Pinky Problem and Poll

[emmline]

I learned from Robin Williamson's book to put my right ring finger back down on the bottom hole to keep a grip on the whistle when playing c# or gracing the b.

I do that too.

[Jennie]

That's a problem I'm having with the Grey book, alot of it is very black and white (this wrong, that right). I never played with my pinky and was doing fine. Then I read that, put my pinky down, and it gives me trouble on some tunes. So I don't make a conscious effort to keep it down, it falls there when it needs to.

I had to play a while to figure it out. My pinky goes down only when two or three of my other right hand fingers are up. It's totally unconscious.

I know what you mean about Grey's book (for me it was changing fingering for rolls). It's taking me a good while to unlearn and relearn
and I'm only just now starting to catch up with the ease of playing I had before. Though I think it's better and cleaner now.

Sounds like the pinky thing works for some and not others, depending on our personal pinkies. But it might be worth the dip in your learning curve just to make things better when you come out the other end of the tunnel. Think about trying it, anyhow.

Jennie

[mamakash]

I've never used my pinky for support when playing the tin whistle. I never heard of a right way and wrong way of using the pinky. I don't have a problem with balancing, since I'll use the lowest hole for stability on the higher notes, or when playing a C#.
But I always use my pinky for my heavier Yamaha recorder. I'll place that near or on the lowest hole(the C,C# hole), which helps playing A, B, C, C#, and D.

[Crevan]

I was a non-pinky user for quite some time but then I converted.

It was quite awkward at first to play the tunes I had already learned. Then after a while I got used to having my finger there... and eventually I started to notice that I could play a bit better using my pinky as a stabilizer. I don't think I can play without it now.

[talasiga]

........
I should note this question applies to the high D whistle..............

My pinkies point to the sky
Like antennas for the
Muse reception

[Dispatcher]

I'm not sure,but I think I you my pinky when the other three fingers come up. I also believe that I do this to keep my other fingers oriented to finding the wholes again as much as I do it for stabilizing the whistle.

[CHIFF FIPPLE]

Well mine is always working when ever I play any thing abouve low F as I use it to play the E hole.

Which is hany when you come to play keyed flutes as I have control of my pinky instead of waving to that good looking dude in the front row!!
Not that I don't like waving at good lookin men but I try to be a wee bit more decorous

[jbarter]

The correct position for the little finger is.... whatever works for you.

[John-N]

On the uilleann pipes ( a whistle with a driver side air-bag attached ) you pretty much need to use your lower pinky.

-John

[OnTheMoor]

I saw a guy at a session who played with his left hand thumb off the whistle completely. The whistle was supported only by the right thumb and the left fingers seemed to fly above the whistle. Occasionally he put the thumb on the whistle for certain notes, but I didn't want to stare long enough to see which notes they were.

I tried doing it when I got home, just to see. My fingers felt a tiny bit faster, but the lack of stability wasn't worth the gain. It was probably an illusory benefit anyway.

You've had me trying this for the past few days. I like it and haven't noticed any real loss of stability, Not that I'll play like this all the time now, but it is kinda interesting.

[seisflutes]

FJohnSharp wrote:
I saw a guy at a session who played with his left hand thumb off the whistle completely. The whistle was supported only by the right thumb and the left fingers seemed to fly above the whistle. Occasionally he put the thumb on the whistle for certain notes, but I didn't want to stare long enough to see which notes they were.

I tried doing it when I got home, just to see. My fingers felt a tiny bit faster, but the lack of stability wasn't worth the gain. It was probably an illusory benefit anyway.

I do this too,although for me it's more like the thumb is floating behind the whistle,lightly resting on it sometimes,not touching sometimes.I didn't used to do it,and I'm not sure when or why it started,but now it's what I do.
-Kelly

[lyrick]

I just watched a couple of the video clips in the madfortrad whistle tutorial that show Brian Finnegan playing the whistle. He keeps both thumbs on the whistle at all times, the left pinky (top hand for him) hardly ever touches the whistle (if at all), and the right pinky seems like it's off the whistle a little more often than it's on. When he's in the upper half of an octave for very long (BAG or bag) it looks like he keeps the lower couple fingers of his right hand on the holes to help stabilize the whistle, and it doesn't seem to affect the intonation.

When he's doing fast fingering with his lower hand, especially R3, the pinky flies around along with R3. He appears to be playing an Overton, fairly wide bore--it may be harder to hold on to a narrow bore with his approach, I don't know. Of course, it's probably easier to hold on to the whistle with his approach when you've been playing regularly for over 20 years.

Not to say his way is right, just an observation.

Rick

[pearl grey]

I didn't know the pinky was allowed to touch the whistle at all! Somehow, somewhere along the way, I got the idea that it was WRONG. Oh well.

[Mick Woodruff]

I've never used my little finger for support, preferring to use other fingers to do that job when needed, but I believe that players should do whatever works for them. Don't let anyone dictate to you on such matters.<P>Brian Finnegan's technique has popped up in this thread and I thought you might like to know that at a recent Flook concert I saw Brian's whistle fly out of his hands at one point as he was playing, proving that even the best of them don't always get it right. <P>Mick

[Darwin]

I've never used my little finger for support, preferring to use other fingers to do that job when needed, but I believe that players should do whatever works for them. Don't let anyone dictate to you on such matters.

I also keep my right-hand pinky planted while flatpicking the guitar. A while back I had a workshop with Jim Hurst, and he asked me, and a couple of others, why we did that, because he doesn't. But then he said pretty much the same thing: Listen to what others have to say, but, in the end, do what feels right for you, and don't let anyone else make the decision for you.

Brian Finnegan's technique has popped up in this thread and I thought you might like to know that at a recent Flook concert I saw Brian's whistle fly out of his hands at one point as he was playing, proving that even the best of them don't always get it right.

As a beginner, what I like about the planted pinky is that I don't have to think about what to do under varying circumstances, and I don't have to worry about dropping my whistle again while I try to develop the automatic reflexes to go between holding it and not holding it.

It's sort of like the way I signal for turns while driving. I do it automatically--even if I'm the only person on the road. If I don't have to think about it, it doesn't ever take my attention away from other, more important things--and yet I never forget to do it when it's critical.

(By the way, Mick, your Web site was a major factor in my realizing that the whistle can be a serious instrument, thus moving me to take it up. Thanks.)