I’ve been playing whistle for about four years now,and i have a vast variety of tunes under my belt, all of which rehearsed over and over again until i can play without thinking about it.
However some of the more complex and faster tunes, i’ve learned by slowing them down and gradually bringing them up to speed when I’ve mastered them. I have played some of these tunes for months, and after time, am able to play them competently, Its only when i try to play along with the original that i find out i just can’t go any faster.
Quite a few months ago MT Guru kindly helped with ABC notation to" Jeans reel" which he himself plays here Box
I set about determined to learn this. after many months of practice and slowing the tune down somewhat, i eventually picked up speed and felt i could play this pretty well. It’s only when i try to play along with MT that i realise i can’t keep up. You think you’ve got it, but not quite
Another thing to mention is, after playing a tune over and over again, makes you tire of it, and you loose perhaps the initial drive you had to learn it.
Are there any thoughts on this? And perhaps some advise?
I think that that recording had a problem when was uploaded. If not, anyways it’s crazy that speed. I don’t think someone is gonna play it like that in a session…
BTW, that Telemann Sonata in F is awesome, MTGuru, do you have the sheet music?
Yes, that “Jean’s” clip is a bit fast, around 130 bpm. But it’s about the same as Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s recording/setting of the tune. And certainly not faster than Phil Cunningham at around 170!
Yes, I have the Telemann Sonata in a print edition from Musica Rara. But I haven’t seen a free or public domain version online. Sorry, Martin.
Chris, I think your problem is perfectly normal. When I record a clip, I spend at least a few hours working out the setting I want to play. Then I have to put it aside for at least a few hours, sometimes longer, to get it out of my head and let it incubate. Otherwise, it turns into an “earworm”, and by the time you actually record it, it loses its spark. Just come back to it occasionally, and mix it in with working on lots of other tunes.
I know what you mean with leaving it, and letting it sink in. Sometimes i come back to a tune after a few weeks or months, and find out the problem areas aren’t there any more. Saying that, I don’t think I’ll aim my skill level on that clip though.
Like i said i can play jeans reel competently but not quite at your speed. Maybe i started to learn too late in life? I’m 44 and been playing whistle almost every day for four years.
Thank you for your helpful comments
Don’t say that Chrisp - I’m ages with you and only have around a year under my belt with the whistle
The fingers are a bit slower and stiffer than they were twenty years ago for sure but as long as they still move… I suppose it depends what you want out of playing.
I started so many things too late in life that it would be rather disheartening looking at it like that! I started lots of other stuff just at the right time, Im sure. Can’t think what right now but… As I watch some friends see their children leave the nest right now and we are expecting another baby this week, kinda wonder about that too. But - they’ll keep me younger for a bit longer maybe - or age me quicker Ah well, no age is a bad age with the right attitude, and good physical health too of course.
Forget speed and go for accuracy and empathy with the music.
I’ve never stuck at something like I have with the whistle, I’ve just got to pick it up and have a toot every time I see it. I guess there’s hope yet
Good luck with the new arrival soon Be sure to ween the bairn early, playing plenty of whistle, that will mean at least one person in the family who sees it not as an irritation
Back to the original question: just don’t. Or, as Frankie might say, “Relax”.
One day you’ll find you’re playing along with someone - in a session or somewhere - and it’s breakneck speed. But you can’t force that moment to arrive. And it’s probably not desirable anyway. It’ll happen when the moment’s right. Much more important to get the rhythm under your fingers.
Sometimes you can get away with simplifying the tune a little and then you can discover that some of the notes you are struggling with are really little more than ornamentation around the core tune. Focus on that and getting the rythmn right and you soon find yourself putting the extra notes back in.
If you slow a piece like that down and then try to play it with all the fiddly bits it’s not surprising if you can’t crank it back up to that speed.
after many months of practice and slowing the tune down somewhat, i eventually picked up speed and felt i could play this pretty well. 
It’s only when i try to play along with MT that i realise i can’t keep up. You think you’ve got it, but not quite 
- or age me quicker 
