Does anybody know about the Minnesota Feis?
Has anyone competed at a Feis before and what is your advice?
The only instructions for the MN Feis is 2 dance tunes in contrasting tempos. Any suggestions?
Sorry that I can’t help, but do let us know how it goes. My daughter dances at a feis every few weeks and there is often a whistle competition, but I have never been able to slip away from the other events to watch. Might be fun to enter one in the future.
I did look at the requirements for one such contest and there were some arbitrary restrictions. For example, the whistle had to have a metal body and a plastic tip. Maybe they were trying to exclude high end instruments?
Yes, probably to even out the playing field. Years ago, Comhaltas standardized on 6 tone holes for the whistle, thus ruling out folks with a Cnat tone hole, etc.
Of course, we all know that would not eliminate a number of quality, high end whistles. I think it’s more likely they were trying to keep it traditional. Trad is a very big thing in some feis circles.
Not that they can really succeed. There are still plenty of fads in Irish music and dance. 
I’ve only played for dancers at the Feis, and that’s all I ever saw, were dancers; didn’t realise there were playing competitions, too! So much for being aware of my surroundings.
A jig and a reel are pretty contrasty. Does the playing have to be at dance tempos, do you know?
And I take it you’d be playing WHISTLE… 
Of course, guarding the tradition would be the motivating factor. The hole restriction + the plastic fipple does rule out the wooden whistles that comprise the high end. It does even out the players to the lower end of the whistle marketplace, and that would include Generation players and up.
Funny, that would seem to rule out the CLarke, possibly the most traditional style whistle.
A judge in a competition should be able to discern a player’s ability from his whistle. My personal opinion regarding “equipment”, be it musical instruments, sports equipment, or anything else, is that it won’t make you a better player. Poor instruments will make you a worse player, but the best instrument will only alow you to play to your potential. Nothing will make you play better than you can play.
-Mike Brennan
For Comhaltas competition, one must use a 6-hole, ‘penny-whistle’ style whistle.
I haven’t found anyone who has competed at this particular Feis yet so I haven’t been able to determine what the rules really are. I guess you go and do your thing and hope it is what they are looking for.
I am thinking about playing my whistle but definitely my Misc. A well played Misc. is sooo moveing.
Funny, all my whistles have at least 9 holes. Which ones does one leave out? The window? The big hole at the end?
