# Practice Chanter **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 21, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485 "2016-09-21T04:10:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/1 "2016-09-21T04:10:07Z")
So I got a Practice Chanter so I could learn how to play the bagpipes. However I have a problem, it seems like no matter how I position my fingers the pipe plays the same note. Could there be something wrong with the reed? What am I doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/2 "2016-09-21T04:33:03Z")
Well, a bagpipe is meant to play two notes at once. One of those notes is always going to be more or less the same. Is it this note that is bothering you, or the other one? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/3 "2016-09-21T04:44:46Z")
The reed is inserted properly, and you’re using the standard fingering but cannot play a scale? That’s weird! Are you holding the reed in your teeth, or do you have the whole chanter assembled? I’m assuming you have the reed that came with the chanter? Or have you made your own? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/4 "2016-09-21T04:50:22Z")
I’ve got one of those! A cheap-jack version, and the “reed” is plastic. It makes a sound like a moose-call. You have to blow kinda hard, harder than with a recorder or oboe. You really gotta lean into it. That’s one of the things it prepares you for, with real bagpipes. (Recommended: P.D.Q. Bach’s Pervertimento for Bicycle, Bagpipes, and Balloons. One of the solo instruments is the chanter, without the rest of the pipes.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/5 "2016-09-21T04:53:23Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Well, a bagpipe is meant to play two notes at once. One of those notes is always going to be more or less the same. Is it this note that is bothering you, or the other one? IIRC, the drone pipes play a D-G-D chord (or is it G-D-G?), and the chanter (which produces the melody) sounds an octave above that. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/6 "2016-09-21T04:54:53Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > You have to blow kinda hard, harder than with a recorder or oboe. You really gotta lean into it. That’s one of the things it prepares you for, with real bagpipes. Better yet, just shell out for a decent reed. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/7 "2016-09-21T06:50:50Z")
Look at that horrible monster attacking that poor old lady! Have courage, granny! I’ll save you! I’ll save you! ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/8 "2016-09-21T07:27:59Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > So I got a Practice Chanter so I could learn how to play the bagpipes. However I have a problem, it seems like no matter how I position my fingers the pipe plays the same note. Could there be something wrong with the reed? What am I doing wrong? Which note? High A? Or always a lower note? Is the hemp around the base of the reed allowing air to escape? The chanter is for practicing the fingering, if you are blowing your ears out you need to restrict the air flow. Take a rubber band and wind it firmly about half way along the reed’s blades. If the note is still discordant move the band up higher. Maybe 1/4" in from the top in some cases. The note from the reed alone (obviously) needs to be above High A. If the above doesn’t apply you aren’t covering the holes fully. Get your fingers lying flat across the barrel. Use the middle of the top joints over the holes, not fingertips. ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/9 "2016-09-24T18:57:38Z")
Flashback to 1978, staying at my Dad’s on the weekends. He thought it was hi-larious to wake me up 6am every morning with his chanter. He apparently could do only one note as well. Please. Practice and practice some more. Get good at it because bad at it is just too painful for your loved ones. And bagpipes are actually pretty cool 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/10 "2016-09-25T05:10:28Z")
[How to Enjoy Your Bagpipe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbgguWz-X1s), by Anna Russell. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/11 "2016-09-25T06:13:02Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Look at that horrible monster attacking that poor old lady! Have courage, granny! I’ll save you! I’ll save you! He put up a terrific battle, ma’am, but clean livin’ prevailed. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/12 "2016-09-25T06:51:26Z")
Hey Mummy, there’s a man over there wearing a dress with a dead pig under his arm that sings. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2016, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/practice-chanter/766485/13 "2016-09-25T07:12:31Z")
I’ll save ya from that octopus, lady!