The one that got away

Mixed results this evening. Not quite reaching the comfort levels reported before, but no actual problems. I thought my chanter reed sounded a little sharp this evening as I began, but my fan says not. I played around with a couple of tunes from chanter days - today's tune is one of them - The Green Hills of Tyrol. Last summer I was just starting to learn it and was thrilled to hear it being played in a pub as we walked around Berwick in Tweed one evening. I can play it quite competently on the chanter, but this isn't great, even stripped of gracenotes. When I strip a tune in this way I find that whenever I need a gracenote I keep reverting to a G, which is serviceable but dull. Timing still not great, despite the fact that I only have to picture Andy Stewart in a kilt to have this tune rattling round my head for hours on end. It should be quite lively and I seem to have picked a good tempo for a dirge. Oh - and listening through again it sounds a bit short of puff in places. Still feeling I need a bit more stucture so have been playing over more tunes from chapter 4 of the tutor. I like Vicki's tunes: there some unexpected note sequences, like that low G in The Golden Birch, for instance. Very satisfying, although they tend to catch you out when you're playing because it's not quite what you're expecting. So I've been running through The Mill Mill O' and Fionualla's Little Finger. I seem to manage speed or accuracy. The one that got away, because I wasn't recording, was Dusty Pipes run through twice with all the repeats - hardly any errors and a good test of stamina, I felt, but you'll have to take my word for it!