My first post here 
Does anyone here play the fife? And more specifically, how does one go about playing a high B (third octave B that is), I think I’m getting the fingering right, and I can play a high A, but I can’t get to the B with all my efforts. Any advice?
I know ----all about fifes, but I’m sure a fifer will be along to assist you shortly.
Me, I just had to post to say hi and tell you your screen name is hilarious.
Keeping in mind that
I am not an expert,
I am not a teacher,
and I don’t know what fife you use,
I found that I was only able to progress to the next higher note
after learning to play the note below it without much problem. This
meant to me no hesitation or searching for the note after the attack
and control of the dynamics. In other words hit the note on mark,
and go from loud to soft to loud again on a long, sustained note.
Practicing octave jumps D d d’,C c c’… …B b b’* is one exercise,
and playing arpeggios, or broken chords, up and down the scale
is another. The aim is to keep the volume and tone similar between
jumps in both exercises.
When you can play a’ reliably (0XXXX0) you should be able to at
least play some sort of b’ on most instrumentsand start practicing
long notes, then adding tonging to break it up, and finally add the
other exercises.
Hope this is both helpful and accurate.
\
- for most fifes this should be
B =X00000
b =X00000
b’=X0X0X0
Thanks 
Some extra info - I play a cheap plastic Bb fife and one of these http://www.angusfifes.com/ Bb fifes in Blackwood. I can get to a’ quite reliably with either, but as soon as I finger b’ I drop down an octave, using the b’=X0X0X0 fingering. I will follow your advice about doing some excersises, especially with a’ to get it down perfectly.
Gary Hastings, in his book on the fife “With Fif& Drum” gives the top note as A’’ on page 47.
The fingering for the top notes is as below
o x x x o
x x o o x
x o x x o
x o x o o
x o o o x
x o o o o
D" E" F" G" A"
On my C# fife, I haven’t yet got a proper A" out of it, and Hastings gives that as the top note…in this tradition at any rate.
Suddenly the wooden flute is a friend and an easy instrument lol
The small fife is helluva loud
and a helluva a puff 
Are you freaking trying to use a fife to kill people and animals? Do you hate the world that much? Even if I was to know the secret of playing a third octave B on a fife, and I’m not saying I do, I would want to know for what purposes you propose playing such a note.
High “B”* is used in several tunes that I know and try to play, it is the C# (0X000X0) and the highest D (0XX00X) that seem to be rare.
*Remember the Bb fife transposes so really “B” is the G below (if my music theory holds) so it isn’t as bad as you think.
Also, as I understand, the fife’s 1st register is not normally used. So the 2nd and 3rd register are the equivalent of the 2 octave working range of other wind instruments.
If you look at Bruce and Emmett’s Guide to the fife’s fingering chart, you will see the first D is played 0XXXXX, skipping the first octave. The higher starting point seems to have the added benefit of providing cross fingerings for accidentals.
Take a look at page 50, Funeral march #1. This tune contains a high B, A#, D#, and E# and is a lovely tune if you don’t just hammer the high B and play it sweetly (not that I can).
Makes me wonder what could be done with a narrow bore 6 hole “tabor” pipe.
Wouldn’t that be technically the same?
(Yeah, I know, I’m probably wrong. I used to think a fife was just a piccolo, too. Right now I’m under the impression that what you describe would just be a ‘fipple fife’.)
Early morning pondering without coffee.
It was my impression that the length to bore ratio of a tabor pipe was 35-40:1 and have 3 holes so that it plays starting with the second octave and plays overtones through the 3rd and fourth to play an octave. The bore ratio is more extreme, and about 1.5 to 2 times the ratio of a normal whistle or fife at 20-30:1. So long and short of it, I was wondering why you never see a 6 hole overtone flute…
… but again, just low caffeine thinking while typing.
hmmm…lemme think…way back when…
yup…you had it right
high B is certainly: X 0 X 0 X 0
squeeze and blow the piss out of it.
B
b’
and b’’
doesn’t fit the F&D nomenclature.
It is:
Low B
Middle B
High B
sigh
sadly it’s still true.
I used to do embouchure exercises that would allow me to play the high b at the lowest volume possible yet maintain the tone.
very tough
when you get high B, we’ll give you the fingerings all the way up to the high-high G
that’s when your neighbors revolt enmasse
good luck
Now I’m wondering whether you mean a whistle (i.e. tabor pipe) with 6 holes, like a fife. Actually, I think the other way around is interesting, too.
I guess both designs are extremes. The fife was designed to -as Dylan would put it- “play f*ing loud”, while the tabor pipe was simply designed to be handy. So I guess the loudest thing you can get is a flute with all 6 holes playing from the second octave, while a whistle is preferred over a flute for handling with one hand.
That shouldn’t keep anyone from designing the loudest whistle on earth, or a flute that’s even more deserving of the term “simple system”, though
Third Octave 
Thanks for all the help, I think it’s my embouchure that’s failing as I get up to the high B. I’m sure once I crack the B I can go up to the painful heights of High C# and High D.
I think my playing will be more dangerous to planes than the Iceland ash cloud.
The ITM UN Security Council should hold hearings to see if sanctions or a stern dressing down are warranted. World Peace is fragile enough as it is without some ballywho trying to obtain nucular (nu-koo-ler) capabilities.
the Swiss started it
Wouldn’t that be charanga?
please, please, PLEASEEEEE don’t start a Charanga thread.
PUUULLLLLEEEEEESSSSSSEEEEEEEE
Including unsynchronized dancers without rhythm in any act using Irish Traditional Instruments is completely outside of the bounds of the Treastise of Clare County.
Ya might as well have started it yerself David
