High notes

[penmage]

How do you make your high notes sound as smooth as the rest of the notes. I mean when you go up the second octave on your whistle - no matter what I do, my high notes always sound overbreathy and squeaky, and I can't make them smooth and fluid.

Any suggestions? I'm getting really frustrated.

[Charlene]

I predict that every answer is going to be

PRACTICE!

It's taken a long time to get my high notes to not sound like a dying seagull and I know I've still got a long ways to go. Hang in there.

[Danner]

It might just be the type of whistle you are using. Some whistles are easier to control in the higher octave than others. I don't know how long you've been playing, but it takes experience to know where to place the higher notes so that they will not be louder and shriller. I'm not an expert on this, but try playing long tones for practice. Start on D (OXX XXX) and play up the scale, giving each note at least four counts. On each note try to match the tonal quality of the surrounding notes. Also try practicing octaves. Play a low G for example, and get a very clear, steady tone. Then play a high G and try to match the tone. Practice this slow and fast on all of the notes your whistle will reach. Again, I am not a pro, but this has helped me.

[izzarina]

I predict that every answer is going to be

PRACTICE!

You're right there, Charlene! I know for me that's the only thing that has helped. The more I practice, the better it sounds. And of course it varies from whistle to whistle. I have found that I get it just right with one whistle, only to pick another one up and find that the requirements to play smoothly in the second octave differ. But really, don't get discouraged if you don't have it right away. If you play every day and keep trying to hit those high notes, you WILL get them!

[Jerry Freeman]

How you play the notes can definitely make a difference in how the upper register sounds. Depending on the whistle, you may need to play more "close to the break," or you may need to overblow the break fairly strongly to locate the sweetest spot for each note.

However, some whistles are better matched between registers than others. In some whistles, the upper register may be more breathy or rattley than the lower, or the upper may have a different timbre, typically less complex and/or more strident.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[TonyHiggins]

Some whistles will break or squawk going from a low note to a high, like going from second octave e up to b. You might just have to tongue that higher noter and maybe punch the air out forcefully to get the right tone. What works on one whistle may not on another. It's a combination of tonguing and breath control. There's a bit of difference between the pressure you need at these intervals. It may be the same coming down from a high to a low note.
Tony

[Charlene]

How you play the notes can definitely make a difference in how the upper register sounds. Depending on the whistle, you may need to play more "close to the break," or you may need to overblow the break fairly strongly to locate the sweetest spot for each note.

OK, this is probably going to get a good laugh out of all the experts out there - what's the "break?" Is it the opening on the top that's kind of rectangular before the holes start? Or is it where you blow into?

[Jerry Freeman]

The break between registers.

To play notes in the lower register close to the break, you blow just a little less hard than it takes to break into the second register. In other words, if you blow just a little harder, it breaks into the second register.

To play notes in the upper register close to the break, you blow just hard enough to stay in the upper register. In other words, if you blow just a little more softly, it breaks into the lower register.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[Charlene]

Thank you!!! That makes sense.

[vomitbunny]

Besides the whistle itself, people tend to tense up on the high notes. Almost universal on wind instruments. It takes support to make high notes sound musical, and support can be sort of an elusive thing, especially at first. I remember setting in band, years ago, being told to support my tone so the high notes come out better, and not knowing what they were talking about. I could certainly hit the high notes, but I was tensing up and not supporting. I think whistles with back pressure help a lot of people in that respect. Just my oppinion.

[BillChin]

It took me a looong time to get some decent high notes. Starting on a Clarke original with huge air requirements did not help. I like to use the term "lean into it," the breath equivalent of putting your legs into it. Practicing walking up the scale also helped me, as did practicing outdoors where the volume of the high notes was not so distressing. Depending on what you have now, a different brand of whistle may help. I can hit the high notes much more consistently on my Hoover or Elfsong than I can on my Clarke or Cheiftain.
+ Bill

[desert_whistler]

I'm definitely no expert -- I've only been whistling about 2 years. That said, a couple of things have really helped me with high notes:

1. One of the cheap whistle tutor books I started off with said to blow harder to get the second octave. I tried this, got the octave jump, but it didn't sound very musical. Then, someone on Chiff & Fipple pointed out that, to get the ocatve, you don't really blow harder as much as you blow faster. Their advice was to "imagine blowing air throw a straw that has been pinched together." That imagery helped me considerably.

2. I've also found that doing arpeggios up and down the D scale not only helped my playing speed, it helps me with my octave jumps as well.

Hope this helps.

[DarnTootin]

Something I've always wondered: Is it possible that sometimes the high notes sound screechier to the player than they would to a listener?

I'm a beginner, too, and I hate to hear my own high b's. To me, they sound shrieky. A coupla months ago, I recorded my playing. I expected that when I listened to the recording, I would sound much worse than I expected and get really discouraged (did it anyway, for some reason). To my surprise, it actually sounded alright. And the high B's did not sound nearly as shrieky as I thought. Now, it occurs to me that this could just be a shortcoming of my very basic recording device (didn't pick up the shriekiness). Is that it, or, does my whistle-playing sound shriekier to me because of my position relative to the whistle (i.e. it being in my mouth and all)? Also, do the acoustics of the room make a difference? I tend to play in my little home office, with a lot of hard surfaces. If I go into an open space, I'm not sure that it sounds quite as shrieky.

Opinions?

[Danner]

I don't know about screechy high notes, but I do know the tone quality sounds different to the listener. On Bohem flute a good teacher should explain to the student how different the tone differs. When a beginning student playes, they usually never fill up the entire flute, but get a pretty, cute, pleasing sound. Out in the audience though, it sounds very breathy and unsupported. When a flute player fills up all of the tubing and supports the sound, the player hears lots of extra wind noise and even some gurgling sounds, but the audience hears a beautiful flute sound. My Gen Bb gurgles (Is that how one would spell it?) really badly up close, but at 10 or 15 feet away it sounds fine.

[lixnaw]

i love my "Jerry tweaked sweetone", no shrillness in the high notes at all