Anyone sick of ITM on the whistle?

Whistle
1

Do you need a break from crans, rolls, slip-jigs, hornpipes and those bothersome strathspeys?

Do you feel you are getting stale from trying to learn all the versions of that tune called “Gan Ainm”?

Are you so tired of “the ass in the graveyard” that you are starting to feel like one?

I know I am!

This thread is for non-ITM music that is EZ to pick up on the whistle, either simple, pleasant sounding tunes, tunes that are EZ to pick up on the whistle, or tunes that are EZ to play along with BREAKING you from the sheet-music habit.

Act now!



My 2 cents are:

Moondance by Van Morrison. Playable on a D whistle along with the recording. Hell, most of his tunes on the Moondance CD are easy to play along with.

Old Friends/Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel. low whistle in G.

She’s leaving home. Beatles, Low Whistle

Sad Lisa. Cat Stevens. Low Whistle

Who will buy? from the Broadway play/Movie “Oliver!”. The original broadway cast album works on an A whistle. I play the thing on a low D.

Vincent (Starry, starry night) by Don something.

San Antonio Rose by Patsy Cline et al. Play along with her on an E. Thanks Cynth for that 2 step!

Old Man River on a low D.

Junk by McCartney. I forget which key.

Stay (just a little bit longer) by Jackson Browne. The long version plays in D and works for learning to improvise.

Hoedown by Copeland. Most recordings are in G for the D whistle. Make reels seem like laments.

2

Smoot? Do you like setting yourself up to be slammed by the ITM diehards around these parts?
(I, btw, am with you on this one.)
Among the things I’m likely to be playing lately is Into the West from LOTR.
(I know…trite, trite, oh so trite.)

3

Yes. I used to wrestle professionally.

4

Some Jethro Tull. I had a friend in college who did accoustic guitar coffeehouse gigs. I’d play the melody to one of the “Thick as a Brick” excerpts. It was fun.

5

I like just popping around on the whistle, playing any nonsensical thing. Every once in a while I will stumble on a short riff that turns into a song I sort of know. Sometimes it is a church song, others Christmas or American folk or nursery songs. You get the drift.

Probably the oddest one I stumbled on to was part of the theme from The Three Stooges!!! :laughing:

6

I’m not really tired of ITM..

But I will admit to picking out the Hawaii Five-O theme song today :wink:

7

I often play the opening to Live and Let Die

Also I play Fantine’s song at the end of Les Mis, “Come with me, where chains can never bind you…” I always cry at that part.

8

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin
Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues
Bouree by Jethro Tull (I think Mozart did it first)
(Don McLean, by the way, sang Vincent as well as Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie or whatever it’s called.)

Either way, I’ll never get tired of ITM. :stuck_out_tongue: Matter of fact, I’m going to log off right now and get some practice in. Sweeny’s Buttermilk and Dipping the Sheep (reels) need a lot of work.
Tony

9

at one of the local sessions here a few weeks ago we finished of by playing “imagine” by john lennon. Used the low d.

10

I think it’s fun as well to try to identify non-ITM tunes that might possibly contain whistles and simple-system flutes (as opposed to concert flutes).

Here are some possibilities:

Along Comes Mary (the Association) - unless that’s a flautist who knows how to play cuts, I’d wager on a Clarke C.

Georgie Girl (the Seekers) - could be a high-G Generation.

The Crowd (Fairport Convention) - most definitely a whistle. Burke? O’Riordan?

El Condor Pasa (Simon & Garfunkel) - this one is fairly loaded with small woodwinds. Did they make Sweethearts or Water Weasels then?

Fernando (ABBA) - Shaw E, perhaps?

All That She Wants (Ace of Base) - I’ve seen the video, and it looks like they may be playing the ridiculously easy low-whistle riff on a Chieftain (Phil can probably set me straight on this).

And, of course, we all know about Andrea Corr! :smiley:

Any other contenders?

11

Great list of tunes! I’m not exactly tired of trad, but I’m not exactly married to it either. :slight_smile:

edited for… well… the usual… (sigh)

12

The first year I owned a Whistle I played mostly beatles
and other modern music once you pick through the notes its a breeze don’t get me wrong ITRAD is awesome sometimes but a bore to learn I mix in some modern some american trad country scottish trad classical I will never be tired of my whistle music in all forms!! :slight_smile: :smiley: :slight_smile:

PS the wife and kids appreciate the other tunes more :smiley:

13

(smartass on) It was Bach. (don’t know from who he himself stole the tune, though). (/smartass off)

14

Great thread! I´ve needed some ideas on some new tunes to try.

Since I´m putting together a book for a different instrument, I´ve been trying out some clasical themes lately on whistle… which I think will also become a little book in the very near future. Here´s a few:

They´re all pretty easy…
The Wedding March (Wagner)
Mozart´s Sonata in A
Brahm´s Lullaby
Dvorak´s Largo from New World Symphony: http://www.geocities.com/sheryl_coleman/dvorak_largo.pdf (if you want a look)


Sheryl

15

No Sweetheart, after more than 30 years of whistling and fluting I am only just now trying at the ITM - a music that has always touched me deeply even though my aesthetic sensibilities are bedded in another culture.

You see, my dear child, the world of simple system piping, is not at all dominated by ITM. Most whistlers around the globe know little of ITM. Some of them may astound you.

If you were to broaden your horizons you may find that you will never tire of ITM. Little absences can make the heart grow fonder …

:stuck_out_tongue:

16

I agree with Smoot why should We (the royal We) be limited to ITM, I enjoy playing as wide a range as possible, if not very well. Jazz whistle :smiley:
you never know

Playing by ear now that will take some time

D

17

JS Bach, but the way Tull does it it really is a great whistle tune if you don’t mind half holing.

18

I’m Jewish but for some reason whenever I pick up a low D whistle, I have an urge to play the Christmas Carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”. It’s simply a gorgeous melody.
Actually, a lot of Christmas music goes really well on the whistle. Not so Jewish music which needs a lot of extra sharps and flats. For that, get a Jubilee Ahava Rabah whistle aka the Hava Nagila whistle.

For a change, see if there is an “old time” session in your area. The folks are usually very welcoming and since fiddles abound lots of the tunes are whistle friendly. You’ll even hear some ITM there . Contra dance music is also fun and you might get to sit in with the band. Playing dance music for actual dancers gives a whole new feel for it.

19

I’ve always wanted to “get medieval” on a whistle/flute. I have a lot of Anonymous 4 stuff, some Perotin, and a fair bit of troubadour stuff. Some of it works well for simple-system instruments, but one really needs a consort for a lot of it.

Lots of stuff by the Baltimore Consort bridges the gaps between “trad” music and early music. Bright Day Star is a great Christmas album. They also have two albums of Scottish early music, which are both great.

On the other hand, there’s a few Opeth (“viking metal”) guitar soloes which fit on a whistle :slight_smile:

20

I’m not tired of Irish music. I am getting sick of the whistle though!