MTGuru Low D Thumb Strap

[pancelticpiper]

sorry to rain on the parade here folks, but this "solution" really seems a bit silly to me. yes, it can be a bit awkward to hold the low whistle, but it strikes that old fashioned practice and trial & error should do the trick.

Unfortunately, no amount of practice and trial & error can overcome the laws of physics: whistles have mass, our planet has gravity, and if the whistle is smooth there's nothing to hold it up but lateral pressure from the digits. Lateral pressure from the digits equals tension, and tension in the hands is the enemy of facility. It's the reason that "legit" musicians have things like thumb rests and neck straps.

Coming from piping as I do, it's strange to have to support something's weight in the hands. (The uilleann pipe chanter rests on the leg, and the Highland pipe chanter is suspended from the bag; on both instruments the fingers can stay completely relaxed.)

I've switched now from the Burke Pro Viper to the MK Low D, and for some odd reason the MK feels OK without a neckstrap, thought it's even more smooth in finish than the Burke (like glass actually).

[Reyburnwhistles]

MT your strap idea looks like a workable solution but here's an idea that requires no straps or anything. For some reason very few people consider the idea of using the pinkie to cover the 6th hole. If one uses the bottom hand ring finger and thumb to hold the instrument and then uses the pinkie to cover the 6th hole the hand actually can relax and move with ease. This approach will allow people with small hands to play a low D where it might be impossible to do so using the standard approach. I find that the pinkie works very well to do this job and moves as fast as the ring finger with a bit of training (a day or two). This is the approach I suggest with my off-set hole pattern.

This approach can be used with the finger tips or with the pipers grip and by having an anchor (the bottom hand ring finger) there is an excellent reference as to where the other holes are. And when one knows exactly where the holes are there is far less chance of miss hitting a note.

We were given 10 fingers... why not use em all?

Ronaldo

[MTGuru]

MT your strap idea looks like a workable solution but here's an idea that requires no straps or anything. For some reason very few people consider the idea of using the pinkie to cover the 6th hole.

Hi Ronaldo ... Actually, I've posted before at some length about using the pinkie as an alternative to piper's grip. I'll see if I can dig up the old posts.

[hoopy mike]

Hi Ronaldo ... Actually, I've posted before at some length about using the pinkie as an alternative to piper's grip. I'll see if I can dig up the old posts.

Wasn't there a thread on getting someone else to hold the whistle for you too?

[Reyburnwhistles]

Hi MT, I'm not talking about an alternative to pipers grip.... I'm including the pipers grip with the use of the pinkie.
Does anyone do that?

[MTGuru]

Well, what I mean by piper's grip on whistle involves, by my definition, the pad of the B3 finger on the bottom hole. So anything else is an alternative, including substituting the pinkie.

Just to be clear, the solution the strap addresses is not just small hands or a physical limitation, but simply eliminating the need or desire to anchor and support the whistle for whatever reason. Using the ring finger to anchor between holes B2 and B3 is just another way to anchor. And a strap can be used with whatever fingering configuration you choose.

Of course, if you can get Hoopy Mike to hold your whistle while dressed as Isambard Brunel or a banana, that's my recommendation!

[pancelticpiper]

Yes for sure if you take you lower hand in its relaxed normal state and place it across the bottom three holes on a typcial Low D whistle the index and middle finger will lie on the top two and the "pinkie" will lie on Hole 6. Then the ring finger can be a full-time anchor finger. I might guess if the Low D was an ancient instrument and smaller whistles had never existed that's how Low D's would all be played. As it is, people are nearly always coming to the Low D from smaller whistles, or flutes, or whatever and they tend to keep the same finger usage.

I myself have never found the finger reach on the lower hand of Low D's to be uncomfortable.

In any case, no matter which digits are used as anchors, they are still supporting the whistle's weight with pressure/tension.

I've only had this issue with the Burke for some reason, and with the Burke only when I'm playing for long periods at a session. At the two or three hour mark the buildup in tension starts getting to my hands. Not so with a strap.

[Mack.Hoover]

That reminded me of a whistle I did for a handicapped player years ago; so I looked through my archives and found pictures. I have them uploaded to my website.
http://www.mackhooverwhistles.com/whistlepictures.html

I think it was somewhat of a success. It coincided with an event that made it possible for me to have a non-handicapped player test the whistle part, but of course the support device wasn't needed and thus not tested.
Mack

[Feadoggie]

It coincided with an event that made it possible for me to have a non-handicapped player test the whistle part, but of course the support device wasn't needed and thus not tested.

Indeed!