I have an anniversary coming up the 22nd of this month. My wife asked me what I wanted yesterday. I’ve had whistles for quite a while but only started really trying to learn how to play them a couple of months ago. I don’t want my wife to spend a lot of money on an anniversary present (so I have to come up with an answer otherwise she will).
Can anyone recommend a good tutor book? I can read music already (if I have to) and can play notes with reasonable confidence. I think I need something that includes a lot of good songs to practice ornamentation.
Any ideas on a book I could ask for that’s under $30 US?
thanks
jd
I’d recommend Irelands](http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/tutorials/irishmusicsongbooks/sessiontunes/sessiontunes.htm%3EIrelands) Best 110 Session Tunes: Book and 2 CD’s which you can get online at a number of store. I got mine at The Whistle Shop.
Each CD contains 55 of the tunes in the book each played once. It has a pretty good collection of the tunes you will find played in sessions.
Hey Lee (or anyone else), who plays the music on the two CDs?
Susan
I like the one Lee mentioned…I also like L.E. McCullough’s first session book with its 4 CDs. Probably available at the Whistle Shop, but I got mine from www.songsea.com
I’m with Tyghress. I like L.E. McCullough’s book and 4-CD set too. 110 tunes, each played first slowly and then a bit faster. I find it a very helpful set. And it’s only about $25.
Steven
Actually, the one I have (and I think the one Tyghress is talking about) is 121 Irish Session Tunes, also available at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0634011642/qid=1057693952/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/002-6672734-7257634?v=glance&s=books
But the one you found is probably a similar format and is probably also good. My advice would be to find them at The Whistle Shop (http://www.thewhistleshop.com), look at the tables of contents (all the tunes are listed there), and see which one looks better to you. The way I make that determination is usually by finding which one has more tunes whose names are familiar to me but that I don’t yet know how to play.
Steven
Dossan of Heather. Get it at the Whistle Shop. A cd comes with it and it’s great fun.
Bill Ochs’ The Clarke Tinwhistle. Gotta have that one. Simple enough for a total beginner, it will teach you to read music, and works you ornaments one at a time, step by step. By the time you work your way through the book, you will have a very good handle on Irish Trad music.