Sorry, but I just can't resist:



This is the typical Carnatic style of playing violin, with the head resting on the foot. As you can see, with this approach there's no need for a chin rest. Some players do have them, but they probably play Western music as well.

Anyway, sorry for the sidetrack.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

I have to try that!

Perhaps that could also work for supporting a low whistle?

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I seem to have a mild to moderate case of WhOAD!

As popular as gitfiddles are I think that's an erroneous assumption,sir.

Back to the issue at hand.
Excluding having very small hands or a physical problem I just don't get people having trouble holding onto any of the smaller whistles,at least down to Bb. When I was younger and had no wheels I often walked for miles.Where I live it's hilly,and even a slow pace for me is quicker than most others' normal pace.So in warm seasons my hands sweated.A lot. Outside of the rare oops which was due to the walking I've never experienced this ongoing stability problem. Plus I used to prefer the nickel finishes,although like all finishes they would eventually wear off.

For beginners it may just be getting used to the pressure and balance required with both lips and digits,especially the thumbs, to keep things stable.That,not unlike using a pen,is just a matter of familiarity which becomes unconscious.

Oh,don't get the wrong idea.I don't use my lips to help hold a pen!

I was trying to resist but you've started now. Here's one example a bit closer to home that immediately came to mind:




And there was this:



To which I can only say I happen to live in a country where the whistle is part of the National school curriculum. Everybody has a go at some point, whether they like it or not.

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My brain hurts

Where I'm from, pretty much all of them.

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Richard Cook
1978 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Alright, it was just an example. If you prefer, we can go with "how many electric guitars without strap-pegs have you seen people play recently?"

Point is that mods for holding instruments are not inherently "cheating," or belittling the instrument, as long as they don't inhibit the tone production, and the fact that some people become very successful without them does not mean that they are therefore universally unnecessary.

All the keys on the boehm flute are cheating--that's why you never see anybody playing them in any professional orchestra anywhere

Wow, I never would have guessed this topic would generate these responses when I started it. It was a heads up because the grips worked for me and I’ve read that other people have also sometimes found my two main whistles a bit slippery, the nickel Killarney and an MK low D. I don’t really need them on the Killarney, but they clearly help me with securely holding my MK. I love the anodized finishes on MK’s, but they are slippery. I don’t need nor have I put these on my other low D’s, an Optima and a Reyburn. If my hands are dry I do moisten them before playing, so I will probably put them on all my low D’s at some point so I don’t have to worry about dry hands.

Anyway, I now want to play around with some alternate ways of holding my fiddle, primarily for fun, but you never know.

Doug Kershaw the Cajun fiddler plays like that all the time, standing up and dancing around while he's playing.

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Deartháir don phaidir an port.

I don't know; can your foot blow into a fipple?

Just joshing. I suppose if you're able to do it without your foot blocking the bell opening too much, you could forget grip aids. You'd also have to be able to sit cross-legged pretty easily.


Whaaaaa...?

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Actually quite a few West Virginia fiddlers' instruments have chin rests- but they're not anywhere close to the fiddler's faces.

I assume the rests came attached to the fiddles when they were purchased, and let be, seeing as they ain't doing nobody no harm none.

Vestigial rather than functional, in other words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ADmzJ9nrHw

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Richard Cook
1978 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Sarcasm

Oh. Duh on me. Mom always said I inherited my gullibility from her.

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"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

"Someone needs to start making a 3 kilogram high D whistle that's lacquer-finished to be extremely smooth, so we separate the stores that sell musical instruments VS those that sell Irish jewelry" .... ..... Alexis Sopranino (Injury lawyer to 13 national soccer teams).