So…the Employee Xmas party is a few weeks away and I’d like to find some tunes to play. One of my co-workers plays guitar and he’s gonna come over and learn some music with me that we can play together at the party. I have a few books that have Christmas songs and chords(namely Fifer’s Delightful Companion and a whistle book by Mel Bay) but I’m looking for a couple “modern” tunes. I can figure by ear any old tunes I don’t have notation for but “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Winter Wonderland” have been giving me fits!!! I just want to know if anyone has a link to some whistle friendly versions of these and possibly other 20th century Xmas tunes.
The only uncertainty I have is whether
or not an irish music sound fits in a swing song,
what with the other instruments being trombone,
bass sax, clarinet, and violin. I’m starting to
wonder if a soprano whistle isn’t inappropriately high,
because the director keeps talking about needing
a flute player to join us.
Yeah, that’s what I thought. It’s just that rather few people play the bass sax. Lots play baritone sax, though. I just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same instrument. Here’s comparison:
Bass saxophone; don’t ask me why it’s sideways.
Bari sax; not small, but certainly smaller than the bass.
I’ll probably have to record the next practice,
to determine whether a sop whistle is
appropriate for this song, or if the director is
just being nice by letting me play it
(she was pretty harsh about the intonation of a
Generation whistle that I once,
unfortunately, tried to use).
A friend of mine gave me this site http://www.ChristmasSongBook.net You will have to find the ones that are in the Key you can play, but I got a few from there.
“Greensleeves” always sounds really nice on whistle and is Christmasesque thanks to “What Child is This”.
It also works well with a 2 part whistle harmony and/or Low whistle & High whistle accompaniment.
Oh, by the way, speaking of that thread (and my Christmas tunes site), if anyone’s interested, I finally found the source of “The Holly Hornpipe.” Believe it or not, it’s Welsh, and can be found on JC’s Tunefinder under the name “The Holly”! I was glad to learn it’s a traditional, as I worried for ages about using someone else’s intellectual property (but it was too good a tune not to share, and the CD never bothered to credit it).
I think “Winter Wonderland” is super easy to play on the whistle. You said that you can play by ear so give it a try or better yet, don’t try, just do it!
Yes indeed! I just learned this one (to sing, that is, not to play, though I have played it), and it’s lovely. Another wonderful traditional Irish carol is “D’on Oíche úd i mBeithil,” and that works well on the whistle too.
Go to the nearest used bookstore, check out the ancient books in the religion section, find an old hymnal, buy it for about 50 cents, and learn to play all the carols in it. Don’t be afraid to move up higher for your starting note if the tune doesn’t sound right.
