OVERVIEW
The penny whistle is an indirect blowing flute, widely employed in traditional Irish music. It has six finger holes, and its mouthpiece is similar to the recorder.
According to their tessitura, the penny whistles are classified as tin, alto, or low (i.e., soprano, alto/tenor, and bass, respectively). The most common tin whistles are the C and the D ones. The most popular low whistle is also tuned in D, but it sounds one octave below, and its size is approximately double.
Our penny whistles consist of a metal body and a hardwood fipple. Their range is two and a half octaves wide and includes chromatic alterations.
SPECIFICATIONS
• Materials Metal and wood; sometimes, bamboo
• Finger holes 6
• Range 2 octaves and a perfect 4th
• Set A cloth bag, a fingering chart, and a maintenance leaflet come included for free with the purchase of each item
POSITION OF THE HANDS / OFFSET FINGER HOLES
The alto and low whistles that we usually produce have offset finger holes (as depicted in image A). This design aims to make the tone holes more easily reachable to your fingerpads, assuming you place your left hand above and your right hand below. If you want this offset to be inverted (image B, right hand above - left hand below) or the finger holes to be inline (image C), just let us know, and we will make the alto or low whistle that you need.
A
Regular offset
B
Inverted offset
POSITION OF THE HANDS / OFFSET FINGER HOLES
In the tin whistle, the finger holes are always inline; but regarding the alto and low whistles, there are three available options, as depicted in images A, B, and C. Please tell us which one is your preference.
C
Inline finger holes