My new (used) Reyburn arrived today. I adore the sound. Not to mention that it is gorgeous! It takes very little air to play. The only problem is my skinny fingers. I can’t cover the holes at all using the piper’s grip. Not enough meat on that part of my fingers. I can play it using the little finger of my right hand, but my wrists are screaming! As much as I hate to admit it, I might have to hunt for one with smaller holes. Maybe it will get easier with time? Sigh.
Deb
When I first got my Cheiftan Low D (first and only current low whistle) I found the bottom two holes hardest to grip as I have smallish hands and the bigger 5th hole (second from bottom) I found hardest to cover for ages and kept playing badly because of that. It does get easier over time and now I have no problem playing it. If your not used to playing low whistles (I’d say mostly D’s as higher keys (Low Eb, F and G) are easier to play I find, then you would find it harder to get to grips playing for a while until you get comfortable with it. Give it time and you should be ok.
I’m trying to figure out, from your post, exactly what the problem is. You say that the only problem is your skinny fingers, but then say that you can play it by using the skinniest finger (the little finger).
Then you say your wrists hurt, which from my experience isn’t related to tonehole size but rather an issue of the angle between your arms and your hands. That can stem from the entire whistle being too long for a person with short arms.
I’d like to help, but I can’t make any sense of what’s happening from your description.
The piper’s grip works because it allows the fingers to stretch more widely with the fingers more relaxed, and also allows the wrists to stay at their natural angle. Arms, hands, fingers are all in their normal alignment, meaning less stress.
About the “meat”, true that when I examine my fingers I can see there’s a tad less flesh on the middle joint than on the endjoint. But generations of uilleann pipers, male and female, small hands and large hands, fat hands and skinny hands, have all used this grip, so it’s not specific to any certain hand type.
I think it’s a matter of 1) getting your hands into the correct grip and 2) getting your hands used to the grip. Sure it feels strange at first to people new to it, but it will become natural in time and you’ll wonder why you ever struggled to do it any other way. If you feel stress in the grip, it means you’re not doing it right. Yes it will feel unusual and awkward, but from the get-go there is less strain on the fingers.
I went back to playing last night, after looking at more pictures of the piper’s grip, and it did get better. The next-to-last hole is the most difficult for me to get covered completely. When I use my little finger on the last hole, for some reason, the 5th hole is easier to cover. My pinky is almost swallowed by the hole, but for some reason it seems to work. I’m going to try not to get used to doing that just for the sake of being able to play now. That is what does the weird angle-thing with my wrist. Sorry I couldn’t explain better. I was just a bit frustrated. I gather frustration isn’t too uncommon when beginning the D whistle. This Reyburn truly is lovely. The tone sings in the key of my very soul.
Deb
I find the term ‘pipers grip’ a bit odd and unsuitable, because it’s not a pipers grip - not even nearly. However the actual fingering for uilleann pipes is very useful for low whistle. With uilleann pipes bottom D is played with all 4 fingers down, fingers relatively straight and comfortable. E is played by lifting the pinkie and ring finger. I’ve always played low whistle like this and it really is effortless - no stretch whatsoever. It always surprises me more pipers don’t play like that as is very natural. Even if you’re not a piper it makes sense. I’ve no experience of the Reyburn as I play Goldies but the likelihood of your fingers being too slim for the holes is almost non existent, unless the holes are ridiculously large. You’ll probably find it’ll just take a while for your fingers to land properly on the holes.
It might be worth the mention, that when I was first trying to get the knack of the grip, I soon found that one problem I was having was a tendency to hunch my shoulders a bit. This meant that I had to extend my arms at the elbow slightly, and compensate for the lack of a proper angle by bending slightly at the wrist. Try to keep your shoulders more relaxed, with more bend at the elbow. This will allow you to keep your wrists a little straighter, which will stress them less. The idea here, is to try to find a comfortable position that allows you to keep your forearms at more of a right angle to the whistle. You may also find, as I did, that posturing this way improves your reach, and your ability to completely cover the holes.
I had thought this for some time myself. But I have these “aha” moments occasionally. Slender fingers are out there. I make whistles and the holes on my low whistles are no larger than those on many decent whistles. I have run into a number of women with long, slender fingers and while each was proficient on high whistle they could not in fact cover and seal the holes on my low A, G or F’s - piper’s grip or any other grip. They could however play the harp or fiddle better than I will ever be able to play whistle.
Feadoggie
I disagree with the placement of the circles on that photo above, which shows the index finger sealing the hole with the joint. On my hands, on Low Whistles and uilleann pipes and Highland pipes, I’m using the fleshy pad in the centre of the finger’s middle joint. There’s not much “meat” on the joints themselves and they don’t seal as well.
As Bogman points out, the “piper’s grip” used on whistle isn’t quite the same as that used on the actual pipes.
On both the uilleann pipes and Highland pipes, on the bottom hand, most pipers seal the holes with the pads on the middle joints of the index, middle, and ring fingers, which happens to line up with the endpad of the little finger.
On Highland pipes, on the upper hand, some pipers seal all three fingerholes with the endjoint pads, some seal all three holes with the middle joint pads.
On the uilleann pipes, most pipers have their upper hand at quite an angle, using the middle joint pads of the index and middle fingers but the endjoint pad of the ring finger. It’s this hand’s position which I use with BOTH hands when I play Low D whistle.
Thanks for the replies. This thread has been very helpful. I’m getting better at sealing the holes without undue strain or such extreme wrist angles. I still might look for a whistle with smaller holes, or save my pennies for one of Reyburn’s low D whistles with the offset holes. In the meantime, I’ll persevere with this one.
Deb
There’s an additional factor that I didn’t consider when I posted above: If your Reyburn is like the ones I tried, it has a brass body and is rather heavier than most Low Ds.
For me, playing a heavy Low D is very tiring on the hands. I had an old Phil Hardy “Chieftan Gold” (The Thing Of Brass) and I had to use a saxophone neck strap when I played it for more than a few minutes. (A Bari Sax strap that has a plastic clip which can be clipped onto the bottom edge of a whistle.)
The Reyburn I tried wasn’t nearly as heavy as that Chieftan but still far heavier than any of the Low D’s I’ve owned such as the Susato, Burke (aluminum), and MK.
So you might want to try a lighter whistle! The Susato, Burke, and MK are very lightweight.
Yesterday I played, for quite a while, the new prototype Dixon conical Low D whistle. You might want to try it out once it comes on the market, as it’s light as a feather, plays wonderfully, and due to the conical bore has more comfortable finger spacing than is practical on an ordinary cylindrical Low D. (The contraction of the bore towards the bottom brings the lower-hand’s fingerholes closer together.)
As for conical low Ds, there’s W D Sweet’s Onyx model.
Well, I did feel like a whiner after I read my initial post, and the responses. Thanks for the follow-ups. Reach isn’t a major problem. I measured my fingertip span (index-middle-ring) and it was 12 cm on my left hand and 12.5 on my right. I just have very narrow fingers (ring fingers are size 5 on my left and 5.5 on my right). It isn’t so much getting to the holes, as keeping them covered. A smaller, lighter whistle would be a relief. My favorite high whistle is the conical Clarke. A conical whistle is an attractive possibility. The person who sold me this whistle is also a female. I wonder if she had similar issues?
This is a brass tunable whistle with the delrin head. I talked (through the wonders of facebook) to Mr. Reyburn. He said it was the incarnation just before the most recent prototype. It is very lovely. I hate to say goodbye to it, but I’m not sure it’ll ever work out well for me.
Thanks again,
Deb
Try the new Dixon conical Low D: light, smaller tone holes, closer tone holes, and quite inexpensive. I would guess that the Sweet conical Low D is like that too (except for the weight and price, if it’s blackwood).
It’s not fair, probably, to judge based on a single example, but the Sweet wood Low D that I tried was feeble in the low range. I’ve heard other people say that they’ve played very nice examples, though.
The Carbony low D also looks like a possibility. I don’t like the recorder-like qualities of my susato. I’m wondering if the Dixon would also have that quality? I like the woody sound of the Clarke.
Deb
The nice thing about the carbony whistle is that the whistle maker is perfectly willing to move the holes around for you. 
I have small hands and some nerve damage in my arm that makes certain angles deadening to my hands - so I had it made with the right-hand holes on the SIDE of the whistle. It still sounds great but I can play it now.
How did you decide what would work best for you? Then, did you contact them through their website? I like what I’ve read about the carbony whistles. I have some arthritis in my hands. That’s why I don’t play my concert flute as much. The whistles, being played in front, are more comfortable. I miss the low register of my flute. I’d really like to find a low whistle that would work for me.
Deb
I emailed him initially - but he is local to me so he actually lent me an instrument and let me have a couple days to figure it out. I marked where i wanted holes with paper dots and he made me one to my request.
There are only 2 ways to alleviate the strain on short or skinny fingers.
Your choice, choose the compromise.
That is NOT true, per se. Wall thickness (among other things) has just as much to do with hole placement as the inner diameter does. If it has a thin wall, like my Humphrey did, the hole spread is no smaller at best - I remember my Humphrey having a larger spread than my Chieftain, my MK, and a few others I’ve played. My Hoover has a much smaller diameter than the Humphrey, only slightly thicker wall, and it’s spread is almost as big as the Humphrey was. A bigger bore will accomodate more air - but the actual requirement is also determined by the design of the head. The MK has about the same bore as the Chieftain, but it uses a lot less air. The Hoover uses almost no air in the lower register, but that’s because it was meant to be a quiet whistle. The BORE is almost the same as the MK, but with a thinner wall, so again we have the difference in wall thickness and design of the head.
As for conical whistles, my late model (2010) Copeland high D was 1/2" longer and had a larger spread than my 20(+)-yr-old version of the same whistle, when they are in tune with each other - So again, it’s a matter of overall design.
Her choices are only limited to finding one that is right for her. Personally, I think she should stick with the Reyburn she has for a while longer, and see if she can make any progress with it, because it has a pretty average spread.