Hello everyone I’m new to this forum, and I have been playing the penny whistle for a few weeks. I was wondering though, when I play a natural C it sounds off and it doesn’t seem to give the same pure sound as the other notes. If anyone has any tips on how to get rid of this I would greatly appreciate it.
One other question, I have looked for sheet music and books with worship music for penny whistles in the key of D or the same range, but I have not been able to find any. If there are any out there I would love to know about them.
Thanks ever so much in advance
Hello ForestCloak–It’s nice to meet you. I’m not much of a whistle player, but your C natural problem is very common.
My C natural has always sounded a little different than the other notes—slightly breathier. I have sometimes felt maybe it wasn’t quite on, but I find it hard to judge a tone that is different in quality. So you need to distinguish between the pitch being off and the note sounding somewhat different in quality from the others.
One thing is, have you tried varying how hard you blow, the shape of your mouth, and other things? The pressure or speed of the air can affect pitch and the quality of the sound. Doing these things with your mouth can affect the pressure and speed of the air.
Second, I am giving a link to a page where a lot of different fingerings for C natural are discussed. Different fingerings can also affect both pitch and quality of sound. The person asking the question doesn’t have the same whistle as you, but maybe one of the suggested alternate fingerings would help.
On a few of my whistles the C natural is in tune, it’s just not as clear as the rest of the notes. I think it’s fair to say that that is a common problem.
Thanks so much for your help Cynth and Collin I will have to try the different mouth positions, amount of blowing pressure and the different fingerings , but it’s good to know that it is a common problem.
Thanks
Cloak
I went to the Clarke website and if you go to this webpage you can email a person there who is supposed to help people—see at the bottom where it says “Email Norman Dannatt”. I’d give it a shot myself just for fun. It couldn’t hurt: http://www.clarke-tin-whistle.com/faqs.html
It would be interesting to hear what he has to say. You would probably have to be a bit patient about getting a reply. He may work for them one day a week or something.
thanks for your help. I will have to try that, but for now I think I may have figured out which fingering works best for me and sounds the best.
oxxxox and oxxooo. It sometimes depends on the song thank you
Cloak
I’m new to this forum, and I have been playing the penny whistle for a few weeks. I was wondering though, when I play a natural C it sounds off and it doesn’t seem to give the same pure sound as the other notes. If anyone has any tips on how to get rid of this I would greatly appreciate it.
I will have to try the different mouth positions, amount of blowing pressure and the different fingerings