C natural

AnnaDMartinez · Post by **AnnaDMartinez** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 12:25 pm

Help! I've not been able to find a great fingering for a C natural, except for the half hole on the B hole, and am really having a heck of a time making the switch. Any suggestions?

lollycross · Post by **lollycross** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 12:51 pm

I thought everyone played c natural as
OXXOOO. What have I been missing?

Spot Beagle · Post by **Spot Beagle** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 12:54 pm

I've only been whistling a couple of days, but I did pick a song with C naturals in it. "The Blarney Pilgram", it seems it would be easier if I practised a bit before takling this. So I picked "Imaculate Mary", Ive sung that a milion times, at least.

Oh yes, when I leave the b hole open and cove the a and g holes, it works as well as covering half the b hole. I saw that on a fingering chart some where on the web.

hope this helps.

jeff

Feadan · Post by **Feadan** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:07 pm

On 2001-09-06 14:51, lollycross wrote:
I thought everyone played c natural as
OXXOOO. What have I been missing?

That is my preference as well. However on many cheap whistles (e.g. Generation) you need to do what some refer to as "forked fingering": oxx xox . Otherwise the note sounds way too sharp. Most high end whistles that I have encountered do a nice two finger c nat. The one noteable exception is the Sindt which requires half holing or forked fingering.

[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-09-06 15:08 ]

Post by **rich** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:08 pm

Every whistle will behave a little differently. (It's real fun on a new keyless flute, figuring out the cross-fingerings for the second and higher registers!) The usual fingerings for C are
<pre>
/ o o
o x x
o x o
o o x
o o x
o o o
</pre>
I mostly use the second one, but I've one whistle which requires the third, and a couple that I have to lip hard to get in tune. Mostly it's a matter of sitting down with the whistle and figuring out what works.
<ul>-Rich</ul>

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:12 pm

There are a number of fingerings for Cnat.

/oo ooo
oxx ooo
oxx xox
oxx xxo
oxx xoo
etc.

Here is a good discussion on the subject (from the archives):
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/archive/whist ... 76491.html .

Erik

By the way, my reference to the archives is not an attempt to divert more current discussion; I bring it up simply as a place for more information.

POST EDIT: Looks like Rich and I were working at the same time.

[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2001-09-06 15:12 ]

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:16 pm

I'll half hole some Cnat's,
<oxxooo on others
<oxxxoo occasionally

Or are you talking about the high Cnat that sends my parrots into a frenzy?

AnnaDMartinez · Post by **AnnaDMartinez** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:22 pm

It's the one that always sound "off" and gets the hairs on the back of my enck up! LOL!

JMcCYoung · Post by **JMcCYoung** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:53 pm

On 2001-09-06 15:07, Feadan wrote:
However on many cheap whistles (e.g. Generation) you need to do what some refer to as "forked fingering": oxx xox . Otherwise the note sounds way too sharp. Most high end whistles that I have encountered do a nice two finger c nat. The one noteable exception is the Sindt which requires half holing or forked fingering.

[ This Message was edited by: Feadan on 2001-09-06 15:08 ]

I was very interested to read this, because just last night I was trying out some different finger configurations on my Sindt. I pulled out my wife's electronic tuner and found that OXX OOO (common two-finger), 0XX XX0, 0XX X00, and 0XX X0X (standard forked) all produce a good C natural with the proper air pressure (an important caveat). I will add that the second finger configuration I list is the iffiest for quality of tone.

I still find half-holing (the way I first learned to produce C nat) most natural to my fingers, but what led to my experimentation is that I'm a little worried because I keep hearing that it's necessary to use some full-finger-down combination for fast playing with ornamentation. Some day I may reach the skill level where it would be a legitimate concern, even though it's still a ways off ...

John

Post by **rich** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 1:58 pm

POST EDIT: Looks like Rich and I were working at the same time.

But I got in just a finger ahead! (The one that goes on the 'd' hole, apparently.

)

colomon · Post by **colomon** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 2:34 pm

John -- don't worry about using the half-hole fingering. My impression is that many (if not most) Irish musicians use it exclusively.

Mind you, I don't have any idea how they do a quick switch to D and back. I normally use oxx oxx, which makes that easy...

(I've been working on learning the half-hole fingering because it's so handy for slides and the upper octave.)

jackorion · Post by **jackorion** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 2:43 pm

For myself, the fingering is determined by where I'm going from the C, or coming from. I really like the slide from B up to C so the half finger is obviously the way to go, but if I'm going on up to the second D I'll use the "fork" (never the spoon) for less finger movement. I play Overtons, and all of my whistle by Colin seem to handle the alternate fingerings just fine. One thing I do believe, is the use of alternate fingerings must be instinctive, and feel right. If your whistle can't handle these fingerings, keep it but get another that can. Happy whistleing!

Otter · Post by **Otter** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 4:00 pm

On 2001-09-06 15:08, rich wrote:
(It's real fun on a new keyless flute, figuring out the cross-fingerings for the second and higher registers!)

Rich,

what IS the best way to play a C nat on a keyless flute?
I am a half-holer on whistle but find it impossible to do it on the flute.
I suppose I should take this to the flute forum but since you first mentioned it here...
any help will be appreciated

S.

Spot Beagle · Post by **Spot Beagle** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 12:11 am

How many differnt ways are there to make A sharps, or all those other sharps?

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Sep 07, 2001 5:08 am

FWIW-- I was at a Mary Bergin workshop several years ago. Someone asked her about C natch, and she replied something like " I can't even imagine doing it any way but this" and proceeded to demonstrate half holing. Personally, I sometimes do it that way, and sometimes forked fingerings, depending on the tune, and the whistle.