My wife is talking about buying me a Dave Daye set. I play whistle. I’d love to think that my whistle fingering would transfer fairly easily to the pipes, but I see in a tutor book that it’s very different. The holes below the note being played are covered, where they are left open on the whistle. I assume that this is a “must do”, and leaving the lower holes open just wouldn’t work on the pipes. If I’m correct, then I have some un-learning ahead of me.
you do have some un-learning, but it won’t be as tough as you think. There are two more holes on the pipes than the whistle (one in front, one in back), they are for the most part not played with the finger tips, and the fingering method is, as you said, slightly different. I actually found that the pipes are different enuff that you don;t get too confused.
pretty much everyone starts on whistle. its a great instrument in its own right, and a great way to get lots of tunes under your belt. i too started on whistle and am now learning on a daye set.
the speed with which you move you fingers is exactly the same. and the range is the same. all traditional tunes that go on one go on the other. but there is not a single note that is fingered the same on the 2 instruments. there is a thread on the whistle list about how long it took people to get real music on the whistle. many did it in days. that would be distinctly rare with UPs. there is so much to think about you may spend weeks just learning to coordinate your bellows and bag on 2 or 3 easy notes, and then months learning the lower register. the fingering, while different from whistle, is not complicated. learning it will be the least of your problems. much more important, and more time consuming, is covering the holes properly, completely, and without tension.
the whistle is not, in any way, a “practice chanter” for the pipes.
enjoy. ask me about day chanters if you have any questions..
meir
Meir,
OK I was 4 months ago where you are now. My wife got me a Daye set for Christmas and I worried I wouldn’t be able to make the change or wouldn’t be able to get used to keeping the bag full, etc.
Fingering, within a couple of weeks the differences were diminishing.
Pipers Grip, since I played low whistle, the pipers grip eas easier to get used to, actually easeir on the pipes than the low whistle
Bag and Bellows, after a few weeks I was keeping the bag full without having to think about it, except on accaisions. Still I have problems keeping the right pressure on notes in the upper octave, especially since my back D flats a bit when I apply extra pressure for the upper octave.
Much more tiring (physically) than playing the whistle, but very, very rewarding. You’ll never regret it.
The only thing I get tired of is telling people… “we’ll the Irish have them too, well no, you don’t mouth-blow them. No, these use a bellows, yes, like a blacksmith. No, I’ve never tried that song, but Amazing Grace is one of my favorites. Yes, Mel Gibson was great, but Wallace was Scottish.”
Seeyall
Tim
Tim,
You forgot, “No, I don’t wear a skirt when I play them”
Jef
“Real Men Don’t Wear Skirts” - should be a uilleann bumper sticker. One that I have - “Pipers Do It With Amazing Grace”
Finbar Furey once said that the Irish invented the Irish pipes, [which they kept because they were good], and they also invented the warpipes, which they gave to the Scots as a joke.
Boyd “flame-war please” 
How about “Real Pipers don’t wear skirts”?
I’ve been playing whistle for about a year, and am about to get into the UPs. Because I’m left handed, I started playing whistle with my left hand on the bottom (i.e. left handed).
It sounds like the pipes are different enough that I could switch “handed-ness” when playing the pipes. This would save getting a left handed set and not being able to try out others sets.
Now that I’ve gotten the basics down on the whistle, I’ve tried to switch to playing ‘righty’ on the whistle, and it works ok. If I kept at it for a few weeks, I could probably get back to where I am playing ‘lefty’.
There is a local piper I’ve discovered (dad of another dancer at my daughter’s step dance school), and I’m planning to try his pipes before making a decision.
Any thoughts? Recommendations? Any other left handers out there?
I’m left handed but play “right-handed” [right hand lower than left]…
whichever way you choose, you’ll still be using both hands…so the only important thing would be that you play whistle and pipes the same way…ie left hand up [or down] …because there is a fair similarity between thhe instruments and you’ll prob. learn many tunes on the whistle before transferring them onto the chanter.