The website I am using for beginner’s material suggests a few different methods for half-holing: “The half-holed version may be produced in several ways: first of all, by sliding your first finger back toward your hand so that it is somewhat arched and covering one side of the hole. Second, you can rotate or roll the finger toward the mouthpiece so that the bottom half of the hole is uncovered (I don’t recommend this one because it tends to move the rest of the fingers on that hand too far out of position). Or, you can slide your finger forward, away from your hand, and arch it so that the tip of your finger is pulled upwards. With practice, you can uncover half the hole and retain good control.”
I looked through some previous posts on the subject in the C&F and it seems like people recommend making the half-hole note with the finger-tip. I’m guessing this is the first technique mentioned - (For the C-nat, cover the left-half of the hole with fingertip and leave the right-half open)??? I am having problems with both methods 1 & 3 to tell you the truth. With the G scale, should I start out learning the C-natural with the half-note or two full notes (L2 & L3). Most beginner material shows using the full fingering, not the half-note
Sometimes half-holing can depend on the note sequence you are playing. For instance, when going from B to C-nat and back quickly, I roll my L1 away from me to uncover the top portion of the hole. For me, that is faster than moving to OXX OOO and back.
How I play a half-hole depends both on the note and on the whistle.
On a soprano D, I play the c-nat by slightly rolling the whistle, or more accurately, straightening the left index finger at the first knuckle a tad. For a G#, I slide the left ring finger slightly to the left, keeping my index and middle fingers in place. For a D#, I just put down the tip of the left ring finger a bit off-center of the last hole. There’s no real system, I’ve just diddled around and found what worked most consistently and felt the most comfortable.
Low whistles respond differently, so each one I just play a bit different.
There is good reason for this: there is no good reason why a beginner should be concerned with half-holing. plus 95% of the time you don’t need half-holing on the tin whistle. and if you really need it a lot for some tune, you switch to a whistle in a different key so you can avoid it.
I have always half holed rather than cross fingered and was relieved when I went to a workshop of Joanie Madden’s, to find she always half holes. The technique she showed us was to hold the whistle between thumb and L1 and rotate (twist) the whistle slightly clockwise whilst keeping the finger still - well that’s how I heard it anyway!
I find it works particularly well whilst moving through the half holed note but tend to still straighten the finger for sustained notes, exposing the right half of the hole.
I don’t know how other people find half holing, but I find it the hardest thing to adapt to between whistles! ie I don’t usually have problems adjusting to spread and hole size etc. but different whistles seem to want different amounts of hole exposed to get the note in tune. When is half holing not half holing?
I would be inclined to take anyone’s advice who can flawlessly execute a double-cut roll during a fast reel and can vibrato a high D note without it sounding like the classic cell phone ringtone.
