any tips on breathing?

Whistle
1

Hello everyone,

Im new to the tin whistle, but i have a decent background in music and instruments. I find that im learning things very easily and quickly as i can now bend notes smoothly, do little “frills” or whatever they are called and easily switch between octaves.

what in NOT good at yet, is breathing properly. I dont often find myself out of breath, but i cant seem to put vibrato (i think that is the term) to modulate the sound quickly beack and fourth when i hold any note for lengthy period of time.

can anyone give me some tips or hints on mouth position, or even how the modulate the amplitude of the tone (i figue its as simple as blowing softer and harder very quickly and smoothy, or i figure it might have something to do with the tongue.) anyways, any info on this or anything to do with make my tin whistle playing better would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

Quentez

2

Many whistle players use finger vibrato. Wave your finger(s) up and down over a lower uncovered hole or holes of the whistle.

You can also use your throat or diafram muscles to create vibrato, but I don’t think method is used as much in traditional Irish music.

-brett

3

My biggest breathing advice is to keep doing it. That whole not-breathing thing is a downer.

4

If you’re a trained singer, diaphragm vibrato works well. If not, you’re best off using your fingers to get vibrato. Vibrato really isn’t used much, though, in Irish music, nor are most of the classical ornaments (such as turns and trills) you may be used to. The chief ornaments in the whistler’s arsenal are the cut, the double cut and the tap (all forms of grace notes), the roll, the cran and the slide.

Redwolf

5

I’ll apologize in advance for the somewhat amateur topics that im asking about, but i’d really like to learn more.

I’ve searched high and low on the net for good tutorials on the tin or Irish whistle, but none have turned up.

can anyone give me a breif description about the double cut and the, the roll, the cran and the slide. (these “gracenotes” as they are called")

an fundamental tips ofr a beginner/intermediate player. (much closer to the beginnier, though as i do play many other instruments i find im learning very quickly. I play music only by ear, and though i do know how to read sheet music, I need more practice to get decent at it.

for now though, it seems i’ve run out of things to learn by myself, without any further help from soneone who knows a little more.

any info/advice that can be given, would be appreciated.

thank,

quentez.

6

OK…here goes:

A “grace note” is a short note that is sounded right before the note you’re aiming for. If done correctly, it occupies no time in the measure, and sounds kind of like a little “blip” or “chirp” before the main note.

If a grace note is played above the target note, it’s called a “cut.” For example, if you want to play G, you would sound A briefly before snapping down the finger to play G. Cuts are used to articulate notes, to separate two notes of the same pitch and to emphasize notes.

A “double cut” is the same thing, only you have two grace notes, one being the target note. So to play a double cut on G, you’d play G very briefly, lift the bottom finger to play A, then go back to G…all very quickly, so the note doesn’t occupy any more time than it normally would.

A “tap” is the same as a cut, only it’s a grace note played BELOW the main note. So if you wanted to play G, you’d finger F# first, then lift the finger quickly to sound the G (or if you wanted to separate two notes of the same pitch with a tap, you’d play the main note, drop the next lowest finger down briefly, then go directly back to the main note).

A “slide” involves sliding up to the note you want from the next lowest hole. So if you want to play G with a slide, you’d finger F, and then slowly draw the F finger across the hole, so you “slide” up to G.

A “Roll” is a very Irish way of ornamenting a note…you’ll hear it a lot in Irish music. Basically, it involves playing a note, quickly cutting it, back to the main note, then quickly tapping it. All this happens very quickly…it almost sounds like the note “rattles.” :slight_smile:

“Crans” are similar, but they involve three successive cuts on the note, descending in the scale. I’ve never been able to get crans to work for me, but then, I’m still hit or miss on rolls!

A really, really good web site for the basics is Brother Steve’s Tin Whistle Pages: http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/ . You’ll also want to do a lot of listening…it’s a lot harder to describe these things in print than it is to demonstrate them, and if you listen to good whistle recordings, you’ll hear them a lot. I love Joanie Madden’s “Song of the Irish Whistle”…not only do you hear just how lovely the whistle can be from someone who plays beautifully, you’ll also hear just about every ornament available and get a feel for how they can be used.

Redwolf

7

wow redwolf…WELL DONE!!! I am impressed!
berti

8

thanks a whole lot Redwolf. i couldn’t have asked for a better explanation. As far as i can tell, i understand every term, and from listening to others play, i think i got cuts and grace notes down already…
and some half-assed version of the others as well.

ass for the others… we’ll see.

thanks again, we’ll done indeed.

9

Yes, Redwolf,
a very lucid post.
Your 1966th post.
:sunglasses:

BTW,
Was 1966 a special year for you musically?
Interestingly it was for me.
(I wonder how my 1966th post will turn out).

10

Nope…I was only 5 in 1966, and the only thing I recall happening musically that year was getting to sing the part of the dove in “The Friendly Beasts” in our kindergarten Christmas pageant :slight_smile:

Redwolf

11

Thanks. About crans, I’m trying to learn them
as Grey Larson teaches. So if I’m playing the
low D I cran like this:

xxxxxx
xxxxox
xxxxxx
xxxoxx
xxxxxx
xxxxox
xxxxxx

This enables one to cran when playing G,
and it works well in the second octave.
It’s taking a lot to learn it, however.

I don’t understand the point of a double
cut, though. It seems to be the same
as a regular cut but with different
fingers. I’ll check chez brother Steve.

12

I actually use double cuts a lot more than I do single cuts…mainly as a way to emphasize a note that’s simpler than a roll, but more traditional than a trill. It’s not quite the same as a single cut. With a single cut, you’d insert the grace note between two notes of full duration to separate them (or at the beginning of a note, to articulate it). With a double cut, you play TWO grace notes at the beginning of the note, but one of those grace notes is the target note itself.

So, if you’re doing a double cut on G (let’s pretend the lower case letters are grace notes), you’d have gaG, whereas a single cut separating two separate G notes would be GaG.

Redwolf

13

Thanks, must try this.

14

Hey…I was 5 in '66 too…and sang “The Friendly Beasts” in a k-garten pageant. Not a dove though, I think. I believe I was a sheep or lamb.

(you weren’t in Mrs. Rolles’ class, were you?)

15

Nope. Miss Clevanaux was my kindergarten teacher. :wink:

Redwolf

16

Hmm…
Well how about this?
That was the year we received corporal punishment
for locking the music teacher in the storeroom !

:astonished:

17

I was also 5 in 1966. Looks like the forty somethings are a big part of the demographic here. I don’t remember any Friendly Beasts though execept my dog Sandy. :smiley:

Bob

18

Just to add a word, because it is a subject dear to my heart: I don’t think that “done very quickly” is part of the definition of a roll. You can play rolls slowly, and you’ll often hear it that way in recorded Irish music. In fact, in my humble opinion, if you cannot play a roll slowly, or more precicely: exactly at the speed and rhythm of the tune, you can’t play rolls at all (yet). (Turning rolls into quick little arrhythmic flutters of notes being a beginner’s mistake.)

19

I meant the cut and tap happen rapidly. They almost have to, if you’re going to have a roll and not a turn. The whole “Dah-blah-blah” thing.

Redwolf

20

why thank you for the ass.

:smiley:





sorry for being a wise-ass, but hey, I am now blessed with two.