I got my first low D today and trying to use a pipers grip is driving my crazy,not to mention giving me sore hands and arms.
Has anyone got any tips to make this more bearable,or is it a case of just perservering with it.
Yeah. Relax the grip.
Throw the fingers down for the notes and ignor whether you’ve got every one sealed. To get a better seal, don’t try to adjust individual fingers. Move you’re elbows out or in to adjust the way you’re fingers are hitting. The angle of the wrist. The hieght of the whistle. But not individual fingers. I struggled for about a week befor I figured that out. As soon as I adjusted the other things, the fingers fell right into place. May not work like majic for everyone, but it did for me.
Whenever I start losing the low notes, I generally can get them back just by bringing my elbows out or the whistle up a bit. Usually bringing the elbows up does the trick.
I initially had the same problem with the low F. It wasn’t cause i was trying hard to seal the notes, it was because of the weight of the whistle needed me to hold it firmer to stop it sliding down. That together with the extra stretch and the different hand position made my arms feel like they were going to drop off after a few minutes.
Solution… i wrapped elastic bands around it, just above the first hole and the fourth hole for my thumbs to rest on. The whistle can’t slide down at all - even if i take all my fingers off and have the whistle nearly vertical. My hands are therefore totally relaxed now when i play it, and it makes the stretch and sealing the holes easier too.
Ok, it may not look too attractive, but it solves the problem and i can play much better.
I just ordered a low D from Phil Hardy, and that’ll be getting a good dose of elastic bands as well.
Hey, Whistling Willie,
that’s a rather anemic looking pair of haggis the
young lady in your avatar is juggling. Very curious.
Colin
What was said above will help you get there. Not to worry about sealing the hole each time just play slow tunes that will get your fingers acustomed to finding the holes. And the rubber bands for your thumbs to help hold it. Another thing that helped me was to take a small wad of paper and put it next to the holes I was having troble finding with out looking. Use masking tape. Than you will fell the bump and know where the hole is. You dont want to start the habit of looking at them. later when your fingers know where the holes are remove the bumps. It is just like typing it will come to you. Some key boards have small bumps on the F and J key to locate your hands. If you find you must look use a mirror and soon you will not need it.
The whistle I just got is from Phil,it’s the new Kerry Songbird low D.
Thank’s for all the suggestions,I will try the elastic bands when I get home from work.
Little and often, and try to increase the time you play the low whistle
a little at a time e.g. one tune - then two - three etc.
Don’t worry about dropping it.
Put your high whistle(s) away for a couple of days
and just play the low one.
Enjoy the low whistle
( I just know somebody will have some
suggestions how!) 
After a while, take the bands off,
you really won’t need them.
The advantage of the rubber bands is that you then know where your fingers are without looking. They work just like the dots on the f & j or the phone pad #5.
I may be repeating things you already know but keeping your fingers straight, not bending your knuckles, is important. Also, since you want to use the first finger pad of each third finger put them into place and then let the other 2 fingers (first and second) fall into place on each of their second pads. -Phil Hardy had a nice tutorial on his website that I imagine is still there. Also just watching him demonstrate the different whistle he has may help. -Good tip also what vomitbunny said, relaxing the grip.
I’ve had a look on Phil’s website,he sure does make it look easy 
She doesn’t get out much 
It took me a couple of weeks before my arms didn’t hurt when adjusting to the piper’s grip for the low D. I find that if the when the angle starts to flatten out (become more perpendicular, like a whistle grip) it bothers me more.
Don’t worry so much about the official instructions as to which finger pads should cover which holes, and find what works best with your particular hands on a particular whistle.
I agree.
Have you watched the “Brian Finnegan and Friends B” on the Flook vids?
Wow!
Seconded.
I am in the process of writing the Smoot Comprehensive Review of Kerry Low D Whistles, part tongue in cheek, part tongue in wife’s ear, but mostly it is a story of one man’s triumph over the human condition.
I will quote a passage:
" I spent a helluva time playing scales over and over on the damned thing, knowing that it was I, not it, who was the master and who was the slave. So many times I came close to being broken, so many times I came close to hanging it up, but I remembered the words of Paul Simon:
'In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries a reminder
Of every glove that laid him down
and cut him
“til he cried out
In his anger and his pain:
‘I am leaving! I am leaving!’
but
the fighter still remains”
It came down to me or the whistle. Who would triumph?"
Look forward to the Smoot Comprehensive Review of Kerry Low D Whistles for the thrilling conclusion
.
You can find lots of pipers gripes in this other forum.
I have the Michael Burke AL-Pro Low D whistle and it has a split between the top and bottom hands. I offset these holes to allow my elbows to drop to my rib cage so that my fingers hit the whistle naturally. I do have to reach “slightly” with my bottom ring finger to cover the bottom hole, but other than that, it is the most comfortable low whistle I have played.
I am still awaiting the Clarke Low D…