I would really like to try this tune on the whistle - but it goes too low. I tried my normal transposition tricks but with unpleasant results. Can it be transposed to a whistle friendly mode/key? (By that I mean a D whistle, as a different whistle would cover different octave ranges… oh dear, I am exposing my ignorance again).
I have no skill at this and only comment because it is the sort of thing that puzzles me and I am never sure what changes people get worked up about. But would it sound so bad with "D2- D>e d>c | B2 d2 g>b "instead of “D2- D>E D>C | B,2 D2 G>B”, or something based on that change ? (they would sure get upset round here if I transposed up to D)
EDIT after crossing - shows i’m learning something by hanging out here !
Edit - just tried it. It changes the feel a little, but works well. Hmmm, octave folding; another trick to use. I guess its not appropriate every time so judgement will be called for.
Oh dear, I have been doing a lot of transposing. Is it a crime? Octave folding seems to me a more drastic change than transposition. The former changes the intervals between notes, the latter preserves them. Or is the absolute pitch important? Or is there some difference between the octaves that I am unaware of such as different intervals between the notes in different octaves giving a a different feel? I am running into an area where my lack of terminology is probably letting me say something very silly…
BTW: I settled on half way between the two solutions: | D2- D>e d>c | B2 d2 g>B | . Dont know why.
Good point. I am probably thinking too much and not playing enough.
One reason why I decided to learn a musical instrument at my advanced age is to learn different modes of being and stop being too head-focussed. Old habits die hard.
One way I am getting a feel for what works with octave folding and the like is when I take a fancy to a song tune that has quite a large range. Checking out recordings of different singers, often from the previews for mp3 track sales, it is very common to find that when they fit it to their vocal range in a key that works well for accompaniment the range is reduced a little in a way that sounds just fine. And between-verse instrumentals frequently suggest some options. Some singers (campfire, church, folk club etc) seem able to do it on the fly.
As MTGuru says, point being whether you wish or ever have occasion to play with other folks within the tradition. If so, most tunes (there are, as always, exceptions) are only ever played at one pitch/in one key/mode. Unless you find an Eb sesh, or a piper with flat set - in which case everything will be played with “normal” fingering but with string instruments tuned to match (probably) and whistle/flute and box players using the appropriate pitch instruments.
Octave folding and other such tweaks to make a tune fit to flute or whistle when it “goes off the bottom” in its standard form are the norm, not transposing the tune to another key to fit the tessitura of the instrument. Apart from straight-forward octave switching, which can sometimes present awkwardness in finding the right places to make the switches so that the passage doesn’t lose its melodic sense, you may also fit in short passages of alternative notes that briefly harmonise with the main shape of the melody and which may in effect be a variant of the melody such as players often invent anyway. Thus, on your example above, instead of octave shifting the notes MTGuru emboldened, you might play | D2- D>E D>E | G2 D2 G>B |, which flows quite nicely.
However, in some instances it may work well to play the tune on a whistle that gives you the right tessitura so you can play all the notes of the tune at their normal relative pitches, but of course you’ll then be using a transposed fingering. For example, with the tune in question you could play it fairly comfortably on a G whistle (though it will use the top,3rd 8ve G) by transposing the notation up a 4th and then reading with normal fingering, thus:
K:D %transposed from G
d’>c’ | b2 a2 f>e | d4 A>A | B2 d2 B2 | A2- A>B A>G | F2 A2 d>f | b2 a2 f2 |
e4- e>f | e4 d’>c’ | b2 a2 f>e | d4 A>A | B2 d2 g2 | b2- b>d’ c’>b |
a2 f2 d>f | e2 B2 c2 |d’4- d>e | d4 |]| f2 | b2- b>a b>c’ | d’2 c’2 b2 |
c’2 f2- f>f | f4 f2 | b2- b>a b>c’ | d’2 c’2 d’2 | c’4 c’2 | d’4 c’2 | b2 a2 f>e |
d4 A>A | B2 d2 g2 | b2- b>d’ c’>b | a2 f2 d>f | e2 B2 c2 | d4- d>e | d4 |]
Of course you can play it like that solo on your D whistle, but don’t expect that to be welcome when wishing to play a tune you have treated thus with others who know it in the normal key.
Another issue is temperament. In a world of just intonation, transposing keys does change the intervals as well as pitches, which can affect the overall feel of a tune. It’s one of the reasons a trad player might choose to play a particular tune in a “foreign” key. But for simply dealing with notes out of range, octave folding or creative reworking of melodic phrases are the usual approaches.
We sometimes play this tune at old time sessions, and it’s REALLY suited well to fiddles. Not everything sounds great on whistle even if you CAN play it. On fiddle, it truly sounds grumbling.
