Hi All - I just encountered E-flat for the first time in a tune.
Is (are) there fingerings other than half-holing to get at a good E-flat?
Keep an F whistle at hand and cross finger the 7th.
(several edits. its my karma for being bad)
Use the all-fingers-down fingering on an Eb whistle, then.
get a flute with keys.
i used to know a fella here in tralee, john curtin, this was about 19 years ago.
he only had one whistle, a C whistle, but he’d half hole everyting.
fair play to you john, over there in london town, i could never do it.
One key’s enough!
Get a rec****r and half-hole the upper pignose.
How do I E-flat?
How do I De-flate?
How do I See flatulate?
Then, why Bb-other?
More seriously: I hardly ever eeflate except in second octave.
(And even this gave me a helluva time with this “La Bourée” by Jethro Tull start.)
Half-hole a lot 'til it’s right. Why bother, btw: next day it’s all wrong.
Then I decide I got the wrong whistle, and pick up a Eb or Bb tube.
When even this fails, I know I need a keyed instrument…
seven hole whistle, half holing the seventh
whoops I thought we were talking about Db
maybe cross finger on a seven hole
OK, that is the hardest. If you want to draw attention to the Eb then slide into the half hole until you are bang in tune, milking the effect for all it is worth. If you want to play it cleanly and in stark isolation, practice like mad. If you just want to play it wizzing past quickly, play E nat and glower at anybody who looks at you strangely.
OOOOOO… I LIKE this one! The “milking the effect” is perfect for the tune in question.
I’ve been practicing the half-holing, and got it down pretty good now.
(I love the wizzing/glowering thing, too - just wouldn’t work on this tune, and don’t you think everyone would glower if you wizzed in public )
BTW - It’s a smashing slow aire credited to Steáfán Hannigan and buried deep in the infamous “as-of-now-unrecorded-section” of the LOW WHISTLE BOOK.
I think it’s called: The Blue Remembered Hills
Check it out, It’s “Haunting”!
LEE