Any opinions on what low g whistle would be good for someone with very small hands?
I have very small hands and a Bb is the lowest one I have. I am a new player so speaking from limited experience anything lower than a Bb will be difficult for me. If you do not have a Bb get a Gerations which is not expensive. Try it out and you should get an idea how low can play. The Bb is mellow enough for me and is at the limit of what my fingers can reach. I cannot imagine myself being able to play a low G.
Susato makes whistles with “keys” on them which help extend the reach of small fingers. I believe they have them as an option on whistles in G and lower.
No one, literally no one, older than the age of 3 has hands too small to play a low G whistle (I’d probably go so far as to extend this statement to include to all keys down to low D).
If you buy a whistle with keys, you won’t be able to bend, slide, or half-hole on those notes. I imagine it would also get in the way of ornamentation. A lot of people say their hands are too small for certain whistles, but really all that is needed is taking the time to get used to it, using piper’s grip for the lower keys where it is needed.
I have a sweetheart low d but because my fingers are also very thin it’s hard to be accurate with a pipers grip and is uncomfortable with regular grip. I was thinking of getting Gene Milligans low g . I have his high d and it’s my favorite whistle. Another option I was considering is a Burke.
I have very small hands, and have no trouble reaching any low g I’ve tried. I have a Dixon trad and I really like it. I hope you find the one(s) you like!
-Alli
My hands are pretty small, and I do fine with my Becker PVC low G-- and it’s cylindrical, not conical. Coming from a high D, it takes a bit of getting used to, but no real problems. (I do use piper’s grip with my right hand, though my left hand never seems to like it-- but that’s okay on this whistle, too.)
Hi …I have a low G whistle with each top three and bottom three hole spreads of around 53 mm.
I manage to play all my whistles without needing to use the “pipers grip” …(including the low D) if that’s any help to you.
John (from www.redheadwhistles.com)
i have a reyburn with offset holes. quite nice. might talk to ronaldo about hand spacing.