I wonder if anybody has a similar experience to mine: I'm a left-handed whistle and wooden flute player (not left-handed in anything else, I just put the wrong hand at the top and never noticed until it was too late)
Last year I was trying out a flute that had been cut so that it could only be blown right-handed. I held it right-handed to try it, then had a go at playing a tune (Off to California). To my surprise I found I could play it at about half speed without really making any mistakes.
This confused me because logically every single finger was doing something completely different from what it did when I usually play, but it didn't feel all that different.
I have to say that this only works with tunes that I know very well. I wonder if it's to do with the way the tune is stored in the brain. Maybe the whole shape of the tune is memorized rather than the individual bits of it.
Does anybody else have experience of switching round (from a whistle point of view, that is...)
And one funny thing: The tunes sounded OK but the rolls came out 'upside down'!
ambidextrous whistle fingering
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StevieJ
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I know someone who amuses himself by playing the whistle left-handed. He's got quite good at it. But then, he's a very proficient uillean piper and reedmaker, which shows he likes a challenge.
I found just now I could manage a slow Off to California but only by thinking about each note, which hurts my brain.
I found just now I could manage a slow Off to California but only by thinking about each note, which hurts my brain.
Jessie-
Brian Lee
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I've never tried switching hand myself, but one thing I do quite regularly, is transpose a tune on the whistle up or down a few holes. like instead of playing a tune in D, I'll play it in either E minor or G or something like that.
It's obviously not the same as moving a whole hand around, but it does shift the movement for a particular note or ornamentation around enough to make it interesting!
Sure it might be just as easy to play it on a different whistle, but since when had a whistler done ANYTHING just because it was easy?!
Bri~
It's obviously not the same as moving a whole hand around, but it does shift the movement for a particular note or ornamentation around enough to make it interesting!
Sure it might be just as easy to play it on a different whistle, but since when had a whistler done ANYTHING just because it was easy?!
Bri~
I made the mistake, a couple of months
ago, of playing whistles (some of them
big ones) for twelve hours
over about three days. This caused
tendonitis in my right wrist and scared
the beans out of me, because this
sort of problem put an end to my
guitar playing. I figured part of the problem was that my right
hand was doing too much work, balancing
the whistle so I switched hands
and began playing with my right hand
on top.
Some conclusions:
1. It can be done; it's weird at first,
but the brain knows what to do and
does it.
2. One gets better pretty quickly. Also
if you come back to it later, it's easier.
3. One can learn to be truly ambidexterous;
play the tune with the right hand on
top, then play it with the left hand on
top, then play it with the right hand, etc.
4. It was a genuine relief when the
tendonitis diminished to the point
when I could forget this business--at
least for now.
Whatever the brain does in learning a
tune can be transferred to the opposite
hand, given reasonable effort; maybe neurologists know why.
Did you ever notice how many guitarists
move their mouths when playing guitar?
Human critters are wired funny...
ago, of playing whistles (some of them
big ones) for twelve hours
over about three days. This caused
tendonitis in my right wrist and scared
the beans out of me, because this
sort of problem put an end to my
guitar playing. I figured part of the problem was that my right
hand was doing too much work, balancing
the whistle so I switched hands
and began playing with my right hand
on top.
Some conclusions:
1. It can be done; it's weird at first,
but the brain knows what to do and
does it.
2. One gets better pretty quickly. Also
if you come back to it later, it's easier.
3. One can learn to be truly ambidexterous;
play the tune with the right hand on
top, then play it with the left hand on
top, then play it with the right hand, etc.
4. It was a genuine relief when the
tendonitis diminished to the point
when I could forget this business--at
least for now.
Whatever the brain does in learning a
tune can be transferred to the opposite
hand, given reasonable effort; maybe neurologists know why.
Did you ever notice how many guitarists
move their mouths when playing guitar?
Human critters are wired funny...