I have always raised my left index finger when playing top D like all the books say you should but just recently I have been trying to learn “Drowsy Maggie”, which sounds great on fiddle but is fiendish to play on whistle because of all that switching from e to b to d. I was on the point of abandoning it until someone suggested leaving that left index finger down and the task was made 10x easier.
This morning I have been experimenting playing top D with six fingers and with five and I can’t hear a difference - not sure why I have been raising that finger all these years. I have got quite a good whistle (Overton), I haven’t tried it on a cheaper one yet.
Any thoughts? (Drowsy Maggie still not sounding too good, but she is more awake than she was)
With the whistles i have there is a difference in the voice of the D note between vented and unvented.
I’ve also found that it can be difficult to drop cleanly onto an unvented D from high up.
I’ve learned primarily using the vented D as when i play slowly it sounds nicer and more in line with the other notes than the unvented D. However, some tunes, as you say, are a bitch to play unvented as they’re so quick and awkward and in those places i used the unvented D.
“Brother Steve’s” website has an interesting opinion on this, and I seem to remember “Drowsy Maggie” was one of the tunes specifically mentioned. You should check it out.
This is one of the biggest differences I find between whistles. Some are even brutally out of tune if you don’t vent the b-hole. For a really clean tone, I sometimes halfhole the B for D and even E.
BTW, I find venting the D doesn’t make much difference on my high D whistles, but makes an enormous difference on my low E and low D whistles. So I try to do it no matter what whistle I’m playing, so it is easier to switch to playing on the low whistles.
I thought I might mention that there is a third D that you can get on most whistles – not recommended for playing around people with sensitive ears. But its there, and it does come in handy on some tunes. Don’t vent and over blow it a bit harder than you would for the top A, B and C#.
after 30+ years of playing flute and now playing whistle I can tell you the real reason for venting the high D by raising the left index finger. It makes it impossible to play a low D by accident. That’s it. Just try to. The reason is revealed. On the High End Flutes you can’t really tell a difference in tone by venting or not venting. The reason is as I have stated.
Ben
Hey - do what you want. I love playing high on low whistle, and every fingering is made up. Half holing gives a cool sound, and on short-beaked whistles you can bend the snot out of high notes by changing the angle of the whistle. Don’t be too agressive with this when you have a big expensive condenser mic in front of you.
In my experience, (which is only 21 months) I’ve found that venting the D, gives a clearer tone. But my main whistles are Clarke Meg’s and Original’s. However, I’ve found this venting to be true on Generations, Feadog’s, Susato’s, Oak’s, and Shaw’s. So as for the expensive high end whistles, I’m clueless…Cause I don’t own one.
However, when I play songs that are fast, or only have the high D for a very short time, sometimes not venting the D makes a song much easier to play. Particularly, The Maid Behind the Bar. I tried learning this song with the high D vented, but when I played it up to normal speed, (or really quickly) I found my fingers lagging, and not being able to keep up with the song. But that might have been because my fingers probably aren’t the quickest in the world, I don’t know. Anyways, I know that when I played The Maid Behind the Bar with the high D not vented (the 2cd part of the song mind you), it was much easier to keep up. And when I did this, that particular D sounded fine as it was played so fast.
So I guess there’s two things to remember. If the note is very short, and if your non-vented high D sounds playable, then use the non-vented D if it makes the song easier to play. If the song is fairly slow, or easy to finger, use the vented D, especially on slow songs. Unless it doesn’t matter on those really expensive whistles, then do what you like! I almost exclusively use the vented D, simply because for me it’s easier to play most songs, and on my whistles, it sounds just a wee bit better.
after 30+ years of playing flute and now playing whistle I can tell you the real reason for venting the high D by raising the left index finger. It makes it impossible to play a low D by accident.
My Overton gives a a flat Bb if I don’t blow hard enough with top hole vented.
Third D I use XXX XOX on most whistles.
Absolutely. In fact, it’s possible to overblow another 3 Ds above that on most high whistles - so that’s 6 in all. Not very ITM-friendly, but it’s worth knowing they’re there if you’re playing some other types of music.
The only time I vent high D (On whistle or flute) is when coming up to it quickly from Cnatural, using the oxxooo fingering. For example, the tune “Feeding the Birds.” Other than that I get fewer crossing noises and cleaner playing when I don’t vent the 2nd D.
One thing that is interesting stylistically is the high D crann - it sounds very different using vented vs. closed fingering.
Not very ITM-friendly, but it’s worth knowing they’re there if you’re playing some other types of music.