Hello all, greetings from Ireland. I only started playing the whistle a few months ago so bare with me if I ask any silly questions.
I’m using the 6 fingers for the high D for certain fast tunes only. For example one tune that I’m practising at the moment called ‘the bag of spuds’ which involves sets of 4 quick notes that go from low B followed by 2 high D’s then back to low B. In this piece I need to cut the 2 high D’s and according to any documentation I’ve read I should be cutting them in both octaves with the 3rd finger like so: XX0XXX however for some reason cutting with this finger just sounds terrible and squeaky. I find this happening on all the whistles I have from a cheapo Generation to a Freeman modified Generation. For me anyway, it seems to be better to cut the 2 (6 finger) high D’s with the second last or 3rd last fingers like so: XXXX0X. Using just 5 fingers however (leaving the top one open) the 3rd finger works fine.
I’m just wondering if it’s just me seeing I’m new to the whistle or do other people experience this issue on the 6 finger high D? Like is this normal or am I just not doing my cuts right or controlling my breath correctly? I find also this fingering requires a little more breath control in order to sound right so I’m wondering might that be part of it.
Any help appreciated or indeed any other interesting information I should know about this particular fingering.
That tune raises in interesting irony. There is a tendency in that tune to sound squeaky when you play the B-D-D-B combo when you’re a beginner, but that’s a very popular beginner tune. So is this a deliberate ploy by the whistle masters to make us better, or an unfortunate coincidence?
All I can tell you, Blaydo, is that I was taught to play with a vented D and cut on the third finger, and I learned that tune during my third or fourth lesson and it sounded squeaky to me then and I hated playing it, and now that I’ve been playing a couple of years it finally sounds better. Something changed and it wasn’t the tune.
I think the key is learning to play the cut fast enough and learn to get good solid seals on the holes.
Thank you very much for your reply, it’s much appreciated..
Don’t get me wrong, I can play this tune reasonably well by cheating and using the 6 fingers for D instead of jumping back and forth like you need to do on 5 fingers. The only thing is that I have to cut the high D’s with XXXX0X when I’m using all 6 fingers. So my questions are specifically about this 6 finger ‘cheat’, like if you John use all 6 fingers and blow a high D are you able to cut it ok with the third finger? Because I can’t seem to manage it. Not that I mind so much, I can get along just fine cutting them with the second last but I’m just wondering if this is normal when you’re using all 6 fingers.
I presume the squeaky sounds you’re talking about on the B-D-D-B combo are the ones during the transition from B-D and then between D-B when using just 5 fingers for the D’s? I’m talking more so about just the cut between the 2 D’s. I will though practice this piece using like you say just 5 fingers which I can cut no problem with the text book 3rd finger. It is of course harder for me to do it this way but it’ll be good practice. I do indeed have a problem getting good seals on certain fast combo’s like this when I’m trying to play them at the right speed, I guess my fingers aren’t trained enough to keep up sometimes, but I’ll get there eventually.
I’m getting lost in the explanations above, so let’s stick with the basics. First, don’t let anyone tell you that cutting XXX XXX with XXX XOX is wrong. It’s a perfectly fine way of cutting a D.
I don’t seem to have major problems cutting it with XXO XXX, but I would never play it that way.
Of course, the way I would play this BddB passage is
xoo ooo
oxx xxx
ooo xxx (cut)
oxx xxx
xoo ooo
Thanks for the response.
Are you actually cutting there with 2 fingers or is that a mistake? Didn’t know you could do that.
Cutting the d with two fingers, yup. I learned that trick from Loretto Reid. It was one of those things that seemed odd at first, and became perfectly natural after a while. (Especially because it’s the same muscle movement used for going d-c-d, only super-fast.)
There are differences when you cut with different fingers. Try different options, find out what works for you. Sometimes you have to balance simplicity of execution with the sound you want. Experiment and have fun. Try something wacky every once it a while! Don’t take what you read as gospel, just as a suggestion. Find out why it’s suggested, if you can.
Well heck. I went and actually tried to watch what I was doing while I’m playing (rather than what I thought I was doing) and it turns out I also routinely cut d like this
oxx xxx
oxo xxx
oxx xxx
too. I particularly noticed it playing “Devils of Dublin”, where it goes A-d-d – it’s almost like my left hand middle finger is a pivot, staying down while all my other fingers move.
Colomon, I’m practising it this last way you show, which is the text book way and I think I really need to learn it. I’m finding it a bit tricky getting a nice cut sound using the 3rd finger because of (I think) the fact that the first one isn’t resting in it’s place. I’ve no problem using this finger for all the other cuts though. They all sound sweet except for this damn 5 finger high D cut. I suppose it’s all just practice so I’ll just keep at it and learn all the different ways of doing these things including that 2 finger cut.
And thanks BoneQuint, I won’t be afraid to experiment. Being new to any kind of musical instrument I wasn’t sure about what I could do or if I even sounded correctly, but I think I’ll trust my ears from now on.