Hey all. I’m a newbie, struggling with my right hand grip when playing my Low D (a Burke aluminum). I use a Pipers grip, but lose physical stability when playing a B or C#, so that when switching to a D or E the holes aren’t quite where I expect them, leading to leaks, especially in the 1st finger RH. I’ve tried keeping my right pinky down, but this tenses the hand. I tend to use the 1st joint of the first finger as a grip, but this seems to sacrifice flexibility and risks letting that finger creep over the hole. Any advice?
First of all, try to relax as much as possible. When a lot of pipers start out on chanter, they encounter a problem commonly known as “death grip”, or clutching the chanter so tightly that they can’t move their fingers to play. Using the flats of the fingers instead of the tips takes some adjustments for many winds players, and low whistlers who don’t play pipes or timber flute often have a similar problem.
You may have to bring the ring finger of your bottom hand down to steady the whistle when playing Bs or Cnats. I do this with my Kerry low D and it’s required to produce a C natural on my pipe chanter. Try to keep your fingers as close to the whistle as you can without affecting the tone, volume, or intonation.
dont know if this will help …but someone had suggested the thumb holders from susato. I got one and it helped alot on the low d whistle. I had trouble with some of the fingering and holding on to the whistle. Now I can just concentrate on playing.
I encounter similar problems if I position my right hand perpendicular to the whistle barrel. I find if I place my ring finger tip on the bottom hole, then rotate the hand about 30 degress up so the next two fingers are positioned a la piper grip, I can hit the notes. I do use the pinky to “reference” the right hand so I can maintain this orientation.
Don’t know if that helps…
[Edited for diction errors]
Tom Gallagher
aka fiddling_tenor
fiddlingtenor@usa.com
“This is petrified truth.” (Mark Twain)
[ This Message was edited by: fiddling_tenor on 2002-04-04 09:31 ]