Practice Tip:
The Grip to E

This week's embellishment to practice is the grip. Referring to the One Minute Exercises in your packet, you will see that there are three exercises listed: Grip to C, Grip to E and the Grip to High A. Although I would encourage you to practice all three grip exercises, focus most of your efforts on the grip to E, as this is featured a number of times in Miss Mary.

While practicing, really concentrate on getting a good, solid low G, literally "gripping" your chanter (thus, the name "The Grip), then getting good lift on the C grace note with your right pointer finger.

After you've done a lot of SLOW, methodical practice, isolating your finger movements, move on to the Gripping Tune, also in your packet. All three grips (grip to C, E and High A) are targeted. Practice slowly, really digging into the low Gs in each grip. If you find you are missing the low Gs so that they are not sounding, stop and repeat the grip until you get a nice, full low G.

Finally, take a look at Miss Mary, focusing on the grips to E (see measures 7, 15, 23, 31, 39 and 47.) Notice that all of these grips are preceded by a C. Isolate the embellishment by starting with the C, then playing just the grip, working it slowly until your fingers are relaxed and comfortable with the execution. Increase the tempo gradually. When you feel you can play the grip to E up to tempo (about 50 bpm), then add the measure preceding the grip so you are comfortable with the approach. Remember that it's the low G that is the most important note to sound in this embellishment.

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