I have had my tin whistle for about 1 1/2 a year now, and I can play slowairs and some of the slower jigs the problem is I can’t seem to learn to play fast jigs or reels (I learn by hearing the tune coz I can’t read any music notes) their much to vast for me to follow. Do u have some tips and idears to help me out?
Hope to hearing from u soon coz it’s doing my head in haha (I really hope somebody can help me),
Slán and Go raibh míle maith agat!
(Goodbye and a 1000 thanks to you)
Welcome aboard tinny,
If you can play slow airs and slow jigs,then it is only a matter of time before you can play fast(er) jigs and then on to reels.
It is essential to learn the tune correctly first,the speed will come later. Don’t be so hard on yourself by assuming that you “can’t” learn the faster tunes.Practice and Patience are everything.
Compare your learning whistle to some other skill that you have and you will find similar patterns in the learning of that skill. We all have had to learn to crawl before we walk.
D is right, Joyce - and console yourself with the fact that speed isn’t everything.
In fact, without the proper style and phrasing, speed will result in music that (being polite here) won’t please anybody. But slow playing, even of jigs and reels, WITH good style and phrasing - everybody will enjoy that.
So concentrate on developing good style and phrasing and let speed gradually build up over time. If you can find a teacher or good players anywhere near you, they can help you with this.
Also, take no notice ofanything toasty says. He just huffs a lot.
If you have a computer program (e.g. Cakewalk) which will allow you to choose the speeds at which to play MIDI files, download some MIDIs of your favorite tunes (many of the tunes at JC’s have MIDIs) and start them off at a ridiculously slow speed. Use this to learn the proper notes and rhythms, and most of all, places where you can take breaths.
Once you can play this a couple of times through with no problems, move the speed up by 10 BPM or so. Continue the cycle of practice and speed increases until you are up to “session speed”, or even a little faster than that. Now you should have the tune committed to memory and be able to play it reasonably well without accompaniment.
Of course you will receive difffering responses. And I respect highly the profound sentiments of my esteem colleague brassblower. In this spirit no one will take it amiss when I say to you: Avoid midi files. Avoid them like the plague! Don’t even listen to them! RUN!
Get music that sound like you actually want to be able to play (dream of being able to play) and slow it down using Transcribe! or as a second-best, Amazing Slow Downer. Get your reels solid at 60 bpm. There’s no hurry.
OK if you own every tune you plan to learn on CD, or you ahem READ MUSIC!
How many trad CD’s do you own? I have probably 100. Nearly all of them have “Morrison’s Jig”, but NONE of them have “The Glass of Beer”.
MIDIs are readily available on-line for nearly any tune, and the people who produce them have gotten much better at it lately, so they don’t sound as cheesy and one-dimensional as they used to. Many of them have the added advantage of being able to silence the melody track, so you can solo on the melody while using the MIDI as accompaniment.
How many CDs? Funny 'cause I counted recently, I am up to about 250. If nearly all of yours have Morrison’s you may be listening to the wrong kind of music… (just kidding you a bit.)
Anybody can do what they want, of course. I would much sooner learn a tune from sheet music than from a midi file. I notice when I listen to good players, and play along with them to learn the tune, my mind, sould, and fingers become infused with the music and my playing improves in ways I can barely grasp cannot explain. Music enters your system on a visceral level. Once it’s in there and you don’t want it there, you have to get it out again. You don’t want midi-gunk in your system. It’s not music. It’s functionally the same thing as sheet music, only worse because you can hear it. The fact that it’s available does not recommend it’s use. Cigarettes are widely available, too. They are still bad for you. I feel that especially especially beginners shouldn’t use midi tunes. Just take a tune you have and like from a good player and learn that, spend weeks and months on that one tune rather than use midi files. But of course, there’s no one stopping you.
Just my two cents, of course (although I don’t seriously think your mileage will vary).
I want 2 thank everybody untill now for all their tips and responses. I tried 2 play along with midi files a few times in the “past” and realised when trying 2 play along with midi files, that I didn’t like it at all… we have cakewalk and I also tried to slow it down with that program it just didn’t work for me. About 30 minutes ago I downloaded ‘Amazing Slowdowner’ I’ll give it a try, I have a good feeling about that program coz you can slow ur cd’s down. I also have a lot of cd’s…not as many as you both do but enough to start 2 learn some of those reels and getting the feel of the rythem and developing more techniques and the proper style and phrasing. Thanks again, and don’t let this message stop you from posting more tips Oww btw thanks for complementing on my nickname haha
Tinny, I don’t know what my steamed collegue Bloo has against the Amazing Slowdowner, but I think its the perfect ‘learn by listening’ tool. I had to slow down a piece to 40% of its original speed, and loop an eight note segment for countless repetitions before I finally figured out what was being played, but I did learn it by ear.
You need to be a little cautious when trying to learn something by ear, because a lot of the tunes on CDs are played in keys you may not be able to easily play on your whistle. If you can’t seem to locate the notes, forget that tune (for the time being) and move on to another.
My dear, fav Cat. It is not so much that I have something against SlowDowner it’s just that i think Transcribe! is better and more versatile. Transcribe! just came out in a new version (7.0), haven’t checked out, but I have been using it for a while now. Great boon is that you see the wave spectrum, can select individual chunks and it will show you what pitch(es) it is on a key-board style display, Best of all you can set beat, measure, and section markers that make figuring out the rhythm and transcribing the tune much much easier. Good stuff all around. Admittedly, when all you do is slowdown listen learn, A Slow D will do.
“If you can play slow airs and slow jigs, then it is only a matter of time before you can play fast(er) jigs and then on to reels”
…I don’t think I (or any one else on this board) will live that long!
I can do a fair job on slower tunes, and I can play a number of jigs, reels and hornpipes. The only problem is, I can only play them half as fast as they need to be played. I won’t tell you how many years I’ve been at it.
If you apply the crawl before you walk/run analogy , I’d be like a 10th grader who has to crawl out to the bus stop! :roll:
(I learn by hearing the tune coz I can’t read any music notes) their much to vast for me to follow. Do u have some tips and idears to help me out? 
haha (I really hope somebody can help me),
but enough to start 2 learn some of those reels and getting the feel of the rythem and developing more techniques and the proper style and phrasing. Thanks again, and don’t let this message stop you from posting more tips 
