Lily has been trying to raise money for her class by busking, but it’s cold enough that I don’t want to play violin. I’ve been playing penny whistle, warm inside my pennywhistle mitten (thanks Julia!) but a lot of the fiddle tunes Lily plays are hard to play on a D whistle. A D whistle is good for a lot of keys (D, Amix, Em, G, …) but Lily knows a lot of tunes in A and even some in E. Ages ago I had a tiny whistle in A, but I lost it at some point, which was probably for the best since it’s absurdly high.
What I’d really like, though, is a whistle in E. Just a little higher pitched than the D whistle, but good for playing in A and E. Except as far as I can tell no one is making these right now?
- Tony Dixon E: out of stock
- Susato High E: out of stock, also on the pricy side
- Generation: now only lists Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, though I’m pretty sure they used to have a chromatic lineup.
I did find a carbon fiber one for $330 and a brass one for $300, but while I’m sure these sound wonderful as whistles go, I’m not going to play this enough to be worth getting something fancy.
What about tuning the fiddle strings down 1 tone?