Hi Folks…been off the forum for a while…need an answer…
What’s the best key for playing with Christmas Carolers…i.e., in what key do most folks sing?? I’ve got plenty of D whistles, but I think I may need a C or Bb.
Thanks friends…Merry Christmas!!
Todd
You should be good with a C and a D… That would easily cover F, C, G, and D. If you’re good (and there aren’t too many of the outlying notes), you’re probably good to Bb and A as well. Actually, the group I play with has been goofing around and we seem to be able to play almost all the carols on the D instruments - that might present problems for voices, however…
Pat
Now, after several Czech carol sessions, I can say I almost never used D, mostly C and low E (playing in A)…but I guess that D will be used a lot in carols from UK…
Depends if they’re a formal choir singing from the dots, or just a bunch of people out for a sing-song. If it’s a choir, they should have copies of the music for you. If it’s an untrained sing-song, then D will do very well.
What Innocent said. You can play any song on the D whistle, no problem, since anything can be transposed. If they’re following a written page, though, and they don’t want to transpose into D, then you’ll need to follow whatever key they’re in. In general, I’d say carolers won’t be following any strict, written music, so just play a note or two in D and make them sing in D.
I’ve got a couple collections of carols with printed sheet music for voice and piano. Looking downa a list of the “old standards”, I see mostly G and F with a few Eb, D and C plus one each of Bb and Ab.
A D whistle will cover the D and G; a C will cover the C and F and a Bb will cover the Bb and Eb.
Note: my list is American. European tunes I have seem to cluster in G and D.
I’m playing with carolers who are being accompanied by guitar and violin, and they’re playing a bunch of the standard U.S. carols from sheet music (disclaimer: I’m playing by ear). I can play along with their whole repertoire using D, C, and Bb whistles. What walrii just said is probably right, at least for the common carols played in the U.S.
Unless they have amazing vocal range, most singers won’t be able to adapt if you transpose every carol to be played on a D whistle and they have to sing to the key that you’re playing.
My wife & I Carol when we walk the dogs. We always just use a D whistle. She tends to like things pitched lower. I think the make up of the group matters. Little girls, old men, a mix of all sorts of people. I bet little girls would like singing along with the high G whistle. People would throw money at them. Coins mostly.
I find with my D whistle I can play in the keys of D G or A in any case. Therefore, most of the standard carols can be handled by the D whistle. It is only a problem if someone insists on a different key due to voicing, but when I play my guitar those three keys seem to work for most anything I come across. This includes the keys of Em and Bm.
Howie