Question,
I’ve been playing the whistle for about 20 months now, all on my own, so I’m no Paddy Maloney.. But anyways, I was wondering which way was the right way to cross finger a C natural in the upper octave on the D whistle. I know of 3 ways, one which doesn’t seem to make any difference. One way I’ve heard to do, is to hold the A finger down only on the top hand, and then cover the top 2 wholes (or the E and F sharp holes) on the bottom hand. That way sounds too high pitched though. Another way, is hold the A finger down only on the top hand, but to cover the 2 bottom most (D and E holes). I figure you could also just half-hole the C, but I hate half-holing. Any thoughts is much appreciated.
OXXXOX is one way then OXXXXO is another these work on most of my instruments.
The ‘correct’ way is to play whatever works on your particular instrument that gets the note you want as easily as you can. I usually half hole the note when I have to go that high, but covering second, fourth and fifth also works…its just harder for me to get.
i find easiest to play
oxxooo
but is uppose if you want to perfect tone you could also try
oxxoox
or
oxxoxo
or
oxxxoo
or
oxxxox
Thanks guys,
I’m not really made of money, so my D’s are all Clarkes. At least my ‘good’ D’s. When I first came across this problem of C natural in the upper octave, I figured I could just finger it like a lower octave C nat. Or, oxxooo. But on my Clarkes, the only clear note that comes out sounds a lot like the highest D. I haven’t gotten to try all the ways you guys suggested, (my dad’s sleeping) but so far it seems like this way comes out the best: oxooxx, with the first 3 digits being the top hand. Thanks, and take it easy.
sorry…i thought you meant c nat on the lower octive. I never really considered a c nat in the ‘upper octive.’ I don’t play that high of a note (on purpose).
Even though you don’t like it, practice half holing that high Cnat. Other fingerings work on some whistles but not others: half holing always works. Once you learn that, you’ll also be able to play the occasional G#, Fnat, Bb, etc. It’s not really that hard.
Yep, i find half holing to be the best way to hit a high Cnat. If you want to push it, I have done it with…
OXOXXO
You should also try OXO OOO . That’s usually a bit flatter than OXO XXO , although it depends on the particular whistle.
Since I’m not a huge fan of half-holing, what’s the best way to hit a high C nat using a half-hole? Slide into it? Or just practice my brains out and hit it like any normal note?
XOOXXO brings out the harmonic on most whistles, you may need XOXXXO or XOXXOX but in some cases that’s not a clear note, Clarke’s may be a bit fussy though, experiment. Half holing is probably the better idea because you can control the pitch more.
The B hole on a Clarke is very small. If you’re playing a tune like Loretto Reid’s “Leon’s Waltz” (beautiful tune, or it is when she plays it) which has a sustained high c-nat in the second part, you’d need brain-surgical precision to half-hole it and keep it bang on for the duration. Unseen’s oxxxxo is well worth a try (it works on two of my flutes, and on my Clarke Original with a good blast of air - you can’t be shy on that note).
That is my usual one on my Burke and my Tipples.
I always get the best in-tune high c-nat by using this
oxoxxx
with the last finger down too.
guess it depends on the whistle. Half holing is good especially for sliding into the C, wich it seems to want much of the time.