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How to Play the Light D Throw! | The Bagpipe BASICS Series Episode 21

Matt Willis Bagpiper

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Master the light D throw on the practice chanter! In Episode 21 of the Bagpipe BASICS Series, Matt Willis Bagpiper guides you through dedicated exercises for playing the light (or open) D throw, one of the most essential and frequent embellishments in Highland bagpipe music.

Learn why the light D throw uses three distinct "sounding tones" rather than traditional grace notes, build smooth rippling execution across scale note changes, understand notation quirks when coming off low G, and see how the light D throw compares to heavy D throws and D strikes!

📍 Next Bagpipe Lesson (Episode 22): How to Play Low G & F Gracenotes! | The ...
📺 Full Bagpipe BASICS Playlist: The Bagpipe BASICS Series — How to Play th...

📥 FREE LESSON DOWNLOADS
• Free Light D Throw Exercise Sheet Music (PDF): https://bit.ly/pipelesson-21

📖 BAGPIPE BOOKS & RESOURCES
• Get "The Bagpipe BASICS Series Exercise Manual": https://mattpiper.com/site/matts-books/
(Every exercise of my BASICS Series, all in one place with extra bonus content throughout!)

⏰ CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Introduction & What is the Light D Throw?
1:20 Sounding Tones vs. Grace Notes
2:23 Whisky Interlude: Lagavulin 9 Year Game of Thrones Edition
4:00 Rules of D Throws & Low G Notation Quirks
5:35 Exercise Part 1: Step-by-Step Breakdown (Metronome at 85)
6:20 Exercise Part 2: Intermediate Speed Practice (Metronome at 72)
7:09 Exercise Part 3: Full Speed Light D Throw Performance
8:23 Light D Throw vs. Heavy D Throw Overview
9:32 Conclusion & Practice Tips

✨ CONNECT & SUPPORT
If you enjoy these bagpipe lessons, please like, comment, and subscribe to support the channel!

• Join the Patreon Community: Patreon: mattpiper
• Official Merch Store: http://bit.ly/mattpiper
• Website: http://www.mattpiper.com
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#BagpipeLesson #PracticeChanter #DThrow #LearnBagpipes #HighlandBagpipes #BagpipeExercise #CommandYourBagpipe

20 Comments

@MattWillisBagpiper Creator 1 year ago (edited) Pinned

All the Bagpipe BASICS lessons & exercises in one place! Grab your copy here: https://mattpiper.com/site/matts-books/
The Bagpipe BASICS Series Exercise Manual is the printed companion to this series!

@johnblaskiewicz3549 6 years ago

I just want to say Matt Willis is a great instructor who breaks down every movement and simplifies things for novices like myself. Another great video, well done Matt!

@donaldbeck5602 1 year ago

I would venture to speculate that that spirit spent some time maturing in an American oak bourbon barrel, hence the sweetness. Thanks for the help, Matt ❤

@graemeselkirk 6 years ago

I find the tune "The Piper of Drummond' excellent for practicing the light D throw

@micregil 5 years ago

I've never been able to figure out the light D throw, even with my tutor CDs, they show how to play it slowly then at full speed and I just couldn't grasp what was taking place, but I knew from the sound that I had it wrong. You're an excellent teacher Matt, you're really helping me a lot and I thank you for that.

@TheBelrick 2 years ago

It was nice to get to this video in the series knowing already how to do a light D throw (because I had jumped ahead in order to learn how to play amazing grace for my wife)

@johnnickpappanastos3382 6 years ago

HOUSE LANNISTER!!! Hear me roar!

@MrZen42 5 years ago

Sometimes, it's great to go back to the basics :) especially when the exercise proposed is different from the original explanations you had when learning bagpipe. It's refreshing :) I better play the light d-throw now. Thanks Matt !

@paulbill1078 3 years ago

Wunderbar

@cactusa2256 5 years ago

This is blowing my mind. Thank you for the clarity! Great video 👍👍

@gabbygita 5 years ago

Thank you for the clarity in explanation!

@bagpipermamunbd 5 years ago

iam swathing from 🇧🇩

@Donnybrook10 6 years ago

Lagavulin is far and away my fave. I wish they didn't give the Lannister to Lagavulin.

@kevin-jg5nq 1 year ago

The only Islay whisky I like is Bunnahabhain 12. It's probably my favorite, though.

@Tombaz666 3 years ago

Thanks for this video. It seems like there are several different ways to play this throw on D. That's quite interesting.
BTW, it looks like there's something on the tip of your PC, is that a Reedwrangler?

@marcandremagnan1561 4 years ago

I feel like there should be a D throw on D with the B transition just because of the rule on D grips.
Is this a thing?
BWW notation I tried from the Bagpipe player (& 2_4 sharpf sharpc I! gg D_4 LGr_32 Br_32 Cr_32 ^ts Dl_32 Dl_8 'd ^te !I)

@pattyelliottseitz7826 6 years ago

Thank you so much for this video! I hated my light d throws, and this video really helped. I found that my heavy d throws are way better sounding, and I prefer playing them up until I saw your video. I was taught that in the light d throw steps that the “d” would be like a gracenote to c .... I don’t like the sound it produces and it also seems out of place in the melody🤢