Silly questions (blush)...

[RonKiley]

I keep the ring finger of my right hand down in most tunes. It doesn't affect the tone. Sometimes I may use 2 or all 3 fingers on my right hand. It depends on what I am playing. My pinkies are never used. See what works for you.

Ron

[Black Mage]

When I have to do a C#, I keep both of my thumbs on the bottom of my whistle and push up, and I keep my left pinky on the top of the bottom end pushing down. With the fipple in my mouth my whislte stays in place.

[Lambchop]

My pinkie finger kind of doesn't reach.

[fearfaoin]

My pinkie finger kind of doesn't reach.

Huh? I'm not able to get an image of that.
We're talking about high D whistles here, right?

[Lambchop]

My pinkie finger kind of doesn't reach.

Huh? I'm not able to get an image of that.
We're talking about high D whistles here, right?

Yes, high D whistle. It's worse on a flute, believe me. My pinky just floats artistically in the air . . . as if I were drinking tea.

If you have squarish hands with short, stubby fingers which all extend nearly the same distance from your wrist, you can cover all the holes and have your pinkie on the instrument at the same time.

I have lovely, long, slender hands with lovely, long, slender fingers. My index finger extends 7.25 inches from my wrist, the third finger 7.5, the fourth finger 7, but the pinkie only barely 6. And, add to that they are arrayed in a delightful and artistic curve . . . and you have a pinkie that won't reach the instrument without substantial strain. Unless I cover the holes with nearly the second joint of the other fingers. Or cramp the fingers up so that they're nearly immobile.

I have nice feet, too. It comes from years of wearing combat boots instead of high heels.

[fearfaoin]

My index finger extends 7.25 inches from my wrist, the third finger 7.5, the fourth finger 7, but the pinkie only barely 6.

Wow. This is what I was imagining must be the case, but I couldn't articulate
it. Now that I think about it, to get all my fingers in line, I have to bend my
right hand middle finger more than the others. I guess your situation would
require you to bend in more complex ways, which would not be good.

[Lambchop]

My index finger extends 7.25 inches from my wrist, the third finger 7.5, the fourth finger 7, but the pinkie only barely 6.

Wow. This is what I was imagining must be the case, but I couldn't articulate
it. Now that I think about it, to get all my fingers in line, I have to bend my
right hand middle finger more than the others. I guess your situation would
require you to bend in more complex ways, which would not be good.

Well, not quite that complex, but far enough into a position of strain that it becomes an exercise in futility.

I first noticed this on CD videos of tutors playing the flute. Their little fingers just plopped right on there. And then I saw a picture of an Irish child playing a flute. Little fingers just plopped right on there. At that point, I took apart some pictures and extrapolated the hand shape from that . . . and discovered that these folks all had nice square hands. Their fingers all extend much the same length.

Also of interest, I discovered that one player doesn't use the same part of his finger on all the holes. He doesn't bend up his third finger, the longer one, but just uses the part of the pad nearer the last joint. But even so, his pinkie is right down on the flute, not flailing about in the breeze.

I like the Eb block on one of my flutes. If I rotate it just right, I can reach it with my pinkie and use it as a prop.

If I ever have another flute made, I'm going to ask for a little extension there, as well as one for my left thumb, which doesn't quite reach, either.

[Chiffed]

Flute grip is still a mystery, but I get by.
For months, I put my top teeth on whistles, even going as far as putting a little chunk of hypalon-patch there as a cushion. It seemed natural from years of saxophone and clarinet playing.

I soon realised that it was easier to just use lips, pinkies, and thumbs (in various combinations), and I can now use borrowed whistles!

[Congratulations]

Flute grip is still a mystery, but I get by.
For months, I put my top teeth on whistles, even going as far as putting a little chunk of hypalon-patch there as a cushion. It seemed natural from years of saxophone and clarinet playing.

I soon realised that it was easier to just use lips, pinkies, and thumbs (in various combinations), and I can now use borrowed whistles!

Wow. I just realized that I still put my top teeth on the whistle. It was just automatic (I also came from saxophone), and I've never thought that it was a bad thing. I guess it's not, really.

I don't really bite the whistle though, the teeth just rest there. Hm.

[Chiffed]

Apart from scratching borrowed whistles, I don't see it as a problem, either. I always use the rubber-boat-patch on mouthpieces, because many new plastics aren't as resiliant as the old nitrocellulose or hard rubber.
My Goodman leaded-glass clarinet mouthpiece doesn't have the patch, 'cause it looks stupid.

[fearfaoin]

Wow. I just realized that I still put my top teeth on the whistle. It was just automatic (I also came from saxophone), and I've never thought that it was a bad thing. I guess it's not, really.

I did the same thing (clarinet & sax for me as well), but stopped when
I got an all-aluminum Burke. A metal whistle will break you of the habit
quickly! My SweeTones still have deep indentations where my top
teeth slowly wore down the plastic. You don't have to bite to do damage
to that cheap plastic!

According to Grey Larsen, you shouldn't have the whistle far enough
in your mouth to allow your teeth to rest on the mouthpiece, anyway.
He advocates this because you can then use your embouchure more
productively, by changing the shape of the air column in front of the
windway opening (it's a little like harmonica playing...)

[Congratulations]

According to Grey Larsen, you shouldn't have the whistle far enough
in your mouth to allow your teeth to rest on the mouthpiece, anyway.
He advocates this because you can then use your embouchure more
productively, by changing the shape of the air column in front of the
windway opening (it's a little like harmonica playing...)

Yeah, I read that, but I'm not sure I buy it. I tried it for a while, but I didn't really see an advantage.

Plus, on the cover of "Tin Whistles," it looks like Sean Potts has that dern generation farther in his mouth than I would consider comfortable. And I wouldn't say it hampers his playing too much.

[jkrazy52]

My pinkie finger kind of doesn't reach.

You're not alone, Lambchop. I've been reading all this "right hand pinkie" and going ... how? My pinkie floats close by, yet never touches the body of the whistle. My little finger is even shorter than yours ... 5.25" from the wrist ... and almost a full inch shorter than the ring finger. This may explain a few problems I've had holding a flute, huh?

Judy

[Lambchop]

Judy, I suspect there are a lot of pinky-impaired whistlers and fluters here who are just too embarrassed to come forth . . .

Anybody else? Hmmm? "My name is ___________ and I have a short pinky?"

There may be a market for ergonomic pinky-accommodating whistle and flute wraps. Adhesive patches of some sort, or perhaps Velcro . . . hmmm, I wonder if I have a thickish mouse pad around here . . . dang, I knew I should have scarfed up that insulated can holder at work last week . . .

[springrobin]

I don't have a whistle in my office (ok so it's a cube) but I tried this with a pencil and find that I only use the pinky on the C# and then lightly just to counteract the "lift" that the thumbs exert. I don't grip with lips or teeth. Maybe that's a carryover from fluting. If I tighten my lips it makes it difficult to reconfigure to a flute embouchure.