Not unless you wanna develop tinnitus!
I haven’t yet managed to play higher than a E in the third octave. You say that you play tunes in the third octave. Is that possible? How high do you go? My whistles can’t go higher that second-octave D.
There is, in fact, a third octave. It’s really useful for calling dogs…
Dave
On high D whistle I generally don’t go above the E, but on Bb and lower whistles the notes up to A can be useful. Gets to be a bit of a finger-twister, and I don’t think it’s suitable for all whistles. An O’Brien Bb is really sweet up there, but the Gen Bb just sounds like the emergency pop-off valve on an air compressor. One low d loves to go high, but the other just cacks out. Jeremiah McDade does jazz on an Overton low D, and seems to spend most of his time in the stratosphere.
That Cathal McConnell tutorial with the CD has a nice piece of advice: He recommends playing only short notes in the upper register of the whistle–even the top half of the 2nd octave. He recognizes it can be a bit harsh to the listeners’ ears. A kind of musical act of mercy.
An O’Brien Bb is really sweet up there
I can get Bb and C but not D on mine. How do you get it?
I like those Bill Ochs tunes for outdoor playing but have yet to find the right whistle for them. Used to `play’ them on my first whistle a sweetone but not accurate in the third octave.
That was one of the points that really amazed me about my Susatos, the low end of the 3rd octave was VERY tight and easy to hit…
You get third octave d e f g easily? Then I want a Susato!
Bb oxx xxx
C xxo xxo
D xox xox
Eb xox ooo
F xxx xxx
G xxx xxo (shade the last hole)
These are different on my other whistles, but are fairly stable on the O’Brien.
Looks similar to the third octave fingering chart for the fife.
http://www.beafifer.com/fingering.htm
Two things to remember about the fife is that some of them have a relatively small bore that helps them produce a clear third octave at the expense of the bottom “D”. Another thing to keep in mind is that the embouchure on a fife or a flute is more flexible. Whistlers have little choice but to blow harder to hit the high notes, the fife player can blow a note but reduce the airflow much like the toothpick tweak for silencing a whistle.
“D4” should be possible on a good fife (and from what I have heard, it is painful). The highest I ever go is the high “B” when practicing this tune (#1). Sometimes the note is even pleasant to listen to.
One thing to keep in mind about fifers is that most of them are use to performing around musket and cannon fire. They are going to be deaf any way.
The length-to-bore ratio for the O’Brien Bb is pretty high; this might make it more fifey. I’d also consider the mouthpiece design pretty efficient, though not as efficient as a perfect fife embouchure.
Now everybody go listen to the piccolo part from Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever. The high stuff can really rock.
These actually works!
Bb oxx xxx
C xxo xxo
D xox xox
Eb xox ooo
F xxx xxx
G xxx xxo (shade the last hole)
The D still doesn’t work for me. This equates to F# on a D whistle. So does a Susato D have a third octave F#? This is becoming the holy grail of the third octave for me.
My mate wrote a tune in B for the fiddle that uses a high D. He wrote it as a challange to the fiddlers. It’s really popular over here and I get asked to play it on whistle quite a lot. It’s called road to errogie. It can be quite loud though but it’s great fun watching some fiddlers trying to hit the high D 
My mate wrote a tune in B for the fiddle that uses a high D. He wrote it as a challange to the fiddlers. It’s really popular over here and I get asked to play it on whistle quite a lot. It’s called road to errogie. It can be quite loud though but it’s great fun watching some fiddlers trying to hit the high D wink
Is that one of the tunes on a Flook CD?
yup. it’s on the new one.
Pennywhistle Tunes for Your Dog
Pennywhistle Tunes for Your Dog
I just tried to play third octave. Now my ears are nearly dead and I have a massive headache 
.
Oh, thanks for testing it out. Now that I know the results I won’t be trying it. 
I’ll put a third octave tune on clips and snips in the next half an hour so you can hear it (or maybe not but it’ll be fun for you dogs )
Dave