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Eric Maclewis - Bagpipe Fingerings on Practice Chanter - page 3
TAORLUATHS
1. the beat on the melodic note ending the movement is placed at the end of the embellishment, right on the E grace note, so right on this melodic note.
2. that means that the rest of the embellishment (the essential part of the taorluath) is placed slightly before the beat… but only slightly because the taorluath is part of the melodic note as it is an embellishment of it : this will be the major issue here; to manage it, the melodic note before the taorluath (often a quarter note with a G grace note) must be firmly played with a good duration. That will also affect the musical quality of the embellishment.
So you must push the start of the taorluath to its limits by playing the first melodic note almost during its whole pulse.
3. the G grace note on the first melodic note must be clear and firm with a finger well raised.
4. each note of the taorluath must be heard and played at an equal distance of the others; to manage it, you have to work at first on a low tempo and focus on avoid any crossing sounds : again, all fingers have to be well raised in the movement.
5. if it helps, you can mentalize every finger move
6. try to stay relaxed as long as you can : particularly with your lips whose tension is often transmitted to the fingers; at the end of an exercise, your right hand must stay relaxed, well, as far as possible…
7. every taorluath must have the same sound (for a same melodic note)
8. some movements are harder than others (especially those with the taorluath on B, coming from the D melodic note) : isolate them to work them individually with a lower tempo if needed.
9. on the first exercise, the beat is 50 bpm, so pretty low : that allows you to focus on the duration of the first melodic note; you can catch your breath from time to time just before the melodic note (with the G grace note).
10. for the second exercise, you'll find several audio files with different beats; I've also put a rest bar after each group of four bars to catch your breath if needed.
