I’ve been learning the whistle from a book, in wich it says you are meant to leave the top hole open when playing the second D on an ordinary D-whistle.
Though, I’ve been watching some instructionvideos at www.kerrywhistles.com and noticed that Phil does not leave the top hole open when playing the second D at his Low D-whistle (6 holes closed at the first and the second D, but at the third he leaves the top hole open).
I understand this is something that depends on taste, and what sound the player likes, but is one of these alternatives to prefere in front of the other?
Maby its a bit more tricky to always leave the top hole open, but thats how I have been playing now for 2-3 months, and it feels kind of awkward to change that. Though, I dont want to make anything into some sort of a bad habbit.
for me it depends on where I am going and how fast I am playing. If I am going on up in the second octave I tend to cover the top hole. If I am playing slowly or coming right back to the lower register I tend to leave it open heh
When your breath control is good enough, it is not strictly necessary.
But, it is a good habit to get into, because it will usually improve the
tone to lift the finger, especially on long notes.
Yeah, if you’re already doing it then don’t change it! I believe that no matter what whistle you play, that will be accurate. The same cannot be said for the XXX XXX fingering. It also allows you to use finger vibrato on your 2nd D if you like by “twiddling” your index finger.
For me it depends on what notes are before and after the high D. Sometimes it’s more convenient for me to close all 6 holes, for example when after a high D goes a high E - all I have to do is lift up one finger instead of lifting up one and putting down the other - it confused me when I tried doing it
Or, say, high D goes after C#. I usually close the last 3 holes for C# cause I need to hold my whistle somehow, and then I close 2 more, leaving the first one open…
I’m a total newbie, and I really don’t hear the difference in tone and don’t find it harder to blow high D with all holes closed so I just let it happen how my fingers want it to
I cover them all if playing a tune makes using this method easier, but else I try to have the first hole uncovered. It sounds nicer, and it’s a lot easier to avoid screeches on cheap whistles.
I actually like the sound better on a whistle with the top hole covered, but it’s gotten me into trouble on a flute. A friend of mine has a Murray and it’s very difficult to hit either top or bottom D without bouncing into a harmonic or going “fuzzy.” Venting the middle d helps a lot.
Usually, I seem to play it uncovered, and it does make for a more stable, non-screechy note, but if going through it in a quick series of notes, I play it finger down.
I like to leave the top hole open, myself. I think it gives the note a purer sound. I find that if you cover all the holes I get a breathier sound. But maybe you want that. I just tend to lean towards a pure tone.
