I have been working on my small pipes which have Piob Mor fingering so I can play them for dancing and I even pulled them out at a session this week. That was great but now when I pull out my whistle I sound like cr*p. I think I am haveing trouble changing from one fingering to another and my breathing gets messed up. I don’t have to think of phrasing on the pipes and that seems to be causing problems when I play the whistle. I recognized this part of the problem when I totaly screwed a jig I have down cold at a session the other night. I am also haveing trouble retaining whistle tunes when I can pick up a pipe tune quickly.
On behalf of all those whistlers who have no intention of moving up to flute or other, I vote for the pipes. You add a lot of texture and skill. We have a smallpiper in our band now and its nice to have that variety. The short range and mixolydian forcing (our piper seems to have no C# equivalent on his chanter) is restrictive tho…
But it can be done. Look how many bands have combo piper/whistlers. You can do it! Stay focused!
BL, it’s all about practice. You’re already a piper! No big deal there for you. The whistle is something you’re still trying to get a grip on (ouch ). When I work at pipering, that back D has me feeling like I’m doing tongue-twisters, as it were. I just need to work at it more.
Temporary problem IMO. Ride it out and you’ll be better on both instruments. I have similar problems sometimes moving between guitar, 'zouk and mandolin. I also try to learn most melodies on both concertina and whistle. There are very few tunes I play equally well on both 'tina and whistle but my overall grasp of a tune and ideas for phrasing are enormously improved by trying them on more than one instrument.
). When I work at pipering, that back D has me feeling like I’m doing tongue-twisters, as it were. I just need to work at it more.