Whistle designations......

[mwilson]

When I took up ukuleles, I couldn't really get on with the re entrant high G, because I played mainly melodies, so I'd put on a low G, & that gave me G3 upwards to play with.

Uke music usually has a lot of strumming, so they put a high note at each end, and the up-strums don't sound radically different from the down-strums.
But I'm off-topic.

[fatmac]

Don't worry about being slightly off topic, this is mainly intended as a light hearted thread, but could turn out useful, so that we all talk about the same thing.

[whistlecollector]

Don't worry about being slightly off topic, this is mainly intended as a light hearted thread, but could turn out useful, so that we all talk about the same thing.

I found it useful. At least now I know, more or less, what the 0.001% of whistlers who use "soprano/alto" terminology mean by those terms.

Sort of...

[Tommy]

Copied from
Colin Goldie web site

HIGH WHISTLES
Soprano E flat
Soprano D
Soprano C sharp
Soprano C
Mezzo Soprano B
Mezzo Soprano B flat
Mezzo Soprano A
LOW WHISTLES
Alto G sharp (A flat)
Alto G (small bore)
Alto G (standard bore)
Alto F sharp
Alto F
Tenor E (small bore)
Tenor E (standard bore)
Tenor E flat (small bore)
Tenor E flat (standard/big bore)
Tenor D
Baritone C sharp (small bore)
Baritone C (standard/small bore)
Baritone C (big bore)
Baritone B
Bass B flat
Bass A
Bass G

[fatmac]

......& my high F & G whistles (Generations) would still be soprano, presumably.

OK, so everything down to & including an 'A' is ' high' - everything else is 'low'.

[pancelticpiper]

Wow, Goldie has quite a complex system there.

In ordinary usage, "high" and "low" suffice for whistle keys that are encountered in only two sizes.

The potential for confusion really only crops up with the key of G, correct? One could use "mezzo G" for the middle one and "bass G" for the low one which would be quite clear.

It's hard for me to think of ordinary "Bb" and "A" whistles as a "low whistles" especially since I've not seen their High counterparts. To me they're just whistles. Yet since some people call them "low" perhaps their bass counterparts should be called "Bass Bb" and "Bass A".

Something like

High G
High F
High Eb
High D
High C
(Mezzo?) Bb
(Mezzo?) A
Mezzo G
Low F
Low Eb
Low D
Low C
Low Bb or Bass Bb
Bass A
Bass G

[whistlecollector]

It's hard for me to think of ordinary "Bb" and "A" whistles as a "low whistles" especially since I've not seen their High counterparts. To me they're just whistles. Yet since some people call them "low" perhaps their bass counterparts should be called "Bass Bb" and "Bass A".

I've got a "high a"...

Mind you, someone (not me!) took a high g whistle and drilled and extra hole in it!

[fatmac]

Ah ha, still some confusion then.

Personally, I would like to divide them at 'C', like piano octaves, just makes more sense to me, but I just wondered if there was a recognised 'official' designation - but it seems there really isn't.

[Tommy]

Ah ha, still some confusion then.

Personally, I would like to divide them at 'C', like piano octaves, just makes more sense to me, but I just wondered if there was a recognized 'official' designation - but it seems there really isn't.

I think soprano, alto, tenor, bass are more vocal designation than instrumental. I tried to find a diagram of a piano keyboard with the octaves. A picture always helps, I will try again. I understand why using the piano keyboard would work. I also understand Colin Goldie chart. However to keep it simple as Syn Whistle suggested I would like to put the CG chart next to a piano designation chart, then my own chart with -high-mid-low. Might need to put others along side also as my opinion of where each range begins and ends varies.

OK, I found the style piano keyboard chart I was looking for here, https://www.thoughtco.com/pitch-notatio ... ng-2701389

[fatmac]

Interesting.

I've never even heard of English Pitch Notation, & I'm a 68yo Englishman, (of Scottish descent).

Solfege Notation I remember, from school days singing classes, (never was any good).

Helmholtz I've heard of, but never heard of it being used, in general.

Scientific Pitch Notation is what I've always used, & thought everyone else did too.

[jiminos]

If my dog can hear it but my wife can't, it really high.

If my wife can hear it and makes me leave the house to play, it's high.

If my wife can hear it and makes me go to another room, it's an alto.

If my wife can hear it and doesn't leave the room, it's a low.

If the dog sings along.... Somebody else is playing.

[pancelticpiper]

Personally I don't see any reason to borrow systems based on the piano keyboard, choral vocal range designations, or anything outwith the whistles themselves.

As I said above "high" and "low" are sufficient for every key except for G as far as I know. (G being, as far as I know, the lowest key, and highest key, that has ever been in normal production.)

BTW it would be cool to hear the three octaves of G whistles playing together (well, at least if they were all in tune!)