Hey all, I’m not very proficient in the musical theory department. I have, probably, a fairly elementary question.
I want to play Days of Elijah at my church. The way that I play it, the notes range from G down to C#. On my Sweetone D, I run out of notes on the low end. On the high end, it’s too high for most ears and becomes rather annoying. (This could also be because of my limited, but personally satisfying, playing ability )
If I were to buy a whistle so that I can play the song on the low end of the spectrum, what key would I need? If I understand correctly, a C# would bring me down to that last note, and I’d just need to shift everything up one hole in order to keep playing in the same key. Forgive me if this should have been posted in a different forum. Thanks in advance for your help and for not pointing at me and laughing.
I am familiar with the song, written by Robin Mark. I do not play it on the whistle but play it on guitar and sing the melody. It is a rather simple melody, as are many popular praise songs. I play the song in the key of G and modulate to the key of A at the end in the fashion of Twila Paris. The melody as I know it in the key of G ranges over one octave from B below middle C up to the next B. Although there are opportunities to improvise above and below those notes (as the spirit takes us). If C# is your lowest note, I would guess you are playing in the key of A. But that’s a guess not knowing what you are playing. If I were to change the key to D, as in your whistle, it would range from F# to f#, which would fit comfortably in the Sweetone’s range and not injure any church mice in the bargain.
So I am not quite sure just how you are playing the melody. Check your PM’s and we’ll sort this out there.
James, it’s been a couple of years since I played this song, but I remember it being in A. It’s a nice whistle intro, easy on an A. How about if you start on the middle C# note on your Sweetone D? You won’t run out of notes in those octaves, although you’ll need to do a fair amount of quick half-holing.
I’ll double check later today and confirm the key.
I play this in church as well. We start in G and modulate up to A. I use a G whistle and then an A whistle, and just play in the upper octave. (I could use a D whistle, but I just prefer the others.) It’s not too loud or shrill at all. It’s amazing how a whistle that can pierce your eardrums in your living room can get lost in a big auditorium, even with a mic.
Two questions: (1) what key does your church play it in, and (2) are you trying to play the whistle descant part heard in the Robin Mark recording, or the melody? The whistle part, if you were playing in the key of G, ranges from F# up to a D – a pretty small range, and quite doable in the upper octave. (Or in the key of D, that would be a C# up to an A).
Jennifer, that’s it. From C# up to A. I’m only getting up to G for some reason, but I’m playing by ear and may be missing something.
My church hasn’t actually played it at all. I was wanting to play along with the choir. I planned to play the chorus part while someone else played the rest on piano or guitar. After some PMs with other people, I may try to learn the whole thing first.
James, you are of course welcome to post any questions you have here, but just FYI, there is also a site devoted to playing whistles in church (or just for your own worship, whatever). In any case, there’s Christian whistler website. Give us a look: http://praisewhistlers.org/forum/
Well, I just heard Robin Mark’s version of the song from his live “Belfast Revival” recording and Mr.Nate was close. The song has been recorded many times by many artists and I had not heard that version yet. On that recording it starts out in Bb with the whistle part played on either a Bb or low F whistle (I am guessing a Bb gen). The the song modulates up to the key of C towards the end and the whistle part is played in the second octave on a C whistle.
Just in case anyone wanted to know. James, check your PM’s.
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