Hello, I just received my Doug Tipple 3 piece flute with inline holes today! This is the first flute I’ve every had, and when I get my lips and fingers in the right places, it sounds great!
I’ve tried using the conventional grip with the left hand that Grey Larsen describes in the Essential Guide, but the piper’s grip seems much more natural and relaxing for me. My main question is about the position of the left hand thumb when using piper’s grip. What seems to work best for me is to have my thumb fairly straight with the tip bent a little and pressing against the side of the flute. Is this pretty much how most people do this? Grey’s book only had one picture of the piper’s hold, and it doesn’t show the thumb very well.
Maybe this is a better question: are there any web links, etc. that better show and/or describe using piper’s grip on the Irish flute? Grey Larsen’s book only goes into detail on the normal grip.
I use the pipers grip for both hands on the flute and my left thumb points directly towards my chin, the instrument is balanced on the two thumbs and my right pinky.
I was using Piper’s grip on my right hand only,
and Grey advised me to convert to finger
pads, I would be faster, etc. This took me
two months plus, but I think he was right.
Obviously people can play the flute very well
with PG; however there may be something
to learning it his way, even though it’s
intitially harder. FWIW
Thanks Michael. I believe I’m doing pretty much the same as you. It’s basically just the tip of the thumb that supports the flute and presses it against the lower lip.
It is possible for me to do the normal left hand hold, but it seems much less natural and comfortable. To do it, I have to put the very tips of my index and middle fingers into the holes. It’s only the ring finger that covers the hole with the pad. My index finger is completely on it’s side and wrapped around the flute. Also, the wrist bend feels un-natural since I’ve always kept a straight wrist with guitar and fiddle. I find it hard to imagine this position ever feeling relaxed, but maybe that’s how all beginners feel. Now that I’ve found the right position for the thumb, the piper grip feels relaxed already.
Other than the ability to play a keyed flute, what advantages does the normal hold have over the pipers grip?
Indian classical flute players use the “Pipers Grip” so I don’t think speed should be a problem.
I play silver flute as well (mostly Blues, usually in E minor or G major) and the grip is very robust and stable, but I use PG on my simple flute.
John S
I think (but do not know) that the advantage is
speed, precision, and control. The initial sense of unnaturalness and discomfort go
before too long. I agree that PG feels more
comfortable and relaxed, initially. Also
I think it may be easier to support a heavy
flute with the normal grip.
This is very much for what it’s worth. I do
think I’ve beneffited considerably from the
adjustment and wish I hadn’t had to relearn.
That was tough. In that spirit I express these
opinions to you at the beginning.
You might check with a teacher. Best
I’m still trying both the normal hold and the pipers hold to see which one I plan to stick with.
The main problem I’m having with the normal hold is with the index finger. It feels more relaxed now that I’ve learned to take the weight of the flute at the base of the index finger, but in order for the finger tip to cover the fisrt hole, I have to have it bent nearly as far as it will go in both the first and second joints. I’ll still give is some more time, but I don’t see how the index finger will every be very relaxed in that position. Maybe I have smaller hands than I thought.
It’s an odd coincidence, but I’ve converted my left hand to piper’s grip recently, and it’s more relaxing for me, too, and I find that gracing is easier. Even though a Bb key couldn’t be conveniently worked with piper’s grip, Bb isn’t a problem as all I have to do in the lower register is lift the left hand’s middle finger, and there it is, nice and strong enough to do the job. Bb in the second octave: same for the left hand, plus lifting index and ring fingers of the right hand. Not that I’m likely to use B flats, but it’s good to know they’re there that way. My pinkie finger (which is laughably short) is also in a better ergonomic position to work the G# and long Fnat keys. Works for me.
And to think that not so long ago I was sure that my right hand was converting to the Rockstro (er, ahem..“normal”) grip! Surprise…
It is amazing what hands will do with practice. I thought I would never be able to hold and play a flute. Somebody here told me that flute playing isn’t for the faint of heart, which helped considerably. It took me years to realize that one can play fast tunes on a low whistle, too. Now I’m very fast.
Whatever one does, there is something to be said for patience, fortitude, and not taking intitail
impressions very seriously.
As to the wisdom of the normal v.
piper’s grip, I’ve expressed my opinion, FWIW. I really don’t know but I trust the teacher. Still if in the long term something didn’t work for me, I would cetainly do
something else. Best
I guess I have very strong opinions on the subject because I nearly had to completely give up playing the wooden flute because of the hand pain that the standard grip was causing me, and that’s after playing classical flute since I was 6 using the standard grip. I spent nearly two years trying to convince myself that it just had to be something I was doing wrong, but the bottom line is that my fingers are too short to reach the ring finger hole on the left hand without causing me significant pain because of the stretch. I never had a problem on the silver flute because of its larger diameter tube and large keys.
Several years ago I switched to the piper’s grip on the suggestion of a very fine player friend of mine, and while it was awkward at first, eventually, I was able to completely relax both hands. The pain disappeared, and I found that I could play with much more speed and fluidity than I ever could using standard grip. I also find that I can comfortably play pretty much any flute, using this grip with no problem related to hole spacing or size.
But of this is just my story, and probably others with smaller hands have similar issues, so I’m just putting this out there as a possibility. If you’re able to use standard grip on your left hand without pain, consider yourself fortunate to have inherited flute-friendly fingers…
The Irish flute can become a consuming passion,
and it isn’t an easy instrument to play.
After awhile one wants to do everything one
can to master it. If there is any prospect
that this will happen to you, it really is
a good idea to consult a good teacher
of Irish flute–even a couple of lessons
a year. Best
