Cross fingering

[Bob the Whistler]

It truly amazes me to see the number of ways that you can coax out the "odd" notes from a standard whistle.

One time in Spiddal, I was talking with Mary Bergin and I was showing her this "marvelous" cross fingering technique that I learned. She looked at my fingers and said "Bob, there are NO frets on a violin, are there?"

Point taken. Point learned.

[crookedtune]

OK, I'll bite. What was her point? To use slides/half-holing?

[Guinness]

What was her point?

She uses quarter tones. No wonder why it's so hard to mimic her!

[Feadoggie]

"Bob, there are NO frets on a violin, are there?"

But then again...

http://www.frettedfiddle.com/

I've had the occaision to play a couple of fretted fiddles over the years. They do exist.

Feadoggie

[talasiga]

"Bob, there are NO frets on a violin, are there?"

Whistle without a bow ......

[Bob the Whistler]

OK, I know I'm among the more intelligent whistle players so here's the answers. Mary meant half-holes instead of cross-fingering. And yes, I have heard of fretted fiddles too, but if you wish to hammer this into the ground, take it up with Ms. Bergin. She's going to be up in the Catskills in a week or so.

Cheers,

[talasiga]

I know exactly what Mary meant. (And I am a rather unintelligent fellow). Its what umpteen Indian bansuri teachers will sort of dogmatise about in learning the bansuri. Cross fingering is frowned upon.

It is true that a fiddle has no frets but your whistle has SIX of them. Its them 6 there TONEHOLES. That means, you have a CHOICE. Sometimes you may wish to cross finger and sometimes you may wish to slide. It depends on what the music and your sensibility asks of you.

Of course cross fingering should not be at the expense of learning how to slide and appreciating microtonal effects (beyond 12 semitone distinctions). However a DOGMA about anything hinders CHOICE and the flexibilty to bend with the will o the wisp.

Perhaps you were demonstrating a cross fingering in the the context of a piece that wanted the slide. That doesn't warrant an open slather against cross fingering.

Of course if mary bergin lived within 4 hours driving distance from me I would beseech her monthly tuition on traditional irish whistle and abide by her every musical instruction. Why I would even revive my dormant percussive sleeping dog, buy a djembe and offer my services.

[Cullivan]

I used to cross-finger in faster dance tunes and half-hole in airs until John Sindt suggested that I half-hole exclusively. I find that it is generally easier to stay in tune once you've trained your fingers to get the intonation right, and you don't need to worry about different cross-fingerings for different whistles. The only qualms I have about it are that it can sometimes be difficult to avoid getting unintentional slides while playing quickly (much like it can be difficult to avoid getting "hiccough notes" with cross-fingering). The slides can be avoided by using tonguing and double-tonguing, but that more or less forces you to tongue and thereby put emphasis on beats which may not neccesarily need it.

All in all, I half-hole exclusively at this point but I acknowledge its weaknesses as well as its advantages.

[Guinness]

There are playing situations which are better suited for half-holing, others where cross fingering is desirable, and for those us who play keyed instruments (flutes), keys. A "more intelligent whistler" will exercise the appropriate option rather than blindly follow any particular dogma. Did we not just have a thread about half-holing vs cross fingering Cnat? I think the conclusion was to learn both (and not just for Cnat).

[MTGuru]

Yes, I'm never sure why some people feel compelled to make either/or choices of style and technique, when there are multiple good ways of doing things. Music is a big canvas, and the larger your palette, the more expressive colors and resources you have at your disposal.