Which C nat?

[crookedtune]

While working on a few difficult (for me) passages, I got side-tracked in deciding which C natural fingering to use. From reading whistle reviews, I know that several fingerings can be used, and some work better than others, depending on the whistle.
As suggested, O X X O O O tends to be a hair sharp on my Sweetheart Pro D and also my Syns. O X X O X X works well, and O X X X O X is probably the best of the bunch. I tried the passages slowly, using each of the fingerings, and then mixing them up.

My question: do most people just find the one they like best and stick with it, or do you vary it depending on the context? For example, the first, although a bit sharp, can be easier to execute in certain passages. I'm tending to want to mix them up, but don't want to learn bad habits.


I thought about doing a poll on this but then I'd have to add an 'other' category for those who have started adding toes, etc.... Too much work!

[Congratulations]

I use any and all Cn's I know of, depending on what's easiest in a given passage, or how I want to shade the note in a musical context. Never give up a tool, I say.

[gonzo914]

I play primarily Susatos and Dixons, and the OXXOOO C nat is good on both of those. So I just use that fingering all the time, even if playing a different whistle. Sometimes I noodle around on a Sweetone or Clare, and, yes, the OXXOOO C nat aint' quite right on these whistles. But I just live with it.

An once in a great while, I'll half hole it.

Life is too short to spent it learning multiple C nat fingerings for multiple kinds of whistles.

[Wanderer]

I tend to use OXXOOO exclusively. If I can't bring it into tune with my breath, I generally tend to not play that whistle.

There are a very few places where I do OXOOOO, such as on note combinations like A-C-D, because it seems to help the music flow out of my fingers better. Usually, these cases are happening fast enough that I can get away with any sharpening my breath can't compensate for

[FJohnSharp]

On fast tunes I play oxxooo but on airs I'll drop one or two fingers on the bottom, depending on the whistle, to flatten it out.

There is ony one (so far) tune where I use a half hole on Cnat. It's a hornpipe, whose name I cannot remember just now, and it starts with triplets up the scale and it's just easier to half hole the Cnat at speed. Oh I just remembered--Rights of Man.

[slowair]

If the whistle doesn't play a Cn well using either OXXOOO or OXOOOO, then I won't play/buy it.

Mike

[jim stone]

I mix em up. It's not a bad habit. Congratulations said it best.

[gallant_murray]

I've gotten in the habit of half-holing all of my c naturals. With many whistles, including some "high end" ones, this is the best way I've found to get a solid and in tune C. On fast tunes, it can get cumbersome, but I'm getting better at it with practice.

[straycat82]

I'd say on an air (for example) or a tune where you will sound the note long enough for listeners to notice if it's in tune or not, it can't hurt to find the fingering that sounds the most accurate (which will change on every whistle you play so unless you are very loyal to your whistle, don't get too used to any one fingering). On faster tunes (reels for example), I would't fret too much about learning a complex fingering that is going to throw off your playing, creating an unnatural rhythm or feel to the tune. Chances are that if you just use the more common (and easy to play) OXX OOO fingering then nobody is going to be able to tell if you're a tad sharp or flat. On some faster tunes where I go back and forth between the two registers a lot, I even get a little lazy and use the OXO OOO fingering... I'm not saying that's a good or a bad thing.
Bottom line though, there is no "standard" answer to this question as all whisltles are different and may need different treatment of the C-nat note.

[crookedtune]

Thanks for the responses! I think my direction is to use the easier fingering: OXXOOO for most things, and drop the extra fingers down, particularly on slower passages, if I feel a need to flatten it out.

I hadn't even thought about half-holing for this note, but I'll play around with that too.

[FJohnSharp]

And, on super fast B-Cnat-D triplets, sometimes I just play C# and you can't really tell the difference.

[Unseen122]

I do what Jim and Congrats do. Although, the standard is OXXOOO, but that isn't always the best way to go.

[Bloomfield]

I use oxxxox almost exclusively, because I like to play the sort of whistle that prefers it: Generations, Feadogs, Humphrey, my Sindog. I use oxxooo on Overtons (and sometimes on other whistles, when convenient). I use oxooo as an alternate for c#, not for c-nat. B-c-d triplets, I'll always play with a c#, piping style.

About the oxxxox fingering: once you get used to it, it is very easy and fast, and makes several passages easier to play than oxxooo.

[Ostekjeks]

About the oxxxox fingering: once you get used to it, it is very easy and fast, and makes several passages easier to play than oxxooo.

This is true, and this is a fingering that works on many whistles. Still, oxxooo is easier on some other passages...

[crookedtune]

Yes, OXXXOX really seems to be the most 'on-the-money' for me. Possibly because that low open hole (E) is larger than the one above it (F)? It just sounds richer somehow.

I'm going to work on changing my OXXOXX habit to OXXXOX where it makes sense to do it.