I found the following Sheet music for Body of an American by the Pogues. I have the whistle intro down, and the whistle part behind “I’m a free born man of the U.S.A.” The problem I am having is whistle behind “Fare thee well going away there’s nothing left to say.” Problem is when I listen to the song I do not believe What Spider is playing is notated here.
Can anyone advise.
Fare thee well going away there’s nothing left to say.
A B c e cd f e c c A c
I added a clip of the song which is specifically the part I am referring to. I was thinking this would make it easier for someone to give me some feedback.
The trick is to listen to what he’s playing and then replicate it. Even if you can’t hear every note, it’s not a tricky chord progression so just play notes that fit the chords.
What possible scenario would require you to play Body of an American note for note anyway? Even if you’re doing it for a cover band, just play something that fits. After all, that’s what Spider and the rest of the band did!
I’m not knocking The Pogues, by the way, although a lot of folks do. I learned a lot by playing along with their albums when I was starting out.
Forget sheet music. Irish music is about the player’s interpretation of the tunes; the staff notation lines are the bars of a cage that imprisons the personality of the player. Think of any great whistle player; you can be darn sure they didn’t learn from a sheet of paper.
The procedure for learning by ear is Listen, Learn, Replicate, Adapt.
