While whistling, of course.
I find that I flap mine around wildly- on a D whistle, when I’m playing D or E it’s up, but for all the other notes it’s down (helping me support the whistle). This makes fast tunes that have a lot of switching between Ds and Es and everything else rather tough to play.
My question is: is there an official ‘correct’ way to keep your pinky while playing? I tried playing with it down the whole time, and it was rather uncomfortable, but I guess I could get used to it.
I always keep mine up, because if it’s down then my hands get confused and start playing in recorder fingering. 
Scottish bagpipe players keep it behind the pipe when not in use, not sure about whistle though, guess you could do the same thing
When I was rather newer at the whistle, I found that when I worried about where my pinkie went, my playing ability went out the window..so I just stopped worrying about it, and let it go wherever it wanted to 
Same thing about dropping my pinkie to play an all-open-holed note…when I thought about my pinkie, it was always a disaster, but when I let it drop naturally, I seemed to be OK.
I’m sure that my story is not very helpful to you though
Greg
One of my whistle teachers stressed playing with my pinkie down to make my hold on the whistle more stable. The exception to this was when I was playing an E roll. If you play with more/less closed fingerings (or as much as possible on the whistle), I would guess you wouldn’t need the pinkie support though. -brett
I always hold my right pinky down and it doesn’t get in the way. I also don’t seem to think about it. Interestingly enough, I asked this same question to another board member about a year ago.
I get amazed at the experts out there. Put it wherever you like. Mary Bergin puts her hands in the reverse of what is usually taught (right lower, left upper). So who is going to go to Mary and say “Hey, get those hands in the reverse position like everyone else”. Put it where you like. The KEY is to enjoy the music that you make, which has nothing to do with pinky placement.
Best regards,
Bob Pegritz
Bob,
your comments are usually more constructive than this and not sure what Mary Bergin playing left handed has do with anything.Finger placement is important on any instrument and moreso on tin whistle and every individual may have important reasons for his or her pinky placement.I doubt that the advocate of a 15 minute daily practice schedule would have no opinion on this matter…what do you do with your pinky if I may be so bold to ask? Mike
Poppin’,
My pinky remains on the whisle most of the time as I feel it aids in stability and compliments the ergonomics of the piper grip.Peace, Mike
On 2001-11-04 10:33, mike.r wrote:
Bob,
your comments are usually more constructive than this and not sure what Mary Bergin playing left handed has do with anything.Finger placement is important on any instrument and moreso on tin whistle and every individual may have important reasons for his or her pinky placement.I doubt that the advocate of a 15 minute daily practice schedule would have no opinion on this matter…what do you do with your pinky if I may be so bold to ask? Mike
The point your man was making, when asked for the ‘official correct way’ was offcourse that by the end of the day it is not that important where the pinky goes. All things are relative and work differentl;y for different persons. Offcourse most instrumentalists make a point of where the fingers go but these rules usually apply to the fingers that have a function in playing.
For the record, I am a piper and used to keeping pinky down and do so on the whistle, this aids stability though I don’t think I’d drop the whistle if I’d keep it in the air like a civilised tea drinker.
Also for the record: My neighbour Brid Donohue, possibly even a nicer player than Mary Bergin (I think so anyway) has the hands reversed as well. Do we spot a pattern there or is it coincidence? I could add to that, that Willie Clancy, maybe greater even as a whistleplayer than anybody, did the same. Oh Dear.
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2001-11-04 11:45 ]
Read the post just before this one by Peter. And for Mike R., take your anal retentive comments and save them for someone who cares. I feel it a waste of time to say this, since Mike R. will no doubt take issue with anything I say, is that it doesn’t matter where you put what. What I was saying about Mary Bergin is that it obviously doesn’t matter where you place your entire frigging HAND, let alone your finger. If you play and play to your own satisfaction, you can play the whistle with your goddam toes if you like. Bottom line? Who cares!!! Do what you like, and if you’re good at it, do it. I’m sorry about this rant, Mike, but you kinda make me a bit ashamed that my ancestors lived right down the road in Villach in the same country in which you reside. For God’s sake, man, lighten up. OK, you hit me at a bad time, but I retract nothing. Write posts on things that matter…construction, tone, gigs, tunes, the WEATHER. But where you place a finger that doesn’t even cover a hole? WHO CARES. And that guy that is posting all the pictures of himself? Ignore the eejit. Tell him to go out and try to find a bigger mirror. I’m done.
Bob
No need to feel ashamed,I’m Australian not Austrian and my post was not intended to offend you, however, you have deeply offended me …you must be very pleased with yourself. Mike
Ok, ok. Take it outside.
Dale
Aww darn Dale,
You busted this up just as things were getting good!
Yeah, when people start fighting about pinkies it’s time to start knocking heads together.
Dale
I had pinky pain when I started playing
whistle so I ended up doing something
completely different.
I play with the ring finger of my right
hand down over the bottom hole when I’m
playing G or above. It takes some getting
used to, but it makes the whistle stable,
and it simplifies fingering. This is
actually taught in some instruction
books. My pinky does what it wants,
which is usually to follow the ring
finger without touching the whistle.
Grey Larsen, in one of his workshops,
advised us to keep the pinky down as
much as possible, so that the fingers
which close the holes are free to
do just that–the task of supporting
the whistle being done by other
fingers. It’s a good idea, I think,
but I find it unnecessary…
What Jim suggests works really well for playing whistle. I would however suggest you learn to keep the pinky down if you think you’re eventually going to want to play the keyless flute. I’m having a hell of a time getting comfortable keeping my pinky down on the flute (for stability) now that I’ve spent a couple of years using the method Jim describes.
Others might have a different experience…
Loren
Yes, my experience was different. I came to the whistle from the opposite direction, fife first, pennywhistle after about 10 years. With the fife, and the flute I suspect, having the pinky down is not an option because you don’t have part of the instrument in your mouth to help stabilize it. I had to learn to keep my lowest finger up in order to play crans, cuts, and the like, on the lower holes. For some reason, I have a very tough time of it with the little finger down. I picked up the trick watching Paddy Moloney play his whistle on a Chieftans special.
Clearly this is a matter of individual preference. If it works, do it; if not, don’t.
Alright, I didn’t expect a jillion replies, but thanks for your help. I guess I’ll just keep flapping the ole’ pinky wildly. It looks cool… kind of.
To that hostile dude: learning an instrument (among other things) is based on repetition of action- training your muscles, in other words. Muscles tend to be stubborn fellows, which is why it takes a lot of work to both train and untrain them. Since the tinwhistle has been around, say, hundreds of years, there are some people that know more about the instrument than me. Sure, I could become a great toe whistler, but I care more about my playing proficiency than novelty value. If I can stop a detrimental habit before it’s completely programmed into my fingers, I’d like to do that.
For example: I learned to play barre chords on guitar incorrectly at first. I was able to use my incorrect chords for most rock, but when it came to more complex and faster stuff, I had to relearn the chords completely (not pleasent).
My friend sings in a band- he just started taking vocal lessons to increase his range. Though his current style works great, if he wants a better range, he’s going to have to “unteach” his current singing style and relearn the correct way.
I don’t want to spell it out too much and sound patronizing, hope you get the point.