I have a pennywhistle

Subject: I have a pennywhistle
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 05:45 PM

Today I recieved a pennywhistle in D. Is it possible to reach minor notes and chords with this or must I have seperate whistles? Jeep

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Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 05:51 PM

Well Jeepster, ya' took it in the ass. You should have reached a bit deeper and bought a nickel whistle at the very least.

Spaw

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Sorcha
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 05:57 PM

You should be able to play in Eminor, Jim. Both C natural and C# can be played on a D whistle. So can some other accidentals, but it's tuff. You only half cover the hole.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 07:06 PM

Thanks guys. This was a gift and a real mystery as to its operation. (can't find any strings on it) Jim

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Sorcha
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 07:07 PM

Jim, the Clarke whistle book is the easiest to learn from, for me, anyway. See if you can find just the book without the whistle.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Morticia
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 07:10 PM

I was sure you were going to say " I have a pennywhistle and I'm not afraid to use it".....shuffles off feeling stupid....

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: SeanM
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 07:15 PM

It's also a matter of the quality of the whistle - I've had whistles that were given to me that you couldn't reliably get the 'full' notes out of, let alone any of the fancier ones.

Good luck, though. The Clarke book has some good info, and there are several others available that are decent. If you have a music store near you that stocks whistles, they'll probably have (or know where to get) instruction books or videos.

M

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Snuffy
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 07:36 PM

With a D whistle it's quite easy to play tunes in G or A as well. Other keys are a bit harder, and you'd be better with a whistle in another key.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: IvanB
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 09:20 PM

A D whistle plays the keys of both D and G quite easily, with no half-hole involved (key of A is also possible but involves a half-hole for the G#). Since the relative minors to D and G major are Bm and Em, respectively, those keys are also easily played, although Bm would be in the high register for most of the scale. The relative minor to Amaj would be F#m, playable with the same half-hole mentioned for A.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Melani
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 11:16 PM

Just don't try to carry it aboard an airplane :-)

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: SeanM
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 01:34 AM

Actually, the worst I've seen was a friend who had a harmonica in his backpack. Actually drew an armed response call at John Wayne out in Orange County, CA. Afterwards, the woman was kind enough to show us why - darn things look REALLY weird via x-ray.

My pennywhistles just got laughed at - the jew's harp though, got almost as much of a reaction as the harmonica did.

M

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: smallpiper
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 09:38 AM

I have several and they cost more than a dammed penny! What ever book you choose to look at and learn from whatever you do don't tut!

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 10:58 AM

Sorry smallpiper...I've stopped it!!

YOu can play in any key on a d whistle it can just be very tough if ur playing a fast tune and it has 6 flats in...that's one hell of a lot of half holing!! It is a good technique to get into though, but buy a couple of other keys when u start getting into it more. I find Bb and E/Eb are useful. Bb very good for mad crazy Pack n 422 tunes in g minor...grrrr!!

Emma xxx

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Jeep man
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 11:55 AM

YOU GUYS ARE GOOD. JEEP

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 01:40 PM

I have a penny whistle as well, it was 2 pounds!

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: weepiper
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 01:44 PM

There's a brass penny whistle in my local music shop for £98!

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: SeanM
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 05:28 PM

Check prices on the high end low D whistles - I've seen them start for as little as $50 for plastic, up through $300+ for quality metal ones.

Think of it this way... they're still pennywhistles... it just takes a LOT of pennies to get them...

M

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: weepiper
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 05:32 PM

I know someone who must have the cheapest low D; he made it himself out of a zimmer frame leg. Apparently it actually sounds pretty good

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Morticia
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 08:56 PM

but the old lady is now walking with a limp *BG*

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 02:43 AM

I'm sure we're all very happy for you.... thank heaven it wasn't a melodeon!!!

There are usually some diagrams in the packet for fingering and hole covering, giving the positions for the right effect. I've just given our copy to Micca, but I'm sure he'd scan it and send it to you if you give him your details....

LTS

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: GUEST,Les/Manchester
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 03:24 AM

And before long someone will say 'Is that a pennywhistle in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me' ( West, Mae, 1935)

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 07:20 AM

As far as I can remember, I've never seen a whistle in E, Emma. Is there such a thing?

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: weepiper
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 07:28 AM

you get 'em in E flat anyway.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: SeanM
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 10:15 AM

I's got an e flat. It's basically just for comedy value - I'm 6'4"+, and while a regular whistle is comedic enough - the E is only about 6"-7" long... Bastard to finger for me (I can handle lows without too much of a problem, but my fat ol' fingers take some serious rehearsal to handle the E), and it also doesn't hit keys that ANYONE I play with use. But it's a nice shrill solo instrument, I guess...

Going to bed now. I think I'm rambling, but I'm not sure.

M

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: weepiper
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 11:02 AM

Hee hee I've got a teensy one in G you should see (and hear) that for comedy value. No dirty comments about teensy ones please :-)

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 11:37 AM

You think that is small, I have the smallest available recorder - it's called a garcline (don't ask what or why!) and in total it's 15cm (6inches). Looks really strange when I mostly play the tenor (45 - 50cm, 18inches) and then swap to this one! It's affectionately known as the dog whistle.

LTS

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: MudGuard
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 01:07 PM

The garcline is probably the anglicised version of the German name, which is Garklein-Flöte. The Italian name is Piccolo.

Garklein is an old German expression, which would nowadays be "sehr klein", it means "very small"

My father always makes the joke that the next smaller version is called a "Garkein-Flöte" (note the missing "l") which means "no flute at all" in English.

(Flöte means flute or recorder)

HTH MudGuard

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 17 Sep 01 - 07:46 AM

You can get a penny whistle in E but they are more expensive than the generation blue and red topped variety. On the other hand I have a very nice E whistle made from a filed down Eb - remove the head, saw about quarter of an inch off, replace head and tune - works a treat!

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Whistleworks
Date: 17 Sep 01 - 08:22 AM

It is so nice to see how much attention that the little whistles get. From my experience, you can get a whistle made in any key you like. You just have to have the jingle to pay for them. I have a low E by Michael Burke which is beautiful. And a B natural AL Pro by the same maker. There may not be a whole lot of tunes that a B natural can play, but if you play the "upper" scale, you once again have the E, only in one higher octave than the low E. One of the biggest hangups that I see in whistle players is the fingering to get the sharps and flats. This was made totally clear to me by Mary Bergin. I asked her once years ago just what her technique was to play the C nat. on a D whistle. Alternate fingering or half-hole. She said she ALWAYS just half holed everything because "there are no frets on a violin". Bingo. Ah well, enough. Just glad to see that there are many folks, all with good opinions, talking about the little instruments that I love so well.

Bob Pegritz

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 17 Sep 01 - 02:19 PM

I have a D by Michael Burke, Delrin-lined, and with an O-ring to ease tuning. It's not quite as well tuned within itself as it should be for the money, and the bottom note is weak for an instrument of this class, but the Delrin lining works a treat.

I'd still be insterested to know of any manufacturer turning out whistles in E (as opposed to low E) - not counting those who might do it to order, which is what I assume Bob is referring to.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Snuffy
Date: 17 Sep 01 - 06:23 PM

I have an E by Shaw (same shape as a Clark C or D but shiny metal, not painted)

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Sarah the flute
Date: 18 Sep 01 - 03:33 AM

I bought a Shaw in E but didn't like it - not a good tone - maybe it was a duff model ... hence the filing experiments with the Generation

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: weepiper
Date: 18 Sep 01 - 01:55 PM

While we're on the vague subject, I have a Howard low D (plastic head, tunable) Can anyone suggest a good way of tightening the joint without stressing the head too much? it's already cracked but I wrapped it in insulating tape and still sounds/plays fine. A new head apparently costs £30!!! Bugger that fer a game of sodgers. Anyway I can't get it to stay in place while I'm playing, it creeps down the body of the whistle :-(

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 18 Sep 01 - 11:44 PM

G'day MudGuard, LTS & weepiper,

I bought some novelty recorders, knocked up from the leftovers of the boxwood from the standard (descant ... spoprano ... whatever) chinese-made recorders a local store brought in for 1999 Xmas stock.

These are, more or less, a half scale sopranino (the f above a Garklein), but made with only the 6 top-placed holes of a penny whistle (a farthingwhistle?) ... unfortunately, this means your fingers have to be less than 5 mm wide. What I did was to unite each pair of holes with a shallow depression formed with a fine ½-round file. This lets me play with 3 fingers ... and "half hole every second note!

Very entertaining for passing bats ... ? I remember tweeting away on my high octave G Generation, in the depths of the bush (er ... forest ... ?) of Tasmania many years back - and attracting an audience of weebills and other small birds ... probably wondering who the hell was trying to take over their territory.

regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 19 Sep 01 - 11:33 PM

G'day again: Weepiper

I had a cracked plastic head on one of my larger Susatos. I used the old whip repair technique (called whipping ...) to effectively fix it.

With the head joint in place on the barrel, I got a length of strong linen thread, laid a half loop up along the head joint's side and back, then wrapped about 25 turns of thread up over the loop. When i felt I had it firmly bound, I passed the winding end of the thread through the loop - then pulled the other end of the thread until the loop was drawn in under the wrapping turns.

Once I checked that there was no air leak ... and that the binding was not too tight, so the head joint would not slide (to tune or to remove), I trimmed off the loos ends and wiped a little white PVA glue into the thread to consolidate it. It is quite a successful and tough cure for the problem.

Hey Jeep: So, was the wee whistle an early birthday present? ... Was it from a friend? ... Are you sure?

Regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Margaret V
Date: 20 Sep 01 - 07:53 AM

Jeep, you can get the Clarke Tin Whistle Book that Sorcha suggested by going to www.pennywhistle.com. The book is available just by itself, or with a CD, or with a whistle, etc... Have fun! Margaret

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: weepiper
Date: 20 Sep 01 - 02:27 PM

Thanks Bob I'll try that. I have some hemp thread for winding drone joints that'll probably do

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 20 Sep 01 - 11:49 PM

G'day Weepiper,

If it is fine hempen yarn, well twisted, it should work well. The cumulative tension of each turn is what makes it such a strong repair. If the emp is pretty loose - to give a better seal, it might not be so good ... but hemp is a great yarn fibre.

BTW: This all inspired me to repair a cracked plastic neck ring on a plastic-seal container (I keep my muesli in it). I measured off enough linen thread for 16 turnas and laid them down as described .. a bit tricky on a larger diameter, but I got there with only one dodgy turn. I sealed that with PVA, so it shouldn't slip out ... and then inspected the lid. Despite very good close vision, I can not see the crack ... I think I can just feel the edge of it with my fingernail ... but still can't be sure.

Great technique - repairs whip and hammer handles, flute joints, whistles ... and plastic kitchenware! (And keeps natural fibre ropes tidy.)

regards,

Bob Bolton

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 12 Feb 02 - 09:57 PM

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: bet
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 12:11 PM

I just found this link. In Jan. our local college offered a class in playing the penny whistle. Needing to find something to do in the evenings I signed up for it. Wow! We are really having a lot of fun. The instructor is a great player but, we're having trouble continually playing the low D. I can sometimes get it fine and other times it is really breathy or just doesn't sound. I thought I wasn't covering the holes all the way but that doesn't seem to be the problem, anyone got any ideas? Of course it would probably help if I'd turn the Olympics off and practice for real but that's not my choosen option right now. bet

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 02:10 PM

bet,

I've "played with" p-whistles some, and have my own "crackpot" theory that lots of the instruction books just don't understand how they work.

The length of the instrument - which you control by how many holes are tightly covered, makes the instrument "want to" sound a certain note. You can also force it to sound any harmonic of that note - which is how you get the upper octave.

Most books say that you "blow harder" to get the upper register. This will usually work, but there is a better way.

If you can control your "mouth volume" so that (without the p-whistle) you would "whistle" the note you want, you can guide the instrument into the harmonic you are trying to play, without significantly altering how hard you blow.

It does take a little more pressure to play the high notes, since a higher frequency sound simply "contains" more energy at the same loudness - but that's unnecessary physics.

Especially on the low D, it may take a conscious effort to "open up" the mouth space enough to avoid breaking into a harmonic. If the low D is below the lowest note you can "whistle" you may find it somewhat tough to get into, but with practice it will come.

Using the secondary "mouth resonance" is not too essential if the note you are trying to play is at a higher pitch than your "whistle tone," but if it is at a lower pitch, the coupled pitch of the mouth will "try" to make the pipe pitch break to a higher harmonic.

Note: musicians (clarinet, saxophone, flute, oboe etc) have been touting this theory for centuries. Physicists mostly say it's nonsense - but those are the ones who don't play instruments.

John

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: bet
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 03:14 PM

Thanks, I'll try that. Playing the violin just doesn't work the mouth. bet

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 02:15 PM

FIONN - Susato do a very nice E whistle. High one's and low ones but you have to order them. I'm after a susato Bb but they don't make them anymore and an A whistle. I've just got a new whistle that cost £67!! Why are they called PENNY whistles? I think they should be called very expensive whistles personally....oh well, can't complain.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Cobble
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 02:24 PM

I have a penny whistle as well, it was 2 pounds!

Thats a very heavy whistle John. ;-0)

Cobble.

Subject: RE: I have a pennywhistle
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 02:46 AM

G'day JeZeBeL,

Actually, back in 1843, Clarke sold his for one penny ... a card of 12 whistles! (According to the history on their website.)

Regard(les)s,

Bob Bolton