Beat MacReed - Free Video Lessons - "Pipers Technique Series" #1 - Slow & Open

Quite a few pipers have e-mailed me about technique issues.

I have decided to make a series on this topic, which I hope will be helpful to many of you. Here is the first video in the series.

Even though you might think that the "Slow & Open" concept is quite easy, most pipers will find it a challenge to master because it requires absolute awareness of how each movement is built up.

Once you control it, your technique will not depend on "luck", and random reflexes. You will actually know 100% what you are doing with your fingers.

It's a bit like yoga I guess...

You should be practicing like this at the height of a World class solo career or at the very start of your training.

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[erikleiken]

Finally, a tutor that is well-presented in both a visual and musical way. It's easy to make a tutor that will cater to pipers either visually or musically, but not so much with both. I think that even a fresh beginner could easily follow this course and find success. Well done!

[Ninjak3k]

Very much enjoyed this video. I'd seem a similar practice emphasized by Jimmy McIntosh regarding piobaireachd techniques, but, just practicing crunluaths this way, I've started to see other embellishments improving for me. I'm definitely going to start applying this practice technique to my other embellishments. Thanks for putting this out there! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[ceolmoore]

Excellent video! It will be a great help to those of us who teach, especially in that we can point to this and say: Look, I'm not the only one preaching "slow and open"! A lot of students, especially younger folk, get frustrated with this, and teaching them self-critic and true awareness of their technique is really difficult: they just wanna PLAY fast NOW! This is something they can come back to again and again, without me harping at them. Thanks!

[SlashBanzai]

This stuff is a big deal. It's hard to realise how much at first. Practicing technique "even" means you can play it a lot faster (and better) and playing it slowly means your brain can actually register what's going on to learn it and make it consistent.

These are universal principles in music and sport.

For having used all three methods demonstrated over the past decade, I can attest that it's well worth the effort to make your playing round and slow in practice.