I just got my first whistles today, and after a couple of minutes of playing with them, I ran into a problem that I’m sure has a very obvious solution: when you’re playing a C# and none of the holes are covered, how do you hold on to the whistle?
When i play C# i jsut keep my pinkes on the sides of the whistle to stablize it.
C# can be fingered in several different ways. For example:
ooo ooo
ooo oox
ooo oxx
ooo xxx
levitation, one of the more magical qualities of a good whistle.
Play the C# with your right hand down instead of all open. This will accomplishe the following two or three things:
- It stabilizes your grip on the whistle.
- Often the next note after C# is second octave D. If your right hand is down already, all you have to add to get the D are the ring and middle fingers of your left hand.
- C# is a sharp note on many whistles. If this is the case with yours, putting the right hand down will also lower (flatten) the pitch.
Hope this helps!
Balance.
Stand (or sit) upright, lift your head, hold the whistle in a 45 degree angle from your body. Most beginners tend to hold it almost parallel to their body, and lower their head to blow into it. If you can’t balance the whistle on your thumbs, hold it a bit higher.
This might not work with low whistles for geometric or weight reasons. Susato sells clip-on thumbrests for these. (I haven’t played a low whistle yet, but I can play tenor recorders without thumbrest which should have roughly the same size, but this may or may not comparable to whistles.)
cheers,
Sonja
Ridseard’s fourth example of how to finger a C# (aka janice’s saying to keep the fingers of your right hand down) is what works for me.
~Larry
I’ve got a howard low D and when I have to play C# I do it by kind of half holing the last two holes ( OOOODD ), the last two holes are fingered loosely just to keep the whistle stable and to have my fingers close to the position they need to be to play a D
The whistle is in your mouth.
Two thumbs are down.
Then put your lower hand pinky down
on the barrel
or put your lower hand ring finger
down on the low hole.
Generally it’s a good idea
to steady the whistle with
that lower pinky when
your other right hand
fingers are off the holes.
Or steady it with the
lower hand ring finger
on the low hole.
This leaves the other
fingers freer to do
their work. Best
Having the ring finger on the last hole for C# gives your right hand a reference point for putting those fingers back down accurately. I also have it down for the B because if i have to do a cut, then the finger is still on it.
My whistles are light. I could probably let go and it wouldn’t go anywhere.
(after all it is in my mouth not in front)
Really though I usually have two thumbs and a ring finger down
That upper thumb is useless though… look at playing a recorder. I mean r#c$r&d*r… Usually the mouth and the lower thumb are enough, perfect balance, graviational pull, theta the angle between the level gound and your whistle… etc etc (and don’t forget friction! Where would we be with out friction? We certainly wouldn’t get too many places, and life wouldn’t be as pleasurable…) all contribute to the stability of the whistle…
Unless you are dancing I see no problems. And serious whistle players don’t dance. Or smile…
Nico " Too much Electric Circuits " Moreno
I am likely to play C# with oooxxb (b=half hole) in order to get quickly ready for D#/Eb.