First: After being a smoker for 20 years and starting to play the whistle 2 years after kicking the habit, I’m glad to be able to play anything!
-Rhythm and phrasing are still top priority.
-Not growing up around ITM, I try to listen to my limited music collection in that style as often as possible. It really does help. For example: I used to listen to Mary Bergin and think she didn’t breathe, and it all sounded like a blur of notes. Now breaks and the little extra oomph she gives to some notes to give the tune some bounce are heard.
-It’s still difficult to add cuts/strikes and maintain good rhythm and phrasing. Strikes are easier of the two keeping that all-important rhythm though. The list of tunes with ornamentation/finger articulation added is quite small. Most of the stuff I play is pretty bare bones, but they still cause foot tapping or some type of reaction to the beat.
-I’m also surprised by how much variety can be had just with tonguing. The amount of “attack” used for the note and when it’s used in a phrase can really keep things from sounding like it’s being played exactly as it is on the sheet music.
-Sheet music is mainly used for tunes I’m learning. There are times though when it’s referred to when my poor memory needs refreshing.
Well, that’s about it. I’m probably way behind fellow newbies with 1 year in on these addictive leaky pipes. Still pluggin’ along though, and having fun!
Congratulations on one year of playing I’ve been at it since last May but not very consistently. Right now, I’m just going to ignore my kids and play. I also need to listen to my collection from Joannie Madden, Mary Bergen, Micho Russell et al. Funny…I don’t even have much time to listen to music because when my kids are at school, I just revel in the peace and quiet
Good luck in the next years of whistle playing and keep up the good work!
Thanks! I think the biggest challenge is to keep it fun and still push myself to improve. Fun should be the majority of it though IMO.
I don’t have kids, but spending time in silence can be a great thing. Although, some nights I’ll put a CD in the player, set the sleep timer, and get at least a little listening in before getting some shut eye.
I think there’s an interview floating around here with Joanie Madden. In it she says something about even taking just 15 minutes a day will make a big difference in a year’s time.
After my little whine about a month ago about being scared to play (and other excuses), I realized I had been forcing a routine and I had taken all the fun out of it. Also, I had felt I had to get good as soon as possible and have no idea why Once I relaxed, I just started messing around and now I practice regularly and told myself that even 15 minutes of fiddling is better than nothing. That 15 minutes usually leads to an hour of playing now! I just hope I’m not picking up horrid techniques but as long as I try to copy the CD’s that accompany my books, I can’t be too far off…I hope
Great to hear your progress … I’ve been at it since Christmas and I am new to the boards just this week.
Today I made a break through on rolls. Not how to do them … how to use them in a tune. I wasn’t quite picking up that as you pay a sequence where you have say 3 A’s the cut separates the first A from the second A and the tap separates the 2nd A from the 3rd A. I know duh … but the examples shown are so fast it makes you think they are trying to uses it to separate one note
But they are using it to separate one note. That’s exactly what a roll does.
Not exactly, but almost. You’re close. You have the basic mechanics right.
The trick is to think in terms of beats or pulses instead of notes. If you have a single note that takes up 3 beats of the tune, you can use a long roll to “pulse” the note into its three component beats. Similarly, a short roll can pulse a 2 beat note into its two component beats. The idea is to keep driving the rhythm forward without changing the pitch.
Yes, sometimes you see fiddle or banjo oriented ITM transcriptions where the note is written as separate notes. That reflects what some fiddle or banjo players might play (bowed or picked trebles). But it’s one of the ways that relying on written notation can lead you astray. Three identical notes in a row is not what whistle players will usually play, and not how they think about it.
There’s more to it than this. But I don’t want to hijack Mr. Ed’s thread, or I’ll have nightmares about talking horses. And it sounds like you’re both making good progress.
… thanks MTGuru … a much better description than my example. Beats … it’s all in the timing. Rolls can be long, short, fast or slow as long as they match the timing.
At least I can skip over the smoking and say it was the heart surgery that brought me to whitles and flutes because I would find it hard to say anything nice outloud about smoking. I still like buying lighters though.
I’m gonna encourage a little WHOAD:
One of the great things about having more than one whistle is placing them throughout the house. A lot of times I’ll walk by my desk, grab one, and play a tune or two. It can make getting things done in a timely matter a little challenging though. I live in the country and have a great view of the woods and there’s a pond on my property. Sometimes I’ll get sidetracked and play The Eagle’s Whistle, The Water is Wide, Prayer of St. Francis, etc. while looking out the window and enjoying the scenery.
I know the feeling about wanting to get good as soon as possible. Usually I get that way about ornamentation. It happens a lot after listening to the likes of Mary Bergin or Paddy Moloney. Then I’ll listen to some Micho Russell. (Not that he didn’t use ornamentation.) Being a bass player all these years, I really love how his rhythm stood out in his playing. That and his phrasing are more easily noticeable, to me anyway. He gets me back on track to get the feel of the music down before messing with twiddly bits too much. Sometimes I think it’s a shame there is so much focus on getting those rolls, etc. learned so they can be added everywhere in a tune.
I have succumbed to Whoad more that I care to admit I have probably 18 if you count the one mouthpiece-several tubes whistles. My problem is “Wow, this one is really great, I wonder if I can find another one just like it by a different maker?” Seriously, if I like one for a particular reason, do I really need to find another just like it? Duhhhh.
Regarding different whistle styles, would someone want to explain the different styles of Joanie Madden, Mary Bergin, MIcho Russell and Paddy Moloney? I can hear the differences but can’t put my finger on or describe these differences. I remember reading somewhere how Micho Russell’s style was different and then when I listened to it, I went, “Ohhh, I understand now” When I listen I tend to get sidetracked by the ornamentation and lamenting my ability to even sound like that
MTguru-Your Teleman’s Sonata is just wonderful…sigh…
The tune is displayed in the left frame, comments in the lower right frame, so that you can scroll through the text while viewing the music.
Introduction
Late in 1986 Micho went on a tour of continental Europe. I had the honour to be asked to play some concerts together with him. The tune presented here was taken from a recording I made at one of the concerts, on 13 December 1986.
Sporting Nell is a well-known reel. Two fairly distinct versions are in circulation; one of these, the one Micho plays here, is strongly associated with the concertina playing of County Clare especially with that of Elisabeth Crotty of Kilrush.
Micho and his brothers learned a lot of their music from their neighbour, concertina player Patrick Flanagan of Doonagore, Doolin. Micho was strongly influenced by Flanagan and other concertina players, indeed it is often said he tried to reproduce the concertina music he grew up with on the whistle. In many of Micho’s older tunes, he moves with a remarkable freedom through the octaves, raising or dropping notes a full octave in places. His approach to Sporting Nelly, as he called it, is a good example of this. The older style of concertina playing, played on the old two row “German” concertinas, made an extensive use of doubling notes in octaves to achieve a fuller sound. The playing of the late John Kelly, Mrs Crotty, Micho Doyle of Spanish Point, the wonderful music of Mary Haren and Micho’s own brother Packie are examples of this style. It can also be found very strongly in the playing of Kitty Hayes of Miltown Malbay who, after being away from the concertina for 45 years has taken up the instrument, retaining the style she learned to play over 50 years ago. http://www.rogermillington.com/tunetoc/sportingnell.html
Thanks for the link Maki! Will be visiting that site often. It’ll help make choices for new albums to look for, and the commentary will no doubt be helpful.
Hey…this may be the site that discussed the differences in styles! I’ll have to look more deeply shortly. I also am not sure what a concertina style is when it applies to music
I’ve been at it since last May but not very consistently. Right now, I’m just going to ignore my kids and play. I also need to listen to my collection from Joannie Madden, Mary Bergen, Micho Russell et al. Funny…I don’t even have much time to listen to music because when my kids are at school, I just revel in the peace and quiet 
