Low whistle question

bgull · Post by **bgull** » Tue Jul 03, 2001 6:27 pm

Hey everybody,
I’ve been “lurking” for couple of weeks now as I slide deeper into with my new whistle obsession, and I have a couple of questions:)

After playing high whistle for a couple weeks, I purchased a Susato Low D last week (I’m a glutton for punishment) and I have spent the last couple of days figuring out how this darn thing works! Actually, it seems to be going rather well; my fingers (mostly) seem to be going where they’re supposed to, so I don’t sound like I’m strangling a cat quite so often:) The biggest thing that I discovered so far is that to get a proper seal, RELAXED fingers are a must. A simple concept, but....

My biggest problem (so far) is that I can’t seem to find a good finger hold with my right pinkie. If I use the pad/joint of my third finger to cover the low D hole, my pinkie can’t reach the top side of the whistle (short pinkie syndrome?). When I go up to the 2nd D, I come very close to flipping the whistle across the room! My remedy so far has been to use my low D (rh ring) finger to cover the D hole when I transition to higher notes. It seems much easier, and it doesn’t seem to affect the tone. Is this a major technique boo boo? I know that I don’t want to start any bad habits, so I will stop doing this if it is considered bad technique by you more experienced players. I think if the bore was a bit wider, I would have an easier time with my pinkie finger. I really like the tone of the Susato, and if I can get a “grip” on this problem, my playing would improve

DrGiggles · Post by **DrGiggles** » Tue Jul 03, 2001 10:27 pm

There are people out there who will disagree with me, and say that there is a specific way to hold the whistle. But I say, if you can hit the notes consistantly, it's comfortable, and the position doesn't appear too embarrassing (I can play a Generation D through my nose

), then you're doing fine.

When playing C#, it's quite common to have R3 down to balance the whistle. Just make sure to have it back up when flying up to E or F.

[ This Message was edited by: DrGiggles on 2001-07-04 00:30 ]

LeeMarsh · Post by **LeeMarsh** » Tue Jul 03, 2001 11:35 pm

I usually use the following fingering for stability: (X down, O open - from top hole to bottom hole)

B XOOXOO or XOO OXO

C OXXOOO or OXXXOO
(depending the whistle and which is more in tune)

C# OOOXOO or OOOOXO

Octave D OXXXXX or XXXXXX
(again depending on whistle and which is more in tune)

On my low D, I play piper grip with the right hand. So my right hand thumb is actually holding the whistle past dead center bottom of the whistle, wrapping under it and a little on the left side of the whistle. I can then rest my pinkie against the side (instead of top) to stablize the whistle. From the top end of the whistle my pinkie rests from about 2-3 o'clock and my thumb support from bottom from 6-8 o'clock.

I also us the base knuckle or first section of my left index finger to grip the upper part from about 10-11 o'clock. The left thumb actually covers from about 5-6:30 o'clock. This is pretty comfortable for me.

The left hand index finger knuckle grip that I use, I started developing when I began to play tranverse (Irish keyless) flute. At my first and only lesson, my teacher showed me how to use it to stablize my hand position and support the flute. It has hense carried over to my whistle playing.

Thats:
left thumb from 5-6:30
left index knuckle from 10-11:00
right thumb from 6-8:00
right pinkie from 2-3:00

Hope the help you with your low-D so you can ...

_________________

Enjoy Your Music, Lee Marsh 

[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2001-07-04 01:41 ]

bgull · Post by **bgull** » Wed Jul 04, 2001 6:25 am

Thanks for advice guys,
After reading Lee’s post, I think my RH thumb is not positioned correctly on the whistle, so I will correct that and see if it works. My coordination (so far) hasn’t been very good on the finger switch (coming down) when I use my RH ring finger to stabilize the whistle. The upside to the RH ring finger method is that I can index the holes much easier! I’d like to use the standard piper grip, which is why I refrain from using the thumb rest that came with my Susato.
Thanks Again,
Bgull

FairEmma · Post by **FairEmma** » Wed Jul 04, 2001 10:42 am

On many of my whistles, I find OOOXXX works quite well for a C#. Not always and it's an ear thing - but it gives pretty good balance and for my hands seems to make that middle-range work easier to shift when the whistle is longer.

Fortunately, this C# fingering suits my low D.

I had a great empathetic chuckle at the image of the whistle flipping away!

FE