G'day Shangaiceltic ... and Sooz,

There is an alternate style of holding ... commonly called "Piper's Hold" ... where the third finger (mostly refers to the right hand, which has the greatest problems)uses the normal pad but the hand is then skewed clockwise so that the middle pads of the second and index fingers cover the second and third holes. It may not sound like it works ... but it does.

I am a shorter person (167 cm) - with short, stubby fingers - but I can happily play an Overton Low D ... and that, being cylindrical bore (and Bernard Overton will brook no adjustment to the theoretical 'perfect' hole positions), is one of the most difficult.

Go to this specialist whistle site for much more information, diagrams, discussion: Chiff & Fipple

Regards,

Bob Bolton