumb Gracenotes

The Short Version

The thumb gracenote, also called the high A gracenote, is used going to or from high G. The most common use is a gracenote right before high G — going from F to high G, E to high G, or low A to high G — though it can technically appear between two high G's, though that's rare.
Play it by lifting the thumb — but keep the grip light. A tight grip on the top hand makes lifting the thumb awkward and hard to control; a light, relaxed hold on the chanter is what lets the gracenote come out small and crisp.
The most common mistake is lifting the thumb too high. Keep it close to the chanter for a small, clean-sounding gracenote — the same principle that applies to every other gracenote in the series.
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Bagpipe Essentials Collection #13: Thumb Gracenotes
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⏱️ In this lesson

00:03Known High The A Thumb as Also Gracenote,🔒
00:19G High Going to It's Used: Where🔒
00:41Top Grip a Hand Light on the Keeping🔒
00:55and from A E Practicing Low🔒
01:29Coming G High Down From🔒
01:52Small Keeping the Gracenote🔒

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About this lesson

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the light hand, especially but on really you you're these have grip gracenotes.” want technique, for make a “You thumb your doing to generally top if sure
that's that and thumb that and sounding.” make clean really to crisp — close small the chanter “Keep gracenote help into going
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📜 Transcript

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00:03playing common known in gracenote high a is A it another is you're but as This high gracenote high Our You to pretty G gracenote from most high the also that's gracenote.
00:19gracenote is that place that And way like common F going to to thumb you'd have the gracenote just an most play by thumb. high the G. lifting — G you
00:41So for if generally you're chanter technique, have if especially but a gripping and to the that hard that bit these doing terms little of especially on thumb gracenotes. It really grip
00:55— when very to common first It's E, gracenotes crisp and it high. their that that really thumb from Or learning make That's make low to are mistake going really although gracenote
01:29with G you it the going — high The F. gracenote. down from small down the other about high to note and G could just coming do high — can practice from
01:52thumb gracenote. your There's
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