Wow. This is what I was imagining must be the case, but I couldn’t articulate
it. Now that I think about it, to get all my fingers in line, I have to bend my
right hand middle finger more than the others. I guess your situation would
require you to bend in more complex ways, which would not be good.
Well, not quite that complex, but far enough into a position of strain that it becomes an exercise in futility.
I first noticed this on CD videos of tutors playing the flute. Their little fingers just plopped right on there. And then I saw a picture of an Irish child playing a flute. Little fingers just plopped right on there. At that point, I took apart some pictures and extrapolated the hand shape from that . . . and discovered that these folks all had nice square hands. Their fingers all extend much the same length.
Also of interest, I discovered that one player doesn’t use the same part of his finger on all the holes. He doesn’t bend up his third finger, the longer one, but just uses the part of the pad nearer the last joint. But even so, his pinkie is right down on the flute, not flailing about in the breeze.
I like the Eb block on one of my flutes. If I rotate it just right, I can reach it with my pinkie and use it as a prop.
If I ever have another flute made, I’m going to ask for a little extension there, as well as one for my left thumb, which doesn’t quite reach, either.
Flute grip is still a mystery, but I get by.
For months, I put my top teeth on whistles, even going as far as putting a little chunk of hypalon-patch there as a cushion. It seemed natural from years of saxophone and clarinet playing.
I soon realised that it was easier to just use lips, pinkies, and thumbs (in various combinations), and I can now use borrowed whistles!
Wow. I just realized that I still put my top teeth on the whistle. It was just automatic (I also came from saxophone), and I’ve never thought that it was a bad thing. I guess it’s not, really.
I don’t really bite the whistle though, the teeth just rest there. Hm.
Apart from scratching borrowed whistles, I don’t see it as a problem, either. I always use the rubber-boat-patch on mouthpieces, because many new plastics aren’t as resiliant as the old nitrocellulose or hard rubber.
My Goodman leaded-glass clarinet mouthpiece doesn’t have the patch, 'cause it looks stupid.
I did the same thing (clarinet & sax for me as well), but stopped when
I got an all-aluminum Burke. A metal whistle will break you of the habit
quickly! My SweeTones still have deep indentations where my top
teeth slowly wore down the plastic. You don’t have to bite to do damage
to that cheap plastic!
According to Grey Larsen, you shouldn’t have the whistle far enough
in your mouth to allow your teeth to rest on the mouthpiece, anyway.
He advocates this because you can then use your embouchure more
productively, by changing the shape of the air column in front of the
windway opening (it’s a little like harmonica playing…)
Yeah, I read that, but I’m not sure I buy it. I tried it for a while, but I didn’t really see an advantage.
Plus, on the cover of “Tin Whistles,” it looks like Sean Potts has that dern generation farther in his mouth than I would consider comfortable. And I wouldn’t say it hampers his playing too much. 
You’re not alone, Lambchop. I’ve been reading all this “right hand pinkie” and going … how? My pinkie floats close by, yet never touches the body of the whistle. My little finger is even shorter than yours … 5.25" from the wrist … and almost a full inch shorter than the ring finger. This may explain a few problems I’ve had holding a flute, huh?
Judy
Judy, I suspect there are a lot of pinky-impaired whistlers and fluters here who are just too embarrassed to come forth . . .
Anybody else? Hmmm? “My name is ___________ and I have a short pinky?”
There may be a market for ergonomic pinky-accommodating whistle and flute wraps. Adhesive patches of some sort, or perhaps Velcro . . . hmmm, I wonder if I have a thickish mouse pad around here . . . dang, I knew I should have scarfed up that insulated can holder at work last week . . .
I don’t have a whistle in my office (ok so it’s a cube) but I tried this with a pencil and find that I only use the pinky on the C# and then lightly just to counteract the “lift” that the thumbs exert. I don’t grip with lips or teeth. Maybe that’s a carryover from fluting. If I tighten my lips it makes it difficult to reconfigure to a flute embouchure.
Obviously not a silly question at all. I’ve seen it asked a few times here, and just look at how much discussion it still prompts
I usually drop my right ring finger onto the bottom hole, by the way…
So how would you lot finger d C# e & e C# d in a fast sequence?
Fast sequence?
dC#e: oxx xxx - ooo xxx - xxx xxo or xxx xxx - ooo xxx - xxx xxo
eC#d: xxx xxo - ooo xxx - xxx xxx or oxx xxx
The C# might be a bit off, depending on your whistle. But at speed, it should be unnoticable.
For the C#, depending on your whistle, you can usually get away with having some or all of your lower hand’s fingers down.
Thanks, i was beginning to think i was the only one here that did that. 
Doesn’t mean that we’re right 
, of course. I consider myself a journeyman whistler at best - but it works OK for me.
Ok, here is another stupider [sic] question:
I decided to keep it in this same thread because I was afraid that Cynth might bite my head off for having too many open threads!
When you guys play whistles in other keys do you just play from key of D sheet music and play your whistle as if it was a D or do you transpose your music into the proper key so the notation matches the actual notes being played. Does that question make sense?
This here’s a whistle forum…whistlers don’t transpose! 
‘sides ya ain’t got no keys and you’d be half holen’ like a son of a…
Ah, ok, so if you were playing a Bb whistle and your music called for a D, you would actually be playing a Bb–right? I’m too obsessive compulsive for that. I want my actual notes to match the printed notes. Hah hah hah hah!
If I was playing a Bb whistle, and there was a little black dot on the space below the bottom line (which is the “D” for “C then D” space), I would cover up all 6 holes on my whistle. If the dot is on the bottom line, then I’d cover up the top 5 holes.
Same as a D whistle.
Ooooh, I think I’ve strained something in my brain . . . I’m going to go lie down now.
Isn’t it? Isn’t this why it’s called a transposing instrument? Isn’t a C# all fingers off no matter what? And a C natural whatever it is you do that isn’t all fingers off?
They said I’d never be able to learn music . . . things like this make me see why . . .
XXX OOO is G
on a Bb, Eb, F or C instrument… (the rest of 'em too)
The part for a Bb instrument is written transposed so that the player does not need to transpose.
Now of the only wind player (high school orchestra) is a tenor sax (Bb) and he has 5 or 6 music stands with trumpet, French horn, oboe, clarinet, etc. parts that sucker is transposing… Or at least guessin’ like a fiend!