Hole Patterns

Celtic Whistle Hole Patterns

Celtic whistle hole patterns have traditionally been placed in a straight line. Most Celtic whistle makers have continued with this tradition, even with the fairly new development of the low whistle. The distance between holes on a Low D when they are in their optimal acoustic position, however, is beyond the reach of some people with small hands.

In an attempt to make low whistles accessible to more people, Reyburn Whistles is offering an off-set pattern with the 3rd and 6th holes designed to more comfortably fit the player’s hands. When using this pattern, the sixth hole—generally the one most difficult to reach—is covered by the “pinkie” finger which greatly improves the reach of the player. This approach allows the player to use the more sensitive pads of the fingers to cover the holes. For those who prefer playing with the left hand on the bottom, the off-set can be reversed.

Of course, we also offer the traditional in-line pattern which generally requires the use of the “pipers grip” on the low whistle to cover all of the holes.

Raves for the offset hole pattern

A customer who has switched to the off-set pattern says, “the issue I was most concerned about, fingering the bottom hole with my pinkie, turned out to be a non-issue within a day. I can play with the pads of my fingers, similar to the Soprano D. Reyburn Whistles are truly exceptional!”