I’ve appreciated a the advice that I’ve read here. A lot of it is along the vein of ‘Listen to the music’, or ‘Have fun’ which is all well and good, but occasionally there is a little gem that you learn that really moves things along.
Let’s share some of these concrete tips.
For me, I improved dramatically in speed and execution when someone pointed out that overblowing for a high D xxxxxx is usually preferable to the tutorial recommendation of oxxxxx. Unless there is a C# or C, I have no cause to move that finger at all.
What gave you that ‘quantum leap’ in speed and accuracy?
\
Tyghress
…And I go on, pursuing through the hours,
Another tiger, the one not found in verse.
Jorge Luis Borges
[ This Message was edited by: tyghress on 2001-09-21 09:31 ]
Sorry,only funnin’…pleased to know others play and enjoy the sound of xxxxxx as opposed to oxxxxx.A friend of mine insists the tutorial fingering is superior but I reckon the other is much sweeter as well as being easier to play quick passages.My quantam leap was the result of modifying the thumb rest on my Susato low D.I removed the post and adhered a strip of velcro in its place which I wrap around my right thumb to aid supporting the whistle when all fingers are off the tube…my playing improved imediately and gave relief to my thumb which was painful at the time and I still like using it and recommend it to other athritis sufferers. Mike
For me, it was discovering the Tao of ‘Thou Shalt Not Raise Thy Fingers Unless Necessary’ (e.g. index finger of RH). I stumbled across this naturally but received positive feedback on the idea when another poster (was it StevieJ?) vindicated my use of the technique. Sadly, it doesn’t work with all whistles…I can blaze on my Copeland D but pitches are dramatically affected on my Cocus C Weasel.
There’s a passage that occurs a lot : dBAF#D. One of my “quantum leaps” was learning to finger the BAF#D keeping my right 1st finger (home #4) down. Another tip that helped me is for runs using various combinations of A c# e. The trick is to play c# with the first 2 right fingers (4th and 5th hole) down.
Some dance tunes don’t use the note G at all, so for the case like, “George White’s Favourite”, I leave my finger on the F hole (first right finger) throughout the tune. I suppose it makes playing it the tune more convenient and it doesn’t affect the note tone much. (as far as my ears can tell)
I’ve enjoyed reading this thread, because I’ve always liked discovering lazy ways of fingering. A favourite example of mine is Drowsy Maggie: you can play the first 1½ bars with fingers 1, 4 and 5 left down the entire time.
On 2001-09-21 23:20, Eldarion wrote:
Some dance tunes don’t use the note G at all, so for the case like, “George White’s Favourite”, I leave my finger on the F hole (first right finger) throughout the tune.
Eldarion, are you playing the tune in A? Quite feasible on the whistle, actually, but it’s normally played in G. In which case it’s F# that is missing, not G. Just curious. If you’re playing in A I’d say that was pretty original.
Mind you playing G tunes in A is fun. Especially if you’re a fiddle player. For whistlers, tunes that have no seventh (F#) lend themselves well to this. If you’ve never experimented with this trick, good tunes to try it on are Out on the Ocean or The Foxhunter’s Reel, which are commonly played in A in many sessions.
For me, using xxxxxx instead of oxxxxx for the second octave D, or second octave of the bell tone for a non-d whistle, depends on the pitch. I have a Chieftain Gold Mezzo-Soprano A where the oxxxxx is off pitch while the xxxxxx is right on. While most of my other whistles xxxxxx is off pitch and oxxxxx is true. On speedy tunes the variation is hardly noticable as I slide into or out of the note. On slow tunes it sticks out, especially if I’m playing with someone who’s in tune. My solution is to adjust my fingering for the whistle and the tune. Since most of my whistle sound better with oxxxxx, I tend to use that first.
Like a couple of others have mentioned, I also tend to leave some of my right hand fingers down to keep the whistle stable.
The idea with the velcro thumb loop is interesting, I’ll have to experiment with that. It reminds me of trumpets that have a loop for the small finger to keep the trumpet and hand position stable. I wonder if instead of doing it for my thumb, it might work equally well with the little finger of my right hand. Maybe a combination of both would further relax and standardize my grip on the whistle giving me greater control of finger placement. I wonder what it would take to attach rings under the whistle opposite and between the third and fourth hole and another ring on top of the whistle where the little finger rests.
Of course, such a whistle would be awfully tempting to twirl at stops ;o)
I must be some kind of throwback I prefer to do things the hard way. Back when I was learning to play the whistle, I might sometimes use fingering shortcuts..but I’d always felt like I was “cheating”…so I always practiced those hard passages until I could play them “correctly”. I use both XXXXXX and OXXXXX for high D, depending on the flow of the tune…I don’t think either one is ‘cheating’, and depending on the tune, one fingering may flow more smoothly into the next note than the other.
Then again, I’ve been blessed with very nimble fingers..I’ve been certified to type at like 100wpm, and have a burst speed of 137wpm. And Lee’s seen me play Ger the Rigger faster than my bodhran friend could keep up
Lee,If you like the thumb support idea and do not have the susato thumb rest that I have modified you could try fixing an oversized guitar thumbpick to the underside of your whistle with double sided tape…the susato rest is best though 'cause it’s movable and easily clips on and off and looks pretty nice if you use black velcro. Mike
Hey Mike. I’m micing my keyboard even as I type this message, so you can hear it. I have a soft-touch keyboard that doesn’t click very loud, so it’s kinda quiet on the recording, I had to boost the volume 500%. My finger dexterity’s probably the second-greatest asset I’ve had when it comes to whistle playing–the first, a near-maniacal obsession to excel at stuff
The keyboard’s in the key of QWERTY, but I hear that you can improve your typing speed up to 20% by going to DVORAK…I think that’d probably be a little overkill.
Hey Steve, I don’t know which key I’m playing in 'cause I learnt this tune by ear. It could be G, but I distinctly remember doing F# rolls. Can’t verify this right now without my whistle. I’ll email you when I figure it out.
Mike
