HOW to play HIDDEN NOTES on the BAGPIPES!?

Feel free to help me out over on Patreon - www.patreon.com/kylehowie
The bagpipe scale is thought to be limited to 9 notes, however, there are actually 15 in total!
In this video I will show you how to play them as well as playing a selection of tunes that use these notes on my Fred Morrison Reelpipes.
Please feel free to like and subscribe! ✌️

[@GreenPiper-el5tv]

So much potential for new pipe tunes with these alternative fingerings. Shame non of them will make it into the world of competition piping though.

[@WootTootZoot]

My first piping instructor was an old guy from Nova Scotia who use to play sitting down so he could press his knees together to cover the tone holes on the chanter to produce a lower note than low G. He also had a vertical notch cut across the high A so he could half hole the high A with his thumbnail. There's two more notes.

[@lelandreid5425]

wouldn’t half holeing the high a be effectively the same as the high G sharp Shown in the video?

[@w.reidripley1968]

The tone hole stunt works a lot better with an unsoled chanter. Unless you have extraordinarily flabby thighs.

[@w.reidripley1968]

Wonder if this actually works any better with chamber/border pipes than with a GHB?

[@w.reidripley1968]

False fingering, with a method to it!

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

I love it - those extra notes make it sound bluesy. :)

[@lysanderardeal6368]

Fantastic stuff, thanks for that!

[@frye912]

Outstanding!

[@celticmusic5129]

Im a Gaita player from Galicia, and actually Im learning GHB, this video about minor scale its very interesting, I cant uderstand all about GHB scale and notes but step by step I will learn. Thank you for this videos!!!

[@KyleHowie]

Great to hear you’re learning the GHB! I LOVE the Gaita pipes, spent a bit of time in Galicia for Festival de Ortigueira and the music is incredible too!

[@tasmant]

That Ross Ainslie tune is amazing omg

[@lesbrunton5003]

Beautiful playing. Are those Fred Morrison Reel Pipes? I find the tone very rich and centered and therefore very pleasing to the ear.

[@matthewdenty7760]

Ok, highland cathedral is thanking you ... the whammy effect by chilly pipers was killing me lol

[@TheGameStorePiper]

3:25 another Hole dimension... I see what you did there ;)

[@chrismills2012]

thanks for that video, I didn't know you could get those extra notes on the island pipes, I thought you had to have keys for that, I play the Northumbrian kind as well as the highlands, and one of the big advantages with the Northumbrian pipes is the keys for the added notes

[@robbyboy03]

That was amazing.

[@silviusuelbus3108]

True, 14 also on my Italian Baghet, and even maybe 16/17 in some Spanish gaitas ;)

[@KyleHowie]

Absolutely LOVE the gaitas! I first went to Galicia around the age of 14 and fell in love with them, what a beautiful instrument! 🤘

[@silviusuelbus3108]

KyleHowie I bought a very cheap Galician one a few months ago. Still not playing perfectly but, what a lovely instrument. I’m now looking to exchange my Baghet with a Piva in Low G, and looking to buy a Bulgarian gaida kaba soon. Yeah, I have to wait for the quarantine to end, but that’s another story...

[@DAWG_HOUSE]

Hi Kyle. Awesome video. I do have one question. Are all these accidentals available on your Fred Morrison Reelpipes chanter, or can you only play C nat and F nat? Anyway, I love your videos. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@KyleHowie]

Thanks for watching! They are all available, just very fiddly sometimes having to half hole now and again, but good fun all the same! 😃

[@michaelbarney1951]

Highland chanter/reed combo. suggestions? I play a Dunbar chanter, with a Shepherd moulded reed, and can never manage the flattened B.

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

Brilliant! Proper treasure trove. Guessing these all work on the Blair too? Do you have a slurring how to?

[@Crazy_Joe_Davola]

Someone once told me when I was a wee beginner that there is a way to play High B. Has anyone else heard of this?

[@KyleHowie]

So glad you mentioned this! I didn’t discover High B (apart from those who had keyed smallpipe chanters) that you could indeed reach High B and I believe even High C natural! It’s absolutely nuts but totally works, a lot of trad borderpipe repertoire has these notes- well worth checking out! Matt Seattle is good at reaching the high notes. If I remember correctly it’s B on the bottom hand (of course) but with your left hand thumb half covering the hole with a bit of added pressure on the bag too. Pretty cool!

[@Crazy_Joe_Davola]

@@KyleHowie Wow thanks for this info. I'll try it out and get back to you. I find myself wanting to play high B quite a lot and I'm always disappointed when I just give up and drop down to F or whatever..

[@colinbenfield326]

Heresy . I’m of to start the fiddle.

[@matthewdenty7760]

New to play listener for life lol... played tin whistle to see if I had potential (biggest mistake ever); could a chanter be straight bored to play more like whistle than needing cover low holes for high notes ? I bought a chanter and played around going from whistle to chanter sounded fair but needles to say pipes were a fail and I'm now gone back to start completely over

[@mikegilbert119]

Hi Kyle! I'd like to play a tune with c natural. Do you have a suggestion for a pretty one? Thanks

[@MichaelRosnitschek]

Thanks for that great Video. There are some tunes you play at the end. Can you tell me where I can find the sheet music for them? :-)

[@runtsmeadow6797]

The top G on my recently-aquired chanter sounds as G# unless I blow less strongly. Is that normal?

[@TheDrPython]

Can you do the same with The Belly Danver by Gordon Duncan? Please

[@SOLVHEDENSK]

Hi, Kyle! Great video! I recently bought a new reelpipes set from Fred M., and my drone reeds suffer a lot from unstability. I´m not a novice, already play uilleann sets, smallpipes and GHB with no problems, so any advice? What configuration are you using? Your set sounds so nice and balanced!!

[@KyleHowie]

Are they the ezeedrone reelpipe reeds? That’s what I’ve got in my set. I never ever have my little Alto drone on which I think right away helps with steadier playing. I set my reelpipes up like my highland pipes where the drones pop off if I give the bag a quick solid squeeze. Maybe try that? 👌

[@SOLVHEDENSK]

@@KyleHowie yes, they are eezedrones. I think all of them are unstable! 🤦‍♂️ How do you set that pop on/off? Maybe Im missing something!

[@JBrooksNYS]

The C natural fingering doesnt sound much different on my practice chanter, or pipes

[@KyleHowie]

Can be hit or miss, I find they always work better with a flatter reed 👌

[@tquinn4110]

How are these hidden notes written on sheet music, what do they look like?

[@KyleHowie]

Could cover most things with key signatures but a # symbol on low G for the low G sharp A small “b” symbol for Bflat (Bb) C with the natural symbol D with the # Eflat like Bflat (Eb) F natural with the symbol And HG with the # Hope that makes sense? 😵‍💫

[@josephboudreau8794]

Do you have any printed instruction or diagram you could share?

[@KyleHowie]

Jo Boudreau hi Jo, I’ve not actually put anything together yet. It’s something I plan on doing and I’ll definitely mention it and get sharing once it’s all assembled 👍

[@josephboudreau8794]

That would be amazing. The pieces you played to demonstrate are absolutely beautiful. And I immediately recognized the haunting quality of some of those notes, especially Key of Dminor to be something I’ve always been intrigued about, but always simply attributed it to simply skill level.

[@matthewdenty7760]

Fingering devel holes ,, be a while b4 I tempt passing 9 notes ... astonishing

[@nickre6579]

I’ve been trying all of these on my pipes with a melvin reed. Most of the bottom hand hidden notes aren’t sounding cleanly. Any tips? Thanks

[@KyleHowie]

The C natural should be the easiest one to achieve, Nicholas! That’s the more simple finger placement, the Low G sharp and Bflat require half-holing which is tricky and just takes a bit of practice so you know how much of the hole to cover, then at that point you work on speed and you’re good to go 💪

[@finneire2081]

It was Gordon Duncan god rest him that brought this knowledge back from the uilleann pipers he also learned to play the whistle from them.

[@KyleHowie]

Yh he very much lead the way in modern piping compositions that incorporated these extended notes of the pipe scale 👌 The woman who taught me whistle took Gordon on his first trip to Ireland when he was 16 along with her dad, that’s when he caught the “bug” for the Irish style of playing she reckons 👌

[@finneire2081]

@@KyleHowie i live not far from ballyfermot in Dublin . Where the famous fury's are from Also paddy keenan uilleann piper I played in a pipeband where a story was told to me about Gordon meeting the fury's. Gordon had arrived in Dublin and after asking about for a pub that played trad and folk music he was directed to a famous pub in the city called O' Donoghues bar. As he was walking in their was to cheeky younglads on a push bike waiting outside and upon seeing Gordon with a case heading in they shouted hey Mr what do ya play ?? Pipes Gordon said . What sort of pipes said the young lads Gordon answers Highland pipes!!. Ah brilliant said the younglads come with us our father loves them and he plays uilleann pipes . Taken turns on the bike they made their way back to ballyfermot two young furys Gordon the pipes and the bike 😆 They entered the house got the aul lad out of bed and they all played all night and bottles of Guinness were set for . This might of set Gordon of to become the talented man he was . Im not to sure how true this is but i will say it was told to me by piper who is an old man now and was a friend of the fury family and knew alot about Gordon Duncan too.

[@finneire2081]

@@KyleHowie your a younger version of Gordon himself fanatstic to see you play whistle uileann and highland pipes He would be proud of you . Hope to start my uileann pipe journey this year . Happy new year A Cara 👍

[@KyleHowie]

Thank you Finn! 🙏 That story doesn’t sound too far fetched for Gordon, the stories are as legendary as his music! The Uilleann pipes are truly incredible and you’ll love every minute of them! 👌

[@finneire2081]

@@KyleHowie cheers Kyle tanks If tour ever in Dublin let me know lad 👍

[@broadsworddannyboy5057]

The question is- applying the " reasonable listening test "; are these notes pleasing to the Human ear ? I am not to sure - some of these notes sound very " schräg" of off ....

[@KyleHowie]

They definitely do sound a bit off when they’re held out, played quickly through a reel with fiddles and guitars etc definitely helps 👌

[@broadsworddannyboy5057]

@@KyleHowie l am not a fan - l don't think that they pass the reasonable listeners test - any blind piano tuner will tell you that- I don't think these musical notes please the ear - certainly not mine - listen to Mozart as an example of the test ....

[@KyleHowie]

No worries, just depends what you’re getting upto with your piping! These notes don’t appear much in actual piping repertoire but for gigs and ceilidhs you’ve got to have them on the go to expand the repertoire to match fiddle and accordion etc, and again once tempos are up and pipes are well tuned (highlands and borders etc), they work great 👌

[@KyleHowie]

I should say too that the tunes that have anything beyond C and F natural don’t make up much of the sets too, thankfully pipes are still the alpha instrument (🤪) so fiddles tend to work to pipes most of the time anyway 😎

[@Iwantapplez109]

i think it adds an interesting texture.

[@t.g.1265]

How dare you taint the piping tradition and encourage versatility !!! What's next a keyed chanter?!! :-)

[@KyleHowie]

Haha! We’ll review one soon to see if it’s any better than the half-holing 😎