You might want to try to find a very heavy whistle and try playing it. I found that heavy whistles are easier for me to play in a relaxed maner. This is because simple momentum and friction keeps the whistle in place and it doesn’t move as much when I raise an lower my fingers. It rests on my thumbs. The very light weight whistles are harder because I have to tense up and actually hold the whistle more, and holding the whistle is tension without movement. Tension without movement is the quickest way for me to wear out my hands and get cramps. It’s part of the reason why I enjoy low whistles, thier bulk and weight let them more natually lay in my hands with the friction between tube and my thumbs keeping them in place.
Good gosh! This is really overwhelming! I just got home from work and have two pages of ideas, plus a couple of Private Messages waiting for me! Two offers of thumbrests, and now Lee says I could try a heavier whistle instead of a lighter one! I guess I’ll just try all the suggestions one at a time, and see what works best, what works, and what doesn’t, and use the best for me. I don’t have a lot of money for whistles, so I’ll probably borrow one of Bill’s heavy brass ones to try Lee’s idea. He also emailed me and said he has one of the Jubilee whistles, so I’ll probably borrow that, too, if he’ll let me. Think I’ll leave the thumb rest as a last resort, for now.
I think relaxing is probably going to work best for me. I know I hold on too hard, because my fingers cramp up sometimes.
Yes, I know. A bit thin but it was fairly accurate and didn’t sqauwk too much. But I couldn’t leave the darn thing alone…
I suppose tommorow at work I’ll try sticking on a plastic strip or two to see what I can do to it. I’ve had a little luck with that so far. little
:as in hit or miss
Randy,
I just had another thought. I recently got a Sindt D which has a heavy head, heavier than a Generation but nor as heavy as a Serpent Viper. At first I found myself squeezing the whistle because I was not used to the weight. So, I rubbed a little beeswax onto the spots where my thumbs contacted the underside of the tube. It gave me a little extra friction and helped me relax my fingers because I wasn’t worrying about losing the whistle. You might want to try it sometime.
Mike