Got my low D!

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AuLoS303
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Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

My Kerry Optima tuneable came today. It looks fantastic and is huge. The grip takes some getting used to, especially the lowest note. I've found that if I hold the whistle at an angle I get a better grip

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Re: Got my low D!

Post by fatmac »

Good to hear it's arrived - keep us updated as to how you find playing it. :thumbsup:
Keith.
Trying to do justice to my various musical instruments.
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AuLoS303
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

After much fiddling and watching the first tutorial on Phil's site I got a scale. That low note is quite a stretch, and I have big hands! I suppose I could do stretching exercises before playing...

https://youtu.be/koV8hzJnpvM
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by fatmac »

Seems to have a good tone. :thumbsup:

(I find placing my ring finger tip on the lower of the three holes of each hand has helped.)
Keith.
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AuLoS303
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

fatmac wrote:Seems to have a good tone. :thumbsup:

(I find placing my ring finger tip on the lower of the three holes of each hand has helped.)
Yea on Phil's site he says to use the second pad of the first two fingers and the tip of the 3rd to cover the holes (221,221)
But even then its a stretch. And I have piano hands!
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benhall.1
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by benhall.1 »

AuLoS303 wrote:
fatmac wrote:Seems to have a good tone. :thumbsup:

(I find placing my ring finger tip on the lower of the three holes of each hand has helped.)
Yea on Phil's site he says to use the second pad of the first two fingers and the tip of the 3rd to cover the holes (221,221)
But even then its a stretch. And I have piano hands!
It's a funny thing, but it took me ages when I first got a low D to get used to the stretch, and that was even after having already got used to the flute, which in theory is about the same stretch. And then ... all of a sudden I found that it wasn't a stretch any more. I really don't know what changed.

By the way, I don't think I'd recommend stretching exercises - you might injure yourself if you're not careful. It'll just come to you, one day. Then the next day, it will have gone; it'll come back quicker ... etc etc
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AuLoS303
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

benhall.1 wrote:
AuLoS303 wrote:
fatmac wrote:Seems to have a good tone. :thumbsup:

(I find placing my ring finger tip on the lower of the three holes of each hand has helped.)
Yea on Phil's site he says to use the second pad of the first two fingers and the tip of the 3rd to cover the holes (221,221)
But even then its a stretch. And I have piano hands!
It's a funny thing, but it took me ages when I first got a low D to get used to the stretch, and that was even after having already got used to the flute, which in theory is about the same stretch. And then ... all of a sudden I found that it wasn't a stretch any more. I really don't know what changed.

By the way, I don't think I'd recommend stretching exercises - you might injure yourself if you're not careful. It'll just come to you, one day. Then the next day, it will have gone; it'll come back quicker ... etc etc
Well I have a flute but I dont find it a stretch. Oh unless you mean a traditional, keyless flute...
You can play beautiful music on an ugly flute
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benhall.1
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by benhall.1 »

AuLoS303 wrote:Well I have a flute but I dont find it a stretch. Oh unless you mean a traditional, keyless flute...
Not keyless. I've never been into them. But not Boehm, like yours either. 8-key, simple system is my sort of flute.
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by pancelticpiper »

I played pipes before taking up whistle so "piper's grip" came natural to me, at least in the low hand.

Whenever "legit" players try my Low Whistles they always arch their fingers. That's the deadly part, and the part that forces them to try to stretch their fingers apart. Flat(ish) fingers can spread to comfortably cover a much wider distance than arched fingers. So to me there's no "stretch" per se involved with whistles down to Low D and even my Goldie Low C.

With my Bass A yes there's a bit of a stretch, and yes my hands can tire if I play that huge beast too long.

Here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJm6BQ-Qxcg&t=66s

But yes, both hands using the middle-joint pads on the index and middle fingers, and the endjoint pads on the ring fingers.

Here are Low Ds from various makers (including an Optima) showing how the holes are pretty much the same

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Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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AuLoS303
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

I use the Piper's grip but the lowest note is a real hard stretch and at times it seems I just can't get it. Then I saw a video of a young girl playing my same whistle and realusee I just have to practice.
You can play beautiful music on an ugly flute
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AuLoS303
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

I modify the piper's grip a little, with the fingers of my right hand flat I use the middle or lowest pads over the holes. I have to play very slow for now. But slow music suits the instrument anyway.

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Re: Got my low D!

Post by pancelticpiper »

AuLoS303 wrote:I modify the piper's grip a little...
What it looks like in that photo is the "grip" I've always used on Highland pipes, which I transferred to uilleann pipes and Low Whistle:

Piper's grip on the low hand, but not the upper hand (using the end-joint pad on all three upper hand fingers).

This meant than on Low Whistles I've always had a comfortable stretchless grip on the low hand, but as the whistles got bigger I had more and more trouble with the upper hand. If those three upper-hand holes were just a wee bit wide I had issues covering them.

So a few years ago I bit the bullet and forced myself to re-learn my upper-hand grip, switching to the true piper's grip on both hands. This has been helpful both for Low Whistles and for uilleann pipes.

To diagramme these grips, using E for end-joint pad and M for middle-joint pad:

Highland pipes:
E
E
E
_
M
M
M
E
(some Highland pipers use the middle-joint pad on all three upper-hand holes)
Uilleann pipes:
M
M
E
_
M
M
M
E
(note the lower hand is the same as the Highland pipes)
Low Whistle
M
M
E
_
M
M
E
You can see that using the term "piper's grip" for Low Whistle fingering is a misnomer, on the low hand.
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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pancelticpiper
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by pancelticpiper »

AuLoS303 wrote: I saw a video of a young girl playing my same whistle and realised I just have to practice.
Then there's this!! It will make all of us re-think our finger stretch issues...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFO-QF6Q_Y
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle
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AuLoS303
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by AuLoS303 »

pancelticpiper wrote:
AuLoS303 wrote: I saw a video of a young girl playing my same whistle and realised I just have to practice.
Then there's this!! It will make all of us re-think our finger stretch issues...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFO-QF6Q_Y
Good grief!
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piperjoe
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Re: Got my low D!

Post by piperjoe »

pancelticpiper wrote:
AuLoS303 wrote: I saw a video of a young girl playing my same whistle and realised I just have to practice.
Then there's this!! It will make all of us re-think our finger stretch issues...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThFO-QF6Q_Y
That's just not fair! :boggle:

Piper Joe
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