Newbie, small hands...

[pearl grey]

Hello, I'm Grace, a newbie to the forum and to the whistle. I haven't had any formal training in ANY wind instrument, so I'm mostly self-taught with my D and Bb whistles. I prefer the sound of my Bb whistle, but my hands get sore so quickly! I have very small hands. Should I just stick with the smaller one since my hands are so tiny? Or is it normal for a beginner to get aching hands? Am I a wimp?

[DCrom]

Yes, it can be somewhat normal. And you might want to try piper's grip for the Bb whistle.

FWIW, I have medium-sized male hands, and felt the same way about the Howard Low D (huge holes, huge reach, my hands hurt) the first time I encountered one. Learning to use piper's grip took me a few days (mostly because I kept trying too hard - the harder you press, the more it leaks!) but now I find the Low D no problem and am thinking about going lower.

For a Bb, you probably don't need all-out piper's grip, but you may want to try it for your right hand. If you can play with your normal grip, even if your hands complain about it, you shouldn't have any problem at all with piper's grip.

[pearl grey]

Thanks Crom. Actually it's more my left hand that hurts. I don't even know what a piper's grip is. By the way, I work with chemicals at my job and they had to order special XS gloves for me because the regular XS were too big!

[DCrom]

For pipers grip, there's a good reference on the regular C & F site:

http://www.chiffandfipple.com/pipers.html

For someone with teeny-tiny hands like yours, a Bb may be as much of a stretch as a Low D for someone with bigger hands.

Yes, piper's grip feels really strange at first, and you'll think you can't seal the holes properly. That's normal, I think - just try it for a while and see if it helps.

[Joe_Atlanta]

I use variations on the piper's grip on several of my harder to reach whistles (including a new model sweet tone in C!). Once
I spent some time with it, it's actually faster because my fingers can relax.

Also, Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee Whistles offers a variety of solutions for small hands. Specific small hands models in his low whistles, as well as offset/ergonomic holes and single keys for hard to reach holes.
http://WWW.TINWHISTLES.US

[brewerpaul]

Try some stretching exercises for your fingers. Perhaps running your hands under warm water before playing to loosen them up will help too. The best cure will be time though. Play the Bb for a while each day and eventually your fingers will find the most ergonomic playing position.

[pearl grey]

Thanks for all the advice!

Try some stretching exercises for your fingers. Perhaps running your hands under warm water before playing to loosen them up will help too. The best cure will be time though. Play the Bb for a while each day and eventually your fingers will find the most ergonomic playing position.

Yeah? I'll try that then. I work with my hands all day long, and I also do a lot of hand-quilting, so I do get crampy hands a lot.

Also, Daniel Bingamon of Jubilee Whistles offers a variety of solutions for small hands. Specific small hands models in his low whistles, as well as offset/ergonomic holes and single keys for hard to reach holes.
http://WWW.TINWHISTLES.US

Thanks Joe, that sounds like a great site! I'll go check it out right now.

[talasiga]

Hello, I'm Grace, a newbie to the forum and to the whistle. I haven't had any formal training in ANY wind instrument, so I'm mostly self-taught with my D and Bb whistles. I prefer the sound of my Bb whistle, but my hands get sore so quickly! I have very small hands. Should I just stick with the smaller one since my hands are so tiny? Or is it normal for a beginner to get aching hands? Am I a wimp?

It may just be growing pains. Your hands must be growing. One day you might have big hands. How old are you?

[pearl grey]

Hello, I'm Grace, a newbie to the forum and to the whistle. I haven't had any formal training in ANY wind instrument, so I'm mostly self-taught with my D and Bb whistles. I prefer the sound of my Bb whistle, but my hands get sore so quickly! I have very small hands. Should I just stick with the smaller one since my hands are so tiny? Or is it normal for a beginner to get aching hands? Am I a wimp?

It may just be growing pains. Your hands must be growing. One day you might have big hands. How old are you?

26. Afraid I've stopped growing!

[talasiga]

Child! Do not kid yourself. You cannot be geriatric at 26. You are still growing!

[pearl grey]

I stopped growing at about 13 (except for some growing OUT). I don't think my fingers will be getting any longer!