"An Introduction to C natural" by Kieran O'hare =confused

[bobkeenan]

I was reading this article in the latest An Piobiare. And got really confused fast. I play my lower octave C nat with the chanter on my knee, my right hand middle finger raised, and my left hand index finger raised. I have been using the peterson strobo clip-on tuner with the Uilleann presets and at least my lower octave the notes are all pretty close with no or very slow strobe movement. That includes my C nat. And to my ears.... My C nat is not "tonally dead, dull, and lacking" as suggested in the article. I think it sounds great. In fact its one of my favorite notes!

But with only 18 months on the UPs maybe I do not know what I am listening for.

BTW. I tried the suggested technique and got a wide variety of tones and other sounds. And at my level its hard enough fitting in a c nat in triplet for example that i cannot imagine doing it. Of course i can also not imagine ever playing the regs that I have.

I wonder if one of you might play a standard c nat and then the one suggested and then back again so that i and others might see the difference on youtube or any other place that we could hear?

[NicoMoreno]

The thing about tone is that much of the tone of a note comes from the start and end of the note. So it's not just about playing a fingering, but shaping the note.

That said, I have not read the article in question. So I don't have any idea about the alternate fingerings.

[gregorygraham]

At Kieran's class a year or two ago at the Langan Weekend, he demonstrated the technique he has now written about in An Piobaire. Kieran's article is very well written and I encourage everyone to read it and give this technique a try. I have still not mastered it, not after Kieran's class, nor after reading his recently published article, but the fault lies with me, not the technique. Kieran does some really magic stuff with it. Have a crack at it.

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

So what's the big secret here? Does he hum along with the note or something?

[rorybbellows]

I've not read the article either so I dont know the technique he describes ,but some variations I use are curling off both fingers, curling off one finger but not the other. Lifting off the C# before curling off the F#(and visa versa). Lifting off the bottom ring finger and adding a bit of vibrato on and off the knee.Its probably the most versatile note when it comes to tone colour and wide open for experimenting. I love rolling the c.

RORY

[Kevin L. Rietmann]

Geez Rory, a helpful reply with nary a trace of sarcasm? You're slipping, dude.

Someone sent me copy of Kieran's article, it's about bending into the C, say you're fingering B, you put down the B+A fingers (upper hand middle and ring) as you lift the C slowly, to get that Ennis/Clancy/Reck nyah type sound, controlling how much you lift the finger to regulate the pitch of the note. I had to figure that one out on my own at the beginning of this century, as about the only book describing this was the Willie Clancy and Pat Mitchell just illustrated the index finger sliding off the tonehole, which is only half the story. I don't think I wrote an article for print about it...can't remember actually. It was quite an epiphany. Nobody at tionols bothered with explaining this one, guess they assumed it was obvious. I know I've written about it here over the years.

Kieran also makes it sound like pipers who don't use this for the C aren't getting the job done, which would be news to Johnny Doran or Patsy Touhey, eh. It's great, if you want it to be part of your sound. Plenty of great pipers have eschewed it, although the standard fingering is stock-in-trade of dull pipers everywhere too.

[rorybbellows]

Geez Rory, a helpful reply with nary a trace of sarcasm? You're slipping, dude. .

OMG, you're right Kevin, what have I become .(do you put a question mark after a rhetorical question ?) I hope its only an early dose of Christmas spirit and I soon get over it.

RORY

[benwalker]

Sometimes I have occasion to "fanny about" with c naturals usually in slower tunes. I do enjoy the unfurling the fingers off the knee long drag C for the effect..however mist times I'm just a straight up and down dullard.. Except when rolling the C natural in a few tunes.

[pancelticpiper]

I open one or two fingers on the bottom hand (middle, plus ring sometimes) then play a thumb-gracenote as I begin "uncurling" the top-hand index finger, all of this on the leg.

Off the leg, on my chanter, the note is very sharp, a C# more or less.

I've been doing it that way for 35 years or so and have always thought it sounded fine.

I do find that it's difficult to teach to beginners, because there are three different things which have to be co-ordinated:
1) open the lower finger(s)
2) play the thumb gracenote
3) have the top fingerhole partially open exactly the right amount (open not enough and the note squeals; open too much and you don't have as much latitude for a long sexy bend)

Getting a squeal when trying to hit C natural can be heard on albums from time to time.