I was just wondering what are the most common tuning notes for the penny whistle? For instance, as a clarinet player we often tune C in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd octaves and the middle G but I am curious what are the most common tuning notes for the whistle?
And what’s the best way to tune the majority of notes? Is it finger covering, different fingerings, air pressure, or aperture changes?
Hi
I usually tune to the G note (i.e. cover T1, T2 and T3) which will vary with different whistles in different keys. A good whistle will be in tune with itself, so to tune up, it’s usual to adjust the head / overall length of the whistle, once the whistle has been warmed up.
If you’re playing at a session, you may like to tune slightly flat, to allow for the change in pitch when you blow harder to compete with the box player pumping the weasel.
To tune individual notes, you’d have to make the finger holes bigger or smaller (cover with tape) or move them (difficult). You shouldn’t really try and blow a whistle into tune, although some whistles may require a bit of breath adjustment to pull rogue notes into tune.
Tuning note: I guess it depends. Irish fluteplayers often tune G because it’s perhaps the most stable note. Get the Gs in both octaves right in tune and the flute will probably play in tune. I’ve carried that habit over to the whistle.
At sessions they usually tune up to an A, it being an open string on the fiddle. (They do have an open G bass string but I don’t hear fiddlers tuning up to that note.)
And what’s the best way to tune the majority of notes? Is it finger covering, different fingerings, air pressure, or aperture changes?
I want my whistles to play in tune without resorting to alternate fingerings or compensating with the airstream etc.
To tune the scale of the whistle you can take the flattest note(s) as your baseline pitch and put tape on the upper edge of the sharp notes’ toneholes to flatten them, or take the sharpest note(s) as your baseline pitch and carve out the rest of the toneholes to raise their pitch up.
I’ve played the same Generation C for around 30 years now. For years it had tape on the 4th (written G, sounding F) but I finally bit the bullet and chopped the end and carved out all the other holes. It’s played right in tune with no tape now for 20 years.
The oddest bit of whistle tuning, perhaps, was on the Susato High D I bought back around 1980. One-piece nontunable body. The whole darn thing played very flat, and when I checked it on an electronic tuner I discovered that it was quite in tune to the Baroque pitch A=415. I chopped the bottom and carved out every tonehole which resulted in the loudest High D whistle I’ve ever heard.
Thanks, any other suggestions from anyone?
Unfortunately, every whistle is a little different.
Corrections will mostly happen with air pressure.
Embouchure will mostly affect tone. But YMMV.
Biggest thing about coming from clarinet: keep
your teeth off!
Not totally sure why, but I’ve always used the G… Probably just 'cause it’s in the middle and I know that the F# and A are sometimes a little problematical. It might also be because the G is easy for guitar players.
Pat
I forgot to mention, because I take it for granted, that the airstream strength does usually have to be altered to get C# in tune.
Usually on whistles, Irish flutes, and uilleann pipes, if the crossfingered C natural is right in tune using one of the normal traditional fingerings, the C# will be flat, and needs a boost to bring it up to pitch. (Of course C# should be a bit flat on the pipes, tuned as they are more or less to Just Intonation.)
I tune to “G” (XXXOOO) for any whistle. I choose a whistle based on the intonation of “C” (OXXOOO). If OXXOOO isn’t dead on (whatever the actual pitch for they key), I don’t worry about tuning, as I don’t own that whistle.
Me too. That’s the “normal traditional” Cnat fingering I was referring to, normal and traditional probably because in the old days Generations were the only D whistles available and oxx ooo (or oxx oox) was the fingering that was best on them. C# on these whistles was always a tad flat and had to be “pushed” into tune.
Also oxx ooo/oxx oox is in line with the usual uilleann fingering oxx xoxx. By the way, my Burke Low D’s Cnat is sharp using oxx ooo but is right in tune using the uilleannlike oxx xox.
Some modern whistles, such as some Susatos and the MK I just bought, prefer oxo xxx.
I have another question regarding tuning of the Tin Whistle. I was reading in Grey Larson’s Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle Pg. 77, he talks about warming up the whistle to room and breath temprture and adjusting the tuning slide so to make sure we are playing at the right “overall pitch level.” What is the right overall pitch level? He talks about using a tuner “to establish whether overall we are playing our whistle sharp or flat of A440.” Is the overall pitch level that we are basically sharp overall or vice versa?
Do we then adjust that overall pitch level for certain situations like when playing with other people to make it mesh as best as possible? So we might need to be fairly sharp here or flat here, depending on the situations.
Coming from clarinet I am use to adjusting and then being in tune for the most part. Is the Tin Whistle never in tune with a tuner and is it suppose to be? Grey Larson makes me think that most of the time it is not right to be, equal temperment is not always right. Thanks and God Bless.
Whistles require different breath pressure to be in tune on different notes. You’ve already noticed that you must blow harder and faster on higher notes to have them in tune. I’ve not read Larsen’s book but what he is probably saying is to tune the whistle so all the notes are in tune with some reasonable breath pressure. In other words, the high notes don’t take a huge huff nor do the low notes require a mere whisper of air. As MT pointed out in another thread, the whistle isn’t rocket surgery - play it gently and listen.
Or brain science. 
What is the right overall pitch level?
We have to keep in mind that what is “in tune” is situational. If you show up at a session and everybody is tuning to an uilleann chanter that’s 10 or 15 cents sharp, then you best be able to play at that pitch. Sessions will often defer to the uilleann piper(s) present because they have seven reeds to keep in tune together. Trouble is, the overall pitch of the instrument will rise and fall depending on temperature and humidity.
Is the Tin Whistle never in tune with a tuner and is it suppose to be? …equal temperment is not always right.
Once again, it depends on which situation you need to play “in tune” in. If you’re playing with fretted string instruments and/or keyboard instruments you’ll want a whistle that plays an in-tune Equal Temperament scale. I got an MK Low D a few days ago and I played from Bottom D up to High B and the needle on my electronic tuner didn’t budge. An astonishingly in-tune whistle that.
I’ve carved all my old Generations and Susatos and my old Feadog so that they play spot-on in tune to Equal Temperament also.
Now, were I to play on a regular basis with uilleann pipers I would want a whistle that played the Just Intonation scale of the pipes. Specifically, F# should be 14 cents flat in both octaves. B is a special note on the pipes, being around 15 cents flat in the low octave and often quite sharp in the high octave. My Burke Pro Viper does this perfectly.
Generations, having a tendency to flatness in the entire 2nd octave, are able to mimick the pipes nicely in that E on the pipes is nearly always sharp in the low octave and flat in the high.
I just tried that with my old, trusted Sweetheart D. Same result. Not more than a cent or so off. It can be done.
Whenever I read a thread like this I thank my lucky stars that I was not born with perfect pitch. The whistle I play the most, a Sindt D mouthpiece with a Feadog tube, is close enough for my old ears that were subjected to too much loud rock n’ roll in my youth. 
Ah, the Bloomfield Frankenwhistle tweak. Well also, the Feadóg tube has very good Equal Tempered intonation. So you don’t have to worry much about blowing notes into tune. But, really, so does the Sindt.
I’m curious … Apart from the C-nat “issue”, is there a reason to prefer the Feadóg tube over the Sindt?
Love it.
That was enough for me.
The C-nat was my only reason for doing so. I did not learn to half-hole my C’s and I don’t have any intention in doing so even though I do like my Sindt. The Feadóg tube transplant gives me the sound I want from the Sindt with the OXX OOO cross-fingering I most commonly play.
Not rocket surgery or brain science… but sometimes whistle surgery is necessary 
Johnny
Whistle Surgeon