Allow me to introduce myself...

[ScotsJim]

Hello. My name is Jim and I come from Scotland. Originally a recorder ( Lover of early music ) player, I've been playing whistles now for a good wee while. Recently 'dipped my toes' into the world of flute playing by buying a Tony Dixon Duo Whistle / Flute in the key of A. Got lots of questions re flute playing, but felt that an introduction was the polite thing to post first Further info....

1) I am on the wrong side of 50yrs old

2) I am a left handed player. ( Which is a real bugger...am I allowed to say "bugger?"...when it comes to choosing suitable instruments, especially recorders or anything with keys )

3) I own a complete set ( High D to Low D ) of Tony Dixon polymer whistles ( The nice black ones with the wee white ring on the bottom )

4 ) I was a wee bitty shy when it came to posting on here. I originally signed up in 2010 ! This is my first post !

Phew ! Anyway, introduction over. That wasn't too hard after all.

I'd be very interested to hear from any other left handed players and any tips or recommendations they re instruments suitable for same.

[MTGuru]

Hi Jim, welcome.

I am a left handed player.

Just to clarify ...

1. Are you normally left or right handed in everyday life?
2. When you play whistle, which hand is on top?

[ScotsJim]

Hi Jim, welcome.

Thank you for the welcome.

I am a left handed player.

Just to clarify ...

1. Are you normally left or right handed in everyday life?
2. When you play whistle, which hand is on top?

I am entirely left handed in everyday life except for writing. This is because when I was a child in my first years of school I used to write with both hands, but the teachers thought I should be using my right hand only to write, and I was forced to use my right hand.

When I play whistle, or any wind instrument, my right hand is on top.

[brewerpaul]

Welcome! No need to be shy here.
If you play "lefty", the whistle is a terrific instrument choice for you.

[ScotsJim]

Welcome! No need to be shy here.
If you play "lefty", the whistle is a terrific instrument choice for you.

Firstly, thanks for the welcome

Yes, I agree. The whistle is a good choice for lefties.

While I am here, a couple of question if I may ( ? )

Are bagpipes, if I thought about getting a set, ( And I have.Don't tell the wife ! ) playable left handed ?

How about uilleann pipes or small pipes, or anything like that with the underarm bellow thingy ?

[Feadoggie]

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Excuse me for suggesting this but I don't think "handedness" has anything pro or con to do with playing the whistle. It does not matter what hand you place on the top. You have to be able to use both hands with equal dexterity as far as I am concerned.

There are righties that play with the right hand on top and I have observed many lefties play with the left hand on top. It matters not one iota to the whistle or the music.

As for pipes or flutes it should not matter either until you are confronted with keys which tend to be designed and placed to be operated by one hand or the other. But I am not a "proper" piper, just a dabbler. The real pipers will be along shortly with a "proper" answer to that one.

Feadoggie

[ytliek]

I'm not a lefty so its a welcome to the whistle forum. You'll get a lot of good information hereabouts. Good choice of instrument... whistle. Keep it fun!

[Nanohedron]

Are bagpipes ... playable left handed ?

Indeed they are, but you have choices to make: play a standard set left-handed, or get "leftie" pipes with the overall configuration reversed.

Standard set played "Ciotach":



Leftie set:



I imagine that playing a standard set with reversed hands would be somewhat more awkward, but not by much. Nevertheless a word to the wise:



Just sayin'...

How about uilleann pipes or small pipes, or anything like that with the underarm bellow thingy ?

I don't know about playing standard sets leftie. Every time I've seen leftie UP players, they had leftie sets.

[BigDavy]

Hi Nanohedran

I would think that the bag, stock and a chanter with more than the C nat key would need to be configured for the handedness of the player, Everything else would be be the same for either handed use IMO.

David

PS If ScotsJim is anywhere near Glasgow, he could come along to the Glasgow Uilleann Pipers Club. The next meeting will likely be in February after Celtic Connections has finished.

[Feadoggie]

But how does having a particular dominant hand make necessary to turn a set of pipes around or have to re-tool to make left handed keys and such? All of these instruments still require the player to use both hands, arms, wrists, knees, etc.. I still do not see how it should make a difference which side or position you place the dominant hand. Surely it is just as difficult a task to learn no matter where you start.

I've taught guitar for 50 years now. (decided I am done with that this year actually). I do not see why there need be a left-handed instrument and I rarely suggest a left-handed beginner go out to buy one. Shouldn't matter.

What am I missing here? Not trying to pick an argument or anything either. It just befuddles me why, from a behavioral physiology perspective, you would have to have left handed pipes, whistles or flutes.

Feadoggie

[benhall.1]

Just sayin'...

Being, as part of my job (I'm an accountant), perforce something of a statistician/mathematician, I can never see things like this without automatically asking myself such questions as "I wonder how many left-handed people are killed every year using things made for left-handed people?"

[ScotsJim]

What am I missing here? Not trying to pick an argument or anything either. It just befuddles me why, from a behavioral physiology perspective, you would have to have left handed pipes, whistles or flutes.

Feadoggie

Firstly, thanks for the welcome Feadoggie

I initially mentioned I was left handed because of the grief it caused me in buying recorders. Many treble / alto recorders have the third hole from the fipple end down slightly off-centre to make for an easier reach. This is no good for lefties. And also, anything lower than a treble / alto, like a tenor say, would have keys on the C / D holes which make these notes unplayable for a leftie.

I am in total agreement with you regarding whistle playing. It doesn't matter whether you're a leftie or a rightie, but I've recently been attempting to play the flute, and I am limited to a keyless one. Also, I was curious about bagpipes and the like

[Nanohedron]

It just befuddles me why, from a behavioral physiology perspective, you would have to have left handed pipes, whistles or flutes.

Ease, at the very least. See the bag arm in the first pic above: it always has less reach. If the hands were reversed he wouldn't have to adopt an outward-divergent position for the chanter like that. It's doable and can even become comfortable, but it's not ergonomically intuitive. Add keys and blowing edges, and there you go with flutes. The importance of key placement aside, you can play a righthanded UP set with switched hands, but if you want to play regs you will have to keep your right hand (it's the bellows arm either way, left pipes or right) lowermost for best access - the only really sensible access, really.

Am I getting your drift?

[ScotsJim]

PS If ScotsJim is anywhere near Glasgow, he could come along to the Glasgow Uilleann Pipers Club. The next meeting will likely be in February after Celtic Connections has finished.

Many thanks David, but, alas ! Although originally from Greenock, a quaint little fishing village on the Clyde, ( Sssh! ) I now live in Bucks for my sins, having married ( as my Aunt so eloquently put it, "the auld enemy! ) an English lass. Otherwise I'd have came along for a look see

[Mr.Gumby]

But how does having a particular dominant hand make necessary to turn a set of pipes around

There's the issue of regulator playing..

I am limited to a keyless one

Flutemakers will make you left handed models. That aside, I could think of a number of very fine lefthanded fluteplayers who play right handed keyed flutes as if they flute was left handed.