Chromaticism?

[Chatterton]

So I've been greatly enjoying my green Feadog, but since I've only been exploring the wonderful world of whistles for the last 72 hours, I have a few dumb questions to ask.

Stupid question(s) #1: Just how chromatic can these things get with the false fingerings, etc.? I've been looking at the fingering chart at fullbodyburn.com & noticing it gives fingerings for every chromatic note in the first 2 octaves. I've got my hands full covering the notes of the D & G scales, but do others have an easier time with these notes? Would a more forgiving whistle be easier on the chromatics? If and when I get my chops together, is there any chance of playing in every key and maybe perhaps play some bebop or maybe some free-form 12-tone silliness? I always wanted a saxophone.

More stupid questions to come in a week or so. Thanks.

[lordofthestrings]

there are many many alternative fingerings for chromatic notes, and with "half holeing" (covering a hole only partially, kinda tricky to pe pitch perfect) there really aren't any chromatic notes you can't achieve.

There ARE alternatives...such as a keyed whistle....
This one (below my signature) has keys for Fnat, and Bb, and is set up for a lefty (moi). I do make keys for Fnat, Bb, G# and Eb, thus making the D scale fully chromatic.

[Mitch]

Hi Chatterton,

The pennywhistle is basically a diatonic instrument - much like a blues-harp harmonica. The chromatics can be got with practice, but it is not going to be as easy as, say a guitar, piano or keyed woodwind.

If you were to practice your chromatics and scales religeously, then there would be nothing to stop you from treating it as a chromatic beasty. Legend has it that the great Irish fluters can play fluently in any key on a standard D flute. In practice, this might be making things too hard for yourself when most the other keys are already available in their native form (so to speak) and that a pennywhistle always costs a lot less than a fully chromatic instrument (no matter how "high-end" the whistle is).

The other main thing to consider is what you intend to play. If you are playing western folk styles (Irish, Nth American, etc) then incidental flats and sharps are rare - you would be well served to understand the church-modes diatonic theory. If you want to play jazz then the chromatics are going to be essential. Perhapse you might consider a keyed whistle - Daniel Bingamon has been known to make such things (look for his posts in this forum) - also whistles with a non-diatonic scale base.

It might also be an idea to consider scale temperaments and the Indic concepts of how the note can be less important than how you get to it and how you depart from it - whistes are good for this kind of thing because you have a lot of freedom with pitch using slides, half-holing and cross-fingerings and breath control.

Hope it all goes well for you!

[MaryC]

Ahh, I've been looking for a suitable moment to ask this: what exactly are keys, and how do the work? What happens when you're playing an instrument that has 'em?

[sbhikes]

Keys. Think about the modern silver flute. All that stuff all over it are the keys. Pressing them will either open or close one or more holes on the flute, some of which are very far away from where your fingers may be.

[breqwas]

Well, if you want a chromatic fipple flute - take a recorder (a blockflute). The sound is different, but it is really chromatic, and just a bit more difficult than a whistle.

[MTGuru]

is there any chance of playing in every key and maybe perhaps play some bebop or maybe some free-form 12-tone silliness?

Well, if you listen to the goofy version of Si Bheag, Si Mhor in my WhistleThis clips (see sig below), you'll hear that I make use of the altered notes F-nat, Eb/D#, Bb/A#, and Ab/G# on a standard D whistle. The first two notes are half-holed, the other two cross-fingered. I used a Burke, but it works just as well (or poorly) on my Feadóg, too.

So I guess the answer is, yes, you can sort of play bebop on your Feadóg. But beyond the usual C-nat and G# (and sometimes F-nat), you're pushing the envelope a bit.

Oh, and I used to be a semi-pro saxophone player. Really.

[Daniel_Bingamon]

As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words".


Keys allow opening to be made about half-way in-between the regular toneholes. A Chromatic Low-D plays just like a normal Low-D for the D Major Scale.
So, if you play 'A' for example and then open the tonehole above the 'A', it becomes A# or Bb.

Here's one my earlier Chromatic Low-D's

I had some newer pictures somewhere, still looking.

[Chatterton]

MTGuru: very nice tune! Inspiring, indeed.

I tried a few of the half-hole notes out last night with pretty decent results, so I think I'll try to do some stuff with the unaltered whistle & see how far I can take it.

I'm not looking to actually play jazz on a whistle. But I used to be a very serious jazz student & have a healthy respect for that tradition & was wondering if I could become a more well rounded player by working on the occasional Charlie Parker/John Coltrane solo. That plus the fact that I also compose and there's no guarantee that every piece I write inspired by Irish Trad is going to stay in D or G.

[colomon]

Legend has it that the great Irish fluters can play fluently in any key on a standard D flute.

I don't know about flute (I assume you mean a keyless flute, it should be easy with a fully keyed wooden flute), but I know at least one, probably two whistle players who can play an Eb scale at tempo on a normal D whistle using half-holing. If you're good enough to do this, it's actually in some ways better than having a keyed instrument. You can hit notes which are impossible to play on (say) a piano -- all those lovely blue notes that fiddlers and pipers play. I've even heard a whistler (intentionally!) play a note halfway between F# and G in a (non-Irish) tune. Plus you can bend all notes freely.

[Chatterton]

That sounds intriguing.

Next stupid question: Do bigger whistles (altos, etc.) make chromaticism easier? I imagine they'd have bigger holes, which might be easier to manipulate. Please correct me if I've assumed incorrectly.

[Carey]

But I used to be a very serious jazz student & have a healthy respect for that tradition

Hi Chatterton, I've been thinking of attempting "Itsbeen Reel" since I picked up the whistle, but have not got past capturing it (possibly) in notation. I'd think it would be a good point of departure for some explorations into jazz, eh?

[Chatterton]

I don't know that piece, but i love the title. I'm working on a piece called "Demo Reel" myself.

[Daniel_Bingamon]

That sounds intriguing.

Next stupid question: Do bigger whistles (altos, etc.) make chromaticism easier? I imagine they'd have bigger holes, which might be easier to manipulate. Please correct me if I've assumed incorrectly.

Keys are smaller and closer together on high whistles. I've made one High-D whistle with three keys on it. They're a bit harder to do.
Bigger is easier.

[Whitmores75087]

So I've been greatly enjoying my green Feadog, but since I've only been exploring the wonderful world of whistles for the last 72 hours, I have a few dumb questions to ask.

Stupid question(s) #1: Just how chromatic can these things get with the false fingerings, etc.? I've been looking at the fingering chart at fullbodyburn.com & noticing it gives fingerings for every chromatic note in the first 2 octaves. I've got my hands full covering the notes of the D & G scales, but do others have an easier time with these notes? Would a more forgiving whistle be easier on the chromatics? If and when I get my chops together, is there any chance of playing in every key and maybe perhaps play some bebop or maybe some free-form 12-tone silliness? I always wanted a saxophone.

More stupid questions to come in a week or so. Thanks.

Simple answer to your question: "No".