The Pipers Grip (low whistle) Deep Dive
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Had a request for more info about this on Tik Tok. What? You're not following me on Tik Tok? All the cool kids are doing it.
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Anyway, some pros and cons on the piper's grip for the low whistle (or any whistle, for that matter.)
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Practicing the pipers grip actually had a noticeable effect so far as stretching my fingers. Now I can do a 6 fret stretch on guitar with my ring finger and I had been playing for like 25 years before I started with whistle and could never make the stretch before
And we all know how our mistress music likes to be fingered. SNICKERING
The tone of these whistles are simply beautiful.
I use the piper's grip even on the high D whistles. It's just the most natural way to hold it for me
I'm an advanced ney player, and I've no clue why people try to cover various flutes with finger tips.. It is so unnatural..
Thanks so much! It was really struggling with the grip and this really helps.
Love this whistle .... I love the deep tone! Thank you for this video. You're a super teacher.
Thanks for the kind words!
I have seen a number of videos on the pipers grip, but it was only your advice that let me find the right way. A big thanks, you are the best!
Cheers, glad it helped!
Thank you. I tried what you suggested and it worked. Yeah!!!!! I was trying to do it another way with each hole on a different section of each finger and my hands really hurt. My thumb joint has some arithritis
Thankyou so much!
Spot on. I have short fingers, wide palms and my index fingers are significantly shorter than my ring fingers. It's all personal. So I move my hands around and it's a very comfortable feel on a low D whistle. It is also the only way I can get the touch I need to slur, bend and otherwise dress up my playing. On the high D, I plan conventionally and that's OK - I just can't get as much of a rich and individual sound is all.
Great tutorial as usual Sean. P.S. I never knew you played bagpipes / chanter. I'd love to hear you do a tune on the pipes.
No you wouldn't! :)
So if i get to some level in the high whistle, i gonna play less good when i start on the low whistle?
If im not control very well on the high whistle, i better not start with a low whistle?
Your technique is definitely the best I've encountered. Still struggling though. When i relax my fingering too much, i can't make the grip, too tight i can make it, but sore and no consistency. Any advice please and thank you
I bought my first high tin whistle about half a year ago and your videos really helped me, especially the ones on ornaments! I was wondering, do you have any suggestions for more quiet whistles? (That are not overly expensive) I'm currently playing a simple clarke sweetone and although I love the clear sound, its pretty loud and I don't want to terrorize my neighbours all the time when practicing... Thanks again for making awesome videos!
I've never run across a whistle that I'd say is quiet - other than perhaps the nearly unplayable OG Clarke. That said, I've not found whistles to be particularly *louder* than other instruments - at least on a decibel level - but if what you're concerned about is *shrillness* then going with a lower whistle like in the Bb-F range will definitely be an improvement, they're way more mellow-sounding to my ear at least!
Hello! I love your videos. Would you PLEASE PLEASE do a similar video for holding the Irish flute? I struggle so much with that and it's been 2 years since I started playing the flute.
Thanks for the kind words! I did a beginners guide to the flute that covers some of that, check that out and see if it helps ua-cam.com/video/4RZY0bY1_jE/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for this clear and helpful video, and all of your tutorials. Can you please say more about the beautiful tune you were playing in the beginning of the video?
Thanks for the kind words! That's a tune called Be Thou My Vision and I did a video on it a while back, feel free to check that out if you want: ua-cam.com/video/wPiBWFCrTAQ/v-deo.html
Thanks for adding the link. This really shows how ornamentation can add so much emotion and feeling to an already beautiful melody, especially in a lower key. You made my day!
Thanks for this Sean! I find I get a cramp in between my thumb and pointer finger after a little bit of trying. Is that something where practice would stretch the muscle and it will be fine?
Good point - there may/will be some stretching depending on your hands now for sure. And finding that line between exercise-like cramps from normal playing and actual pain from a bad position can be tough - if it's a cramp just from the unusual stretch that's probably ok.
I have big hands. I play a Cheiftain V5 low D, I find the finger stretch easy. I have relatively thin fingers and really struggle with the pipers grip, to cover the holes. Of course I don't insert my finger tips into the holes, (who does). Finger pads, as in the flute grip works just fine for me. I am however almost bombarded by the keep trying, pipers grip, you'll get there crowd. I've played for years and I guess I'm quite good. I do sometimes try the pipers grip on tune wil a lot of rolls or ornamentation and it gets me through some technical issues but I always go back to flute grip.
Yep, different strokes for different folks fo sho
Whatisthatsong?itsthebest!
I'm struggling with this but then again I've only it it two days I'm impatient, low d whistle is a bigger gap than I've expected
The problem I’ve allways had with the lowwhistle, is to reach the bottom hole with the ring-finger, so I just use my pinky on the bottom hole. I know a lot of people will say “that’s wrong!!”. But it works for me.
Ahh great point, I actually meant to mention this - there's loads of folks who use their pinky instead, it really just mimics uilleann pipe fingering that way. Nothing wrong with it at all.
Great video what is the name of the whistle at the start and what key thanks
That's a Cillian O'Brien low D whistle
I have been wanting to learn fife. I would eventually like to do reenacting. Do you know anything about this?
I've played a few fifes over the years, and while the physics are the same as the flute I would bet that the styles are significantly different. I'm no expert on reenactment-type music though!
@@whistletutor well, apparently reenacting musicians stopped at geocities as far as tech.
Tried and tried the pipers grip and it just doesnt work for me. I cant get the holes to seal so all I get is squealing, plus I just prefer the tactile feel of using the fingertips. I ended up making my own low whistles and I put the holes in positions where my fingertips naturally fall, which means some holes are off to one side like they are on a recorder. I have a G and an F which play fantastic like this. I also made a D which I can play but the finger stretch is uncomfortable so I dont use it all that much.
That's a skill that I wish I had!
What is the name of the piece you were playing at the beginning of this video? Or were you just noodling around?
Ahh, that's Be Thou My Vision, an Irish melody that became a hymn at some point
@@whistletutor Thank you
Lifebreathmusicrules!
Sean I love the haunting tone which a low whistle can produce, so I bought one, sadly my small hands were never going to stretch, no matter how many advised "keep stretching",
so I sold it and bought a Chieftain low G, better, it took a lot of work to begin to feel I can play this, your breathing really has to be well practised and controlled, in the end after I put it aside for a week, I found that | had lost the control gained it was so much easier to play the Killarney brass d. I did have one more go at a larger whistle a dixon A whistle, which I think that you were playing,, it sits in a drawer, I really have never liked the whole whistle.
The conclusion from the above is that if like me you are a 5'4" midget with small hands then perhaps a Low whistle is not the best choice, but if you are not, then I would say that playing the soulful music of a Low d would be a grand choice.
keep up the good work Sean
In all honesty the only time I break out my low D is when I'm doing UA-cam videos about it :) If I'm playing in those keys at that octave range I'm playing flute instead
👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿
There's the practice chanter!
Dear Sean why don't you try pipers grip for flute like McGoldrick?
Tried it, doesn't work for me - can't get good coverage. It works great for some folks though!
Sean ,after this video and my comments I was impelled to take the Low G chieftain whistle and the A Dixon out of the drawer, actually I was better on the low G than before and my wife enjoyed the quiet melodies which I played on the Chieftain, but I would need to spend a lot more time playing it to feel comfortable, still interesting, the old Dixon A, I must have bought the runt of the litter when I bought this one, I find no pleasure in the thing at all.......if I had a channel such as yours, it would be a giveaway !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
another point of interest I have acquired a selection of d whistles generation or otherwise
most are pretty awful, yesterday hidden away I found a Walton's d and hey ,it is actually quite good also a generation eb, sweet as a nut , but two out of ten is not a good set of odds, my Killarney tops everything!, take care.
Could you do a creative and improvisional video,and make it up as you go? I'd like to see what you can do. And, you are one of my idols.
You mean making up a tune on the fly? I'm not sure how that would go as I don't tend to write too much. I've toyed with the idea of setting up cameras/mics during a rehearsal because that's kinda my bread-and-butter: arrangement. Thanks for the kind words too!
@@whistletutor thankyou for your reply.u r so cool.i think that whistles are the most magickal and spiritual of All instruments, in part because we play them with our lifebreath.lifebreath music rules.i know U are a busy person,so thankyou for taking the time to reply.to be messages by someone teaching everyone around the globe is cool.have you seen the 'mario kart love song? By Sam Hart .it's so beautiful.i have begun on a Howard low d, that I bought for 100 dollars. I have made a few comments here and there, around the whistling world, enquiring a low whistle cleaning kit being made available. all I have encountered is people saying"this is how 'i' clean my whistle.". I am now learning the Braveheart and Zelda theme songs.i took my low d up the hill, with a plastic chair, and experimented .I have done that on my Yamaha acoustic guitar, and the guitar was nothing compared to magickal feeling of my low whistle. For me, guitar is just not as spiritual or magickal. I am going to play 'braveheart" by the grave of my grandmother, who was a very brave spirit.and, alone in the forest, and at the war memorial, for the soldiers that fought. I am 41 now , and I only found out that my grand father Cyril George Ryan(saving Private Ryan!) Was imprisoned by the Japanese in the war .I will play many a whistle song for him. Years ago, I almost lost the tip of my right index finger, by attempting to be a knifefighting legend. It it is numb from a damaged nerve .I bought a Clark high d on a whim, and was disheartened to find I could not feel the borehole. But to my delight, and uplift, when I held my low whistle, the larger holes, and the piper's grip, allowed me to use the second pad of my injured finger, which has fullfeeling! Maybe this happened by divine plan, to take me off guitar, and get me playing the more magickal instrument, which is low whistle.i'm just glad with life and the universe, for giving me low whistle, which one day I will play magickal music on, right from the next world . Also, I left a message on the Ukraine massacre,. Where I said' it is Putin that is dragging out the war, not Ukraine or the west'. Some monsters were cheering for Russia. My comment was "go Russia! Go Russia! Go to hell where God will send you, and burn forever.' . I also added. "if the people of Russia are any good, they will support the innocent civilians of Ukraine.where's the petition, U pricks'. I added this on the hope it may make more of us aware of the attitudes around .back to whistling.i have also commented here and there, that god ought to have made me with longer pinky fingers, so I could have held my low d more easily. I already love low whistle deeply, and have only just begun! . I have met and heard of many people who, for whatever reason(disabled in some way,etc) will never be able to play low d whistle.tragic, as expression of self is so desperately needed in this magickal life. Just deeply glad I have low whistle.
I wish my little fingers were longer! No holding problems, then .
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I got a question for ya. How come I can find a standard D whistle for 10 euro at a music store, but as soon as I want any lower whistle they are like 2-300 euros and no music store have them. IF ITS 10 % BIGGER IN SIZE WHY IS THE PRICE LIKE 200 % HIGHER AND SUDDENLY HARD TO GET??
It isn't. Low whiles in volume are around 4-5 times larger than high whistles of the same key. They are only one octave lower but they are around the size of a concert flute. The walls of cheap high whistles are almost paper thin and often poorly mass produced. High end Low Whistles are frequently hand made or at least hand finished and are nearly tone perfect. I'm afraid you get what you pay for. There are quality high whistles that retail for over £100.
You can find Generation whistles in lower keys (the Bb for example is lovely) and I'm pretty sure they're the same price as the D whistle. If you're looking at a handmade instrument then you're looking in the $80-$150 range for something good in lower keys.
If you want inexpensive whistles in lower keys then Chris Wall is a great option however, since they’re so inexpensive they’re in higher demand meaning you’re sacrificing time for a lower price. Part of the reason most makers do increase their prices a bit is to decrease the amount of orders so everyone can get their whistles without waiting up to a year.
Appears you have a Danish microphone cap
*Australian - and in fact the whole mic is Australian :)
I once saw a guy call the low whistle a "flute" because it's bigger. what a derp. yu wanna know how to make a tin whistle into a flute? TAKE OFF THE MOUTHPIECE!
I have a tony dixon low d. It has both foot joints. One whistle one blown(flute). I have a coda edc. It is more like an ocarina but it is called a flute. I use flute and tinwhistle interchangeably.
The old Germanic word hwistlian meaning to whistle was used to name front blown block flutes by the Germanic tribes in the dark ages whereas flaute comes from old French Latin. Germanic flutes were often front blown and French flutes were side or transverse blown. In modern English they simply take there names from the lexicon of tribe of origin. Whistles are members of the flute family.
Fingers crossed that his choice of words did not prevent anyone from carrying on living their lives.