Help! I’ve not been able to find a great fingering for a C natural, except for the half hole on the B hole, and am really having a heck of a time making the switch. Any suggestions?
I thought everyone played c natural as
OXXOOO. What have I been missing?
I’ve only been whistling a couple of days, but I did pick a song with C naturals in it. “The Blarney Pilgram”, it seems it would be easier if I practised a bit before takling this. So I picked “Imaculate Mary”, Ive sung that a milion times, at least.
Oh yes, when I leave the b hole open and cove the a and g holes, it works as well as covering half the b hole. I saw that on a fingering chart some where on the web.
hope this helps.
jeff 
On 2001-09-06 14:51, lollycross wrote:
I thought everyone played c natural as
OXXOOO. What have I been missing?
That is my preference as well. However on many cheap whistles (e.g. Generation) you need to do what some refer to as “forked fingering”: oxx xox . Otherwise the note sounds way too sharp. Most high end whistles that I have encountered do a nice two finger c nat. The one noteable exception is the Sindt which requires half holing or forked fingering.
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-09-06 15:08 ]
Every whistle will behave a little differently. (It’s real fun on a new keyless flute, figuring out the cross-fingerings for the second and higher registers!) The usual fingerings for C are
/ o o o x x o x o o o x o o x o o o
I mostly use the second one, but I’ve one whistle which requires the third, and a couple that I have to lip hard to get in tune. Mostly it’s a matter of sitting down with the whistle and figuring out what works.
- -Rich
There are a number of fingerings for Cnat.
/oo ooo
oxx ooo
oxx xox
oxx xxo
oxx xoo
etc.
Here is a good discussion on the subject (from the archives):
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/archive/whistle/71/18800233176491.html .
Erik
By the way, my reference to the archives is not an attempt to divert more current discussion; I bring it up simply as a place for more information.
POST EDIT: Looks like Rich and I were working at the same time.
[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2001-09-06 15:12 ]
I’ll half hole some Cnat’s,
<oxxooo on others
<oxxxoo occasionally
Or are you talking about the high Cnat that sends my parrots into a frenzy?
It’s the one that always sound “off” and gets the hairs on the back of my enck up! LOL!
On 2001-09-06 15:07, Feadan wrote:
However on many cheap whistles (e.g. Generation) you need to do what some refer to as “forked fingering”: oxx xox . Otherwise the note sounds way too sharp. Most high end whistles that I have encountered do a nice two finger c nat. The one noteable exception is the Sindt which requires half holing or forked fingering.
[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-09-06 15:08 ]
I was very interested to read this, because just last night I was trying out some different finger configurations on my Sindt. I pulled out my wife’s electronic tuner and found that OXX OOO (common two-finger), 0XX XX0, 0XX X00, and 0XX X0X (standard forked) all produce a good C natural with the proper air pressure (an important caveat). I will add that the second finger configuration I list is the iffiest for quality of tone.
I still find half-holing (the way I first learned to produce C nat) most natural to my fingers, but what led to my experimentation is that I’m a little worried because I keep hearing that it’s necessary to use some full-finger-down combination for fast playing with ornamentation. Some day I may reach the skill level where it would be a legitimate concern, even though it’s still a ways off …
John
POST EDIT: Looks like Rich and I were working at the same time.
But I got in just a finger ahead! (The one that goes on the ‘d’ hole, apparently. )
John – don’t worry about using the half-hole fingering. My impression is that many (if not most) Irish musicians use it exclusively.
Mind you, I don’t have any idea how they do a quick switch to D and back. I normally use oxx oxx, which makes that easy…
(I’ve been working on learning the half-hole fingering because it’s so handy for slides and the upper octave.)
For myself, the fingering is determined by where I’m going from the C, or coming from. I really like the slide from B up to C so the half finger is obviously the way to go, but if I’m going on up to the second D I’ll use the “fork” (never the spoon) for less finger movement. I play Overtons, and all of my whistle by Colin seem to handle the alternate fingerings just fine. One thing I do believe, is the use of alternate fingerings must be instinctive, and feel right. If your whistle can’t handle these fingerings, keep it but get another that can. Happy whistleing!
On 2001-09-06 15:08, rich wrote:
(It’s real fun on a new keyless flute, figuring out the cross-fingerings for the second and higher registers!)
Rich,
what IS the best way to play a C nat on a keyless flute?
I am a half-holer on whistle but find it impossible to do it on the flute.
I suppose I should take this to the flute forum but since you first mentioned it here…
any help will be appreciated
S.
How many differnt ways are there to make A sharps, or all those other sharps?
FWIW-- I was at a Mary Bergin workshop several years ago. Someone asked her about C natch, and she replied something like " I can’t even imagine doing it any way but this" and proceeded to demonstrate half holing. Personally, I sometimes do it that way, and sometimes forked fingerings, depending on the tune, and the whistle.
My “vite” for C natural is:
Taking a orange in both hands, place the left thumb on a spot on the surface, press gently but firmly–
Taking the thumb on the right hand, place it in direct opposition of the left thumb and press with force; driving the thumbnail into the firm skin and pull back, breaking the skin.
Continue in this manner until the whole skin of the fruit is removed–Thus leaving you with soft sweet fruit of the orange.
Viola! C Natural !!!
Mark
gigglesnickering wildly…