My Overton Low D just arrived........ aaaaah! what a lovely sound it has! I'm in for a real treat. BUT.... I think I'm doing something wrong with the pipers grip. I'm following the Chip and Fipple grip instructions, and trying to relax as much as possible, but I'm not able to keep the holes covered consistently. I have long, thin fingers which probably isn't helping..... if I keep my elbows out it seems to work better as it forces my fingers to stay more perpendicular to the pipe.... but that's going to wear me out over time. For us long-thin-fingered folks is there a better approach to take for the grip?
emm..If your piper grip includes using the Middle parts of yer fingers, you are along the right lines. try twisting it to one side and arching your left hand(assuming u are right handed) as a flute player would, whilst using "Pipers technique" for the Low notes. This is how I play in any case
arching as in let you fingers fall on the holes having been arched in a kinda triangle shape..quite hard to put into words.U probably know what I mean anyway
Trucks_Mulligan..... mmmm, that's an interesting approach. So, you position the whistle like a flute (transverse to the right). Left hand has regular fingering and right hand has pipers fingering?
I had the same issue with the beautiful enchanting Overton Low D (I've had it since last Christmas). The good news is that it gets better with practice, just like Whiddler said - fingers get smart over time. The good news is also that you are forced to be very conscious about synchronising the breathing with the fingerwork, which in turn leads to (slowly) getting the most out of the sound - you have to slow down and listen. The good news is also that it forces you to be relaxed because it's the only way you can avoid fatigue, which in turn helps you to be faster once you've mastered the first step. So, the really good news is that the whistle you've got will help you to attune yourself with the music and, well, yourself A lot of good news, it seems - and worth all the air you're going to put into it. Enjoy!
I used to have that "flute position" when I started with the low whistle but later I decided to change and get a full piper's grip. It's a lot better, so I recommend you this way.
You're probably doing nothing wrong, you just need a few days of practice when you start with the low whistle, and then your fingers will cover every hole perfectly.
Persevere with the pipers' grip! Unless your fingers are so thin that they cannot possibly cover the holes, you will get used to it with practice. It's quite a change from the finger spread on a standard D whislte, so it will take some time before your brain remembers where the fingers are supposed to go!
I'm having the opposite problem right now - after a long time playing low whistles exclusively, I recently got a standard D, and I have trouble keeping my fingers so close together...
Practice practice practice and you'll get it! When I first played my Overton I was sure that it was somehow defective. It couldn't be 'me' sounding so awful! It'll get better.
Yeah, as with any instrument, don't expect to be able to play it straight away. It's just practice. Don't blame the shape of your hands, that has nothing to do with it.
One other thing is that you'll notice that it will get bunged up very quickly. This is to do with a combination of not covering the holes properly and not blowing hard enough. You have to blow the bottom octave just up to the point it jumps to the second to get the best sound. And don't think of taking it back because it's out of tune. That will be you, not the whistle. It takes practice to play it in tune.
I have a D and a C. I've had the C for about 20 years and I can play that fine. I acquired the D only a couple of years ago and I still can't play that one very well.
I play with the nail end pads of my third fingers on the holes, and my hands rotated in the thumbs-together direction until the fingers are about forty-five degrees from parallel. This means the index fingers, which I allow to sort of hook floppily over the whistle, are covering the holes with the middle knuckle (palm side obviously--I'm not that sort of primate). The tips of the little fingers just say touch the sides of the whistle. I was taught initially in the highland piping school: straight fingers, parallel and rigid; so it took some getting used to. Happily I don't even think about it now.
Thanks for all the pointers and encouragement.... I'll keep at it and take your words under advisement. Managed to play Echo's Calling and When Evening Comes Around last night..... not perfectly, but pretty darn good for a newbie..... so I'll get there eventually!
i found (by chance) some beginner tutorials on the www.kerrywhistles.com website. (look round the movies' section) Explains exactly how you should hold the low whistles.
hth
andy
Coming from the Scottish Highland pipes, I've always used the "piper's grip" on the low hand (sealing the holes with the pad on the finger's middle joint) but used the pads on the finger's end joints for the upper hand.
But then I got a Burke Low D, which is huge in diameter, considerably fatter than an Overton, and I found that I had to start using the "piper's grip" on the upper hand also.
It's been a struggle as I've played Highland pipes for 35 years and my fingers are so used to that way. (Not that the whistle fingerings themselves are a problem; I've played Irish whistle over 30 years as well; just the upper hand's position.)
So still after over a year on the Burke I find my upper hand retreating slowly across the whistle, if I don't pay attention, to its familiar position.
Also I find the Burke tiring to hold though it is very light in weight. I've got a Bari Sax neck strap that I use with the whistle if I'm going to be playing at a long session, which helps me to keep my fingers relaxed. (On the Scottish pipes the chanter is dangling from the bag and the hands do not support its weight and stay very relaxed.)
Low Whistle and pipers grip
Low Whistle and pipers grip
My Overton Low D just arrived........ aaaaah! what a lovely sound it has! I'm in for a real treat. BUT.... I think I'm doing something wrong with the pipers grip. I'm following the Chip and Fipple grip instructions, and trying to relax as much as possible, but I'm not able to keep the holes covered consistently. I have long, thin fingers which probably isn't helping..... if I keep my elbows out it seems to work better as it forces my fingers to stay more perpendicular to the pipe.... but that's going to wear me out over time. For us long-thin-fingered folks is there a better approach to take for the grip?
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by CW
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
You just have to practice a until your fingers get good at landing on just the right spots to keep the holes covered. Same with the flute.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Whiddler
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
emm..If your piper grip includes using the Middle parts of yer fingers, you are along the right lines. try twisting it to one side and arching your left hand(assuming u are right handed) as a flute player would, whilst using "Pipers technique" for the Low notes. This is how I play in any case
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Miss Mulligan
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
arching as in let you fingers fall on the holes having been arched in a kinda triangle shape..quite hard to put into words.U probably know what I mean anyway
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Miss Mulligan
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Trucks_Mulligan..... mmmm, that's an interesting approach. So, you position the whistle like a flute (transverse to the right). Left hand has regular fingering and right hand has pipers fingering?
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by CW
Low Whistle
Colin Goldie is so cool!
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
I had the same issue with the beautiful enchanting Overton Low D (I've had it since last Christmas). The good news is that it gets better with practice, just like Whiddler said - fingers get smart over time. The good news is also that you are forced to be very conscious about synchronising the breathing with the fingerwork, which in turn leads to (slowly) getting the most out of the sound - you have to slow down and listen. The good news is also that it forces you to be relaxed because it's the only way you can avoid fatigue, which in turn helps you to be faster once you've mastered the first step. So, the really good news is that the whistle you've got will help you to attune yourself with the music and, well, yourself
A lot of good news, it seems - and worth all the air you're going to put into it. 
Enjoy!
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by deFacto
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
I used to have that "flute position" when I started with the low whistle but later I decided to change and get a full piper's grip. It's a lot better, so I recommend you this way.
You're probably doing nothing wrong, you just need a few days of practice when you start with the low whistle, and then your fingers will cover every hole perfectly.
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by Pere
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Persevere with the pipers' grip! Unless your fingers are so thin that they cannot possibly cover the holes, you will get used to it with practice. It's quite a change from the finger spread on a standard D whislte, so it will take some time before your brain remembers where the fingers are supposed to go!
I'm having the opposite problem right now - after a long time playing low whistles exclusively, I recently got a standard D, and I have trouble keeping my fingers so close together...
Have fun with the Overton... I'm envious!
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by Pat Mustard
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Practice practice practice and you'll get it! When I first played my Overton I was sure that it was somehow defective. It couldn't be 'me' sounding so awful!
It'll get better.
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by shanty
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Rolls Royce of whistles, congrats.
Yeah, as with any instrument, don't expect to be able to play it straight away. It's just practice. Don't blame the shape of your hands, that has nothing to do with it.
One other thing is that you'll notice that it will get bunged up very quickly. This is to do with a combination of not covering the holes properly and not blowing hard enough. You have to blow the bottom octave just up to the point it jumps to the second to get the best sound. And don't think of taking it back because it's out of tune. That will be you, not the whistle. It takes practice to play it in tune.
I have a D and a C. I've had the C for about 20 years and I can play that fine. I acquired the D only a couple of years ago and I still can't play that one very well.
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by ...
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
I play with the nail end pads of my third fingers on the holes, and my hands rotated in the thumbs-together direction until the fingers are about forty-five degrees from parallel. This means the index fingers, which I allow to sort of hook floppily over the whistle, are covering the holes with the middle knuckle (palm side obviously--I'm not that sort of primate). The tips of the little fingers just say touch the sides of the whistle. I was taught initially in the highland piping school: straight fingers, parallel and rigid; so it took some getting used to. Happily I don't even think about it now.
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by gam
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Thanks for all the pointers and encouragement.... I'll keep at it and take your words under advisement. Managed to play Echo's Calling and When Evening Comes Around last night..... not perfectly, but pretty darn good for a newbie..... so I'll get there eventually!
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by CW
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
I dunno if this helps you or not, but in the winter when my skin is really dry I need to use some hand lotion to get a good seal
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by Nate Ryan
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Do seals like hand lotion?
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by bogman
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
i found (by chance) some beginner tutorials on the www.kerrywhistles.com website. (look round the movies' section) Explains exactly how you should hold the low whistles.
hth
andy
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by andy69
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
no, that's not what I meant. I meant you'd "get a good seal" because your hands won't crack when you club them.
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by Nate Ryan
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
didn't realise you needed an instrument, i thought you just hit them with a stick !
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by selston steve
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
you get a hollower tone smacking them with a low whistle
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by Nate Ryan
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Aye, but buy a chieftain for that though.
# Posted on April 8th 2009 by bogman
Re: Low Whistle and pipers grip
Coming from the Scottish Highland pipes, I've always used the "piper's grip" on the low hand (sealing the holes with the pad on the finger's middle joint) but used the pads on the finger's end joints for the upper hand.
But then I got a Burke Low D, which is huge in diameter, considerably fatter than an Overton, and I found that I had to start using the "piper's grip" on the upper hand also.
It's been a struggle as I've played Highland pipes for 35 years and my fingers are so used to that way. (Not that the whistle fingerings themselves are a problem; I've played Irish whistle over 30 years as well; just the upper hand's position.)
So still after over a year on the Burke I find my upper hand retreating slowly across the whistle, if I don't pay attention, to its familiar position.
Also I find the Burke tiring to hold though it is very light in weight. I've got a Bari Sax neck strap that I use with the whistle if I'm going to be playing at a long session, which helps me to keep my fingers relaxed. (On the Scottish pipes the chanter is dangling from the bag and the hands do not support its weight and stay very relaxed.)
# Posted on April 13th 2009 by Richard D Cook