Spent the first 5 – 10 minutes practicing strike ins and doublings to warm up. Then played 4 tunes, a few twice over, for a total of seven runs through, with approx. one minute breather break between each.
I seem to get slightly less out of breath in the last few minutes, but still I fizzle out enough to have to finish after 30 minutes. They say perseverance pays.
So, I’ve had the pressure gauge attached for a while now. What I hate the most about it is that the tube is too short. I certainly can’t see the gauge when I’m playing. It should be long enough to attach it to a wall so that it is within line of sight.
The strike in’s were terrible today. I got 4/10 for those. I don’t know what I was doing wrong this time.
Achievement for today: minimal. I played the pipes for 30 minutes. But just as it became easier and nicer sounding, my own endurance gave way. I persevered long enough to fizzle out after the first bar of Loch Rannoch. No pain no gain. I will have to push myself to the end every day; this will be the only way for me to increase endurance. Tomorrow’s another day.
I noticed that when I took up the pipes again after a long layoff, that my blowing pressure was around the 20 psi mark. Today it was around 29-30 psi mark. I guess the diaphragm muscles are getting stronger. That’s an improvement 🙂
