Getting a good C natural on a Sindt...advice?

[Trixle]

As a near beginner (6 months in) is there any advice for getting a c natural on a sindt? I've read half holing, but am unsure as to which half of the hole is more effective to uncover (6months) is it uncover from bottom to top or from right to left, or does it not matter as far as speed of getting in and out of the note after learned?

[scheky]

Think of it this way...


/o

Your finger lifts up in an angle to open 1/2 the hole. It's also used for when you wish to slide a note, so a decent skill to learn.

[Bloomfield]

1. Half-hole
2. use oxxooo or oxxxox and underblow (blow softly) - not a great, but passable c-nat.
3. Replace the tube with a feadog brass tube. This involves a bit of effort but you'll have a good oxxxox c-nat afterwards.
4. Don't worry about it until you are a better player.

[dyersituations]

On the Sindt I had, you couldn't get a consistent cross-fingered C-natural.

I've read that half-holing is the only way to go for the Sindt.

I don't half-hole...

[Trixle]

Thanks for the quick responses. I think i'm going to go with bloomfields suggestion 1 and then if that doesnt work try 4, then 2, then maybe 3 as a last resort.

[CranberryDog]

Here's a link for keyless flute which is the same for whistle:
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/keyless.html

[straycat82]

Sindts are designed to half-hole Cnat. If that is a skill that you want to acquire then work for it. If you want to learn the cross-fingerings then swap your Sindt tube out for a Feadog tube (I did and was pleased w/results).
I think you should make this decision pretty early on in your playing. If you decide to do cross-fingering and then want to switch to half-holing later (or visa-versa) it will be a difficult transition.

[Trixle]

Thanks for the feedback, i now have a strategy to work that c natural out

[brewerpaul]

Half holing is really not hard to do once you practice and you can use the same skill to get a good F nat, G#, etc. Well worth learning

[Key_of_D]

Half holing is really not hard to do once you practice and you can use the same skill to get a good F nat, G#, etc. Well worth learning

I believe what Straycat was referring to (do correct me if I'm wrong Johnny) was When you decide to learn this technique, and I happen to agree with him from my own personal experience. Learning from the get-go to do something one way, is a lot easier then if you decide to change your mind down the road after a good while of learning and doing it another way.. The more different, the more challenging; that's just human nature. I'm not saying, and I don't believe Straycat was saying either, that it's impossible to learn half-holing. I guess it depends on your dexterity... Learning from the fresh get-go is the way to go I'm saying... Yes, you'll still have your work cut out, (and the more or less depending on your learning curve of course) but it'll be easier then changing your mind down the road after you've already made progress with the other technique for some time. Unless you're just truly gifted I guess.

For instance, I use up to 4 different fingerings for C natural, each have there use in difference circumstances, however I only use half-holing Sometimes, for slow airs and I mostly use the oxxxox fingering just fine for everything else. However, if it's a fast/tricky fingering passage, I may use oxxooo or oxxxoo, it all depends, but for me, I've played too long using the cross-fingerings for C nat, and I'm not even the slightest bit arsed at learning to use half-holing for the dance music, (which is mostly what ITM is) simply because it'd be too confusing on the ol' brain as it such a different technique when rolling along at speed. Too much re-learning, and I'm too far into how I play now to change an aspect so important as that.

If you're planning to learn the uilleann pipes, I'd suggest learning oxxxox, it'll come in handy when you jump to the pipes, at least it did for me. But make sure that fingering works with your whistle, you may have to blow a bit harder or softer for it to ring out true. There's a lot of variables I think that can dictate what fingering to use, and when to use it.

Like you said Paul, half-holing is a great technique for other notes as well, and I'm not disputing that... F-natural being a big one for me, D-sharp and G-sharp coming second (I seem to use both of those notes about the same so), and rarely a B-flat for 3rd place. For all the players who can play C natural's by half-holing at the speed of light, Merry Christmas to ya.

-Eric

[Trixle]

Thanks for the advice. I figure i'll take a while to get used to the underblowing pressure needed to cross finger a c natural and also try to learn to half hole for the sake of learning to half hole. I took up the whistle and want to learn as much as i can about it and how to play it. I've until now avoided half holing because it seems on the surface difficult, but why not learn all i can about the whistle.

If in the end, after half holing and underblowing i learn more about breath control and how to half hole, i'll be a better whistler no matter what style i ultimately choose to adopt, so why not?

[twistedfingers]

As far as how to half hole goes, I went to one of Joanie Madden's workshops last year, who told us that she half holes by straightening the finger and rotating the whistle slightly clockwise with the thumb to uncover the hole (gee, I hope I heard that right ) certainly works for me on high whistles and it has even stopped me cross fingering completely now!

Hope that makes sense

[scheky]

That's what I posted in my first response....if you look at it in ascii as /o that's nearly what you are doing.

Since I got my Sindt, I stopped cross fingering and have moved toward half hole. It only took about a week to start to become natural enough that I'm doing it about 90% of the time now.

[Trixle]

As far as how to half hole goes, I went to one of Joanie Madden's workshops last year, who told us that she half holes by straightening the finger and rotating the whistle slightly clockwise with the thumb to uncover the hole (gee, I hope I heard that right ) certainly works for me on high whistles and it has even stopped me cross fingering completely now!

Hope that makes sense

That made totally no sense at first, but then i tried it and now i get what you're saying

[Bloomfield]

Just as a reality check: The other option is to play your Sindt with oxxooo or oxxxox and not worry about the tuning of the c-nat too much in dance tunes. Works fine for many whistlers.