Do You Tune Too Soon, Or 'Set and Forget'?

Do you struggle to get your pipes into tune when you first start to play?

You may be trying to tune too soon.

Tuning is a skill many pipers struggle with, and it can take a long time to get it right. To maximize your chances, a solid maintenance and practice routine can help a lot – and at the start of each session, it's when you don't play that can save you a lot of angst in the process...

Every time you practice, begin each session, as long or short as it may be, with a mental check of the four key questions of bagpipe maintenance (is/are my bag, reed seats and stock joints airtight, and are my drone reeds calibrated?). If you play regularly, this process will only take 30 seconds or so each day.

(And while we're on that topic – try to play your pipes, even if it's just for two minutes, every single day. It will do wonders for your stamina and also give your pipes the best chance of being in great condition to play.)

Now, once you're sure your pipes are airtight and ready to sing, play a couple of tunes with the instrument ‘roughly’ tuned. Just enjoy playing for a few minutes, without being picky about details.

Then – and here's the important part – 'set and forget' for a few minutes. Simply put your pipes down and walk away!

It may feel like the opposite of what you should do when you've just started to practice, but allowing that time between an initial warm up and attempting to tune will give the environment inside your pipes a chance to settle. You're acclimatizing your reeds to the moisture and heat, allowing your chanter and drone reeds to stabilize in pitch, and therefore actually reducing the amount of times you'll need to spend tuning them.

Then after a few minutes, you can pick them up, pull them into tune, and relish how much longer you can play for without needing to retune!

Check out this Dojo Conversations podcast for more explanation, insight, and tips on the 'set and forget' method!