A question on holding the whistle

Fishie · Post by **Fishie** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:38 pm

I used to hold the whistle with my right pinkie on the whistle as all times. I found this to be restricting the movement of my right ring finger, so I started palying with the right pinkie off at all times. This helped with finger movement, but when I play C# with all fingers off, the whistle is on the verge of falling! What is the tendency among most whistlers to do?

I suppose I can play C# with the bottom hole covered...

Danner · Post by **Danner** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:51 pm

I've always heard that you should put your pinky on the whistle to stabilize it. I naturally take my pinky off for D (all fingers down) from my classical flute training and leave it down most of the rest of the time. I think that most people here will agree to experiment and do what is most comfortable for you.

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:32 pm

Get
Down
Boogie oogie oogie!

I keep it down.

dapple · Post by **dapple** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:54 pm

Stabalizing the whistle with my third finger on the D hole is more comfortable for me than keeping my little finger on the tube.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:00 pm

I let my pinkie drop whenever it feels like it needs to stabilize the whistle. Otherwise, I let it stay up.

I don't think about it, but when I was very new, it was very distracting to think about.

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:22 pm

It took me a bit of getting used to, but I cover the bottom hole to stabilize the whistle for C# and for B rolls. In fact you can keep it down for an A with very little tone change on many whistles, expecially in fast tunes. For slow tunes, I try very hard to cover and uncover the correct holes for best sound.

At first, I was very conscious of the effort of covering the hole, but after a few months it was pretty natural.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:41 pm

I play with my pinky in the air on smaller instruments, but on lower keys, which are larger, I find that I keep my pinky on. This is because there is more room between finger holes on low whistles so it doesn't get in the way as much, but also because low whistles are heavier and need more support.

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:13 pm

It seems that on E and D I have it up but down the rest of the time.

stratochicnic · Post by **stratochicnic** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:15 pm

Yeah, it's definitely good to use your pinky to balance the whistle. I keep it down for all of the notes except E and D. You can also use your right ring finger as a balance finger and place it over the D hole. But this could be problematic when you play fast tunes and have to keep switching fingers. I think the pinky works best

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:15 pm

I have it down all the time.

stratochicnic · Post by **stratochicnic** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:16 pm

Cynth wrote:I have it down all the time.

For all the notes? If you have it down for the low notes, it can restrict your movement.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:29 pm

Well, I haven't noticed that so far---but then I might be having trouble and not know it. Do you mean that I might not be able to go from low D to low E as quickly? Or maybe not get the bottom hole covered as well as I want? Not quite sure what movement would be restricted. It seems like if I don't have my pinky down the whistle is waving around all over the place and I can't count on the holes being where they are supposed to be.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Tue May 17, 2005 10:09 pm

stratochicnic wrote:
Cynth wrote:I have it down all the time.
For all the notes? If you have it down for the low notes, it can restrict your movement.

I have mine down all the time and haven't noticed any restriction either in changing notes or in slides on the E and D holes. I think it would drive me crazy to start lifting it for those two note at this point, though it's probably not that hard if you start out that way.

I started out with it up all the time, but after my Burke flew out of my hands one time, I switched. I did go through a period when I tensed it (and both thumbs), but once I worked on relaxing it, it was fine.

dfernandez77 · Post by **dfernandez77** » Tue May 17, 2005 10:43 pm

I'll agree with Cynth and Darwin here.

I switched to down all the time after I clocked myself in the nose with my Shaw.

I think it was on the lesson where Bill Ochs introduces C#.

It still makes me laugh thinking of it.

Fishie · Post by **Fishie** » Wed May 18, 2005 5:30 am

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll try a few different approahes. I like having my pinkie off, but maybe I can train myself to lift it up and down as I need to.