Piper's Grip for Low/Bass Whistles

I show how to get started with a piper's grip on low whistles, and how my grip shifts as I move from low F, to low (tenor) D, to Bass A whistle.

[@JackyHeijmans]

Thank you, I did not realize I hold my tin whistle like somebody is trying to steal it... I will work on that! Hugs! 🤗

[@SeniorHiker77]

Thanks so much. This video was made just for me. 3 days into my TD low D. Lol

[@pollyon]

im 2 days in, trying to get pipers grip, its whoopin my arse lol

[@SeniorHiker77]

@@pollyon i thought I could change over easy not so. The pad on my middle part is flat no meat. That means I can't cover the holes consistently. I am making some progress.

[@pollyon]

@@SeniorHiker77 i thought that to, i have a chieftain v5 and my skinny fingers are not helping lol

[@quickdogz]

Nathaniel, on my low D, I definitely use that top pad on each finger except the bottom hand, last finger. In fact, I start draping my fingers and using that top pad already on my F whistle. It makes balancing the whistle a little more challenging with some of the heavier whistles and I at first I had to work at avoiding a "death grip" simply because we're not accustomed to using that part of our fingers to "hold" things. After watching your video today, I'm realizing that might be what's giving me some grief with that Chieftain G - the combination of the spacing of the holes and the fall of my fingers.

[@NathanielDowell]

Additional note: Some people use their bottom pinky to reach the lowest hole, rather than their ring finger, finding that to be more comfortable, so if all else fails, that might be an option to give a little extra reach.

[@allonwne]

Thanks for that tip, never heard that before.

[@Martin.W.F]

I use pipers grip just like you. My hands are also smaller side and i play inverted (right hand on top and left hand on the bottom) Playing a low D was a challenge to begin with, but after a couple of months it became second nature.

[@jannekebrouwers6342]

I understand your scepticism, but hand size is not the problem, the stretch in between fingers is though. And there is a lot of diversity in that stretch. I tend to already use piper's grip on the lower half of my (high) Bb whistle. You have normal hands, but I can see they stretch out far more than mine.

[@NathanielDowell]

Good point.

[@NathanielDowell]

I might redo this video.

[@jannekebrouwers6342]

@@NathanielDowell I don't think that is necessary. It is a great video. Despite my nonstretchy hands I will order an F-shistle today and this has been very helpfull. I you can manage a Bass A, than an Alta F should be managable for me. :)

[@yosemite-sam]

Great video. I'm definitely in the stretchy finger category and find low D reasonably straight forward in spite of smaller hands. I love the sound of the bass whistles and I'm tempted to try one. Would you say the alba A requires much more air than the MK D? It's the thought of the potential air requirements that puts me off rather than the stretch.

[@NathanielDowell]

The Alba bass A takes more air than the MK low D, but not that much more. It's probably close to my Burke low D in air requirement.

[@frankrooney3208]

What brand is the Bass A whistle?

[@NathanielDowell]

Alba

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

* except for babies *

[@grot777]

Right? Babies 🙄

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

@@grot777 I can’t even remember what I wrote this in response to 😄🙌

[@grot777]

@whynottalklikeapirat Haha in the video he says anyone get the finger spread for soprano whistles and then says except for babies and it almost came of as a dis on babies and it caught me as funny and apparently you too.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

@@grot777 xD Right - I thought it might be something like that. Yeah - babies 🙄 - best they seem to be able to manage is eat, shit, sleep and play the soprano whistle. 😀👍

[@soslothful]

I'm a Luddite who knows less than nothing about how videos are made. Still, I think there would be gain if your videos filled the screen rather than the format were the sides are cropped.

[@NathanielDowell]

I understand the sentiment, but I have reasons. For one, it's easier to lean my phone against things in vertical format, and it's good for fitting my face and various whistles into the frame, while simultaneously omitting laundry or other messes that may or may not otherwise be in the background. I do landscape orientation when I can, but I'm not a purist. For whistle videos, portrait orientation makes more sense to me in most cases.

[@NathanielDowell]

This video is actually a really good example. If I had flipped the phone sideways for this video, I would have had to be much further away from the camera for you to see my grip on the bass whistle.

[@soslothful]

@@NathanielDowell Ah! So the cropped screen is a feature of recording on one's phone. As a Luddite I did not know this. I assumed everyone recorded with a laptop camera or a free standing camera. Gads! Technology!

[@NathanielDowell]

@@soslothful I use an Olympus E-M1 for some of my recordings, and those are always horizontal, but my phone records in landscape or portrait depending on if I have it standing straight up or laying on its side, so it can do both.

[@NathanielDowell]

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