Firstly, I am new to playing the whistle and have had good advice from forum users.
Anyway, I have been playing The Leitrim Fancy. It is not fast or over articulated, but I am enjoying playing it. However, I do seem to have a problem. In the first part of the tune, there’s a descent from f# to d (ie the lowest D note on my whistle).
However, I seem to squeak this “low” D most of the time. At first I thought it was poor fingering, but it isn’t. It seems to be more to do with airflow. If I tongue the low D, then it doesn’t squeak, whereas if I play it totally legato, then “squeal.” I have experimented with dropping my airflow between f# and d, but it doesn’t appear to work. However, I can go f#, e, d without any problem whatsoever.
Is this a typical problem with most or all whistles?
Would it be less of a problem with a wider bore whistle, and possibly I am trying to play the DAN too loud?
Is it something that can be fixed with better breath control?
Thanks,
Charlie