Pipe (instrument) Pipe (instrument) A pipe is a tubular wind instrument in general, or various specific wind instruments. The word is an onomatopoeia, and comes from the tone which can resemble that of a bird chirping. Fipple flutes are found in many cultures around the world. Often with six holes, the shepherd's pipe is a common pastoral image. Shepherds often piped both to soothe the sheep and to amuse themselves. Modern manufactured six-hole folk pipes are referred to as pennywhistle or tin whistle. The recorder is a form of pipe, often used as a rudimentary instructional musical instrument at schools, but so
Low whistle and British jigs, reels and hornpipes, it being easier to produce some ornamentation on the whistle, due to the size of the finger holes. The most common low whistle is the "Low D", pitched one octave below the traditional D whistle. A whistle is generally classed as a "low" whistle if its lowest note is the G above middle C or lower. Whistles higher than this are termed "soprano" or "high" whistles when a distinction is necessary. Low whistles operate on the same principles, and are generally fingered in the same way as traditional pennywhistles although for many, a "piper's