I have a (Generation) Bflat whistle that I can use the regular grip for, except it’s always a stretch to cover the last hole. Does anyone suggest some modified piper’s grip?
Apparently this guy does:
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/tunable-whistle-in-the-key-of-a-recommendations/66632/10
“Who was that masked man?”
I started out on pipes and consequently use a piper’s grip on any whistle — from the “standard” high D on down. Works fine for me. Try it, it may work for you…
Best wishes.
Steve
I will try to learn this way then (for the Bflat at least)… I haven’t played low whistles, so this is my first time using the piper’s grip.
It seems that I can’t use use the end of my finger for the last hole if I use the middle for the 4th and 5th holes… but it is possible to use the middle for all three holes… but just barely though!
When you say you use piper’s grip for all whistles, did you mean that you use the “middle” pads for all holes?
It really isn’t all that difficult — just different — but it may take a bit of getting used to.
For the lower three fingers, I use the “middle” pads as you suggest.
Works for me, hope it works for you.
Best wishes.
Steve
I’m finding that using any kind of piper’s grip on the last three holes is more tiring/stretching that using the finger tips… 
I hope it gets easier… but I basically just want to do whichever is least damaging to my hand.
Give it a shot, a few minutes a day, and see how it turns out. Just 'cause it works for me doesn’t mean it’s the solution for you. But give it some time and see…
Best wishes.
Steve
mezzoforte,
here’s a possible alternative: the “right-hand-pinkie” grip.
The idea is to cover the bottom hole with your right pinkie instead of its neighboor. I use this on my Susato Low G. Of course, it involves a little re-training (but then, any new skill will), and its utility will vary with a person’s hand+finger size and hole placement.
Best wishes,
trill
This is something I can do, but I thought it was not done because that finger is not as strong. Do you use the middle pads for the other two holes?
On a low whistle, the grip uses middle pads for the 4th and 5th hole and the fingertip for the last hole, so you get that extra distance, right? But it seems that on the Bflat, the spacing is not quite enough for a grip like that. It seems also that using all middle pads gives less distance than using all fingertips.
mezzoforte,
For me, it depends on the whistle. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I’ve found a great deal of variation among different whistle brands, let alone variations with keys. Being able to adapt the grip as needed gives lots of flexibility.
When trying a new whistle, what I’ve settled on is the following: first try a variety of grips for the tunes of interest. Then pick the grip that requires the least amount of stress/strain in the fingers, hands, and arms.
trill
actually, I’m finding now that using the middle pad the last 3 holes is doable! and it seems less strenuous than using only fingertips.
in fact, I can use the middle pad for all 6 holes…
Bottom hand piper’s grip (on pipes) is the fingertip pad of the pinkie on the bottom hole, and the middle joints of the other bottom fingers. But since whistle has only 3 bottom holes, not 4, there are two ways of adapting it.
- Middle joints of B1 B2 B3 (same as above).
- Pad of B3, middle joints of B1 B2 (shifted grip).
I sometimes call #1 half-grip and #2 full-grip. But that’s just my own terminology.
#2 is what most people mean by bottom hand piper’s grip on whistle. It gives you a longer potential stretch than #1, and allows you to learn just one RH grip that works on all low whistles down to low D and beyond. #1 is fine, but most people will run out of stretch on a G or F whistle and have to switch to #2 anyway.
#2 should be perfectly doable on the Bb Gen whistle, though it may be a bit tight. When they’re down, you might find your B1 and B2 fingers are snuggling pretty close side by side. And your right hand might be angling down around 45 degrees. That’s all normal. Both the spacing and the angle ease up as you move to larger whistles.
Though some will disagree, I think Trill’s pinkie grip (B1-joint B2-joint B4-pad) is OK, too. You just have to get used to moving your B3+B4 or B2+B3 fingers as a unit (trying to keep B3 always down will make you crazy). I used this when I first started low whistle, but outgrew it very quickly in favor of #2.
Good luck!
Good! Then work with that for a while (but I’d stick with the standard whistle grip on the top hand). Then as your hand gets more comfortable with the stretch and feel, you can try full piper’s grip (my #2) on the right hand.
I should clarify my comments above. I use MTGuru’s #2 above for a Low D. For A and above (don’t have a whistle between Low D and A) I use MTGuru’s #1. Things may vary for your hands depending on size and number of times you’ve jammed or broken fingers…
Best wishes.
Steve
I use piper’s grip on all sizes, from low to high D.
Jammed or broken fingers?? I still would like to be able to play piano while playing tinwhistle!
How to grip an “Alto” whistle
Depends. Are you hitting for average, or for distance?
I should follow up that it actually took at most a week to get comfortable with the piper’s grip, that is, middle pad for the three last fingers… and I also now only use that for the (high) D whistle, because the “whistle grip” just feels so crammed up!! I’m glad I learned this new grip and was not afraid to use it.
One problem I am having is my right (bottom) thumb gets sore… how do you position the thumb relative to the other fingers/holes to minimize tiredness? Thanks!!