Three things make this enticing old reel noteworthy:
–it’s in A-major, not a good key for whistles;
–it goes up to the third octave E (ouch!!!)
–it has an unusual chromaticism in the B part involving a flattened seventh
I chose the Dixon to play this on because it is very chromatic, and has a decent cross fingered low G-sharp; it isn’t too shrill on the very high notes; and, last but not least, because I haven’t recorded my Dixon much, and it’s really quite a nice little whistle.
The Contradiction Reel is one of my favorites too. I initially tried to learn it on the flute (like Matt M. plays it) but quickly decided that it would make a better fiddle tune (in D-for you who moonlight on strings). It’s a fine fiddle tune, and I haven’t returned to the flute or whistle yet but now I might after hearing your great rendition.
On 2003-01-27 12:35, Stef wrote:
What fingering do you use for the G sharp? I am tring to learn a tune on A on my Dixon as well.
Cheers,
Stef
In the first octave, I’m using
x x o | x x x
This is sharp and a little veiled, but usable.
In the second octave, I’m using
x x o | x x o
For the second octave fingering to work, the whistle has to be warm. On a cold whistle this will jump harmonics up to either a B-flat or a B-natural.
Also on my Dixon the secret to avoiding clogging is to warm up the whistle gently before jumping in and tearing at top speed.
I like the Dixon. While it’s not exactly a traditional sound–it’s sound is very similar to a Susato VSB but with a little less bite–it’s a good stable all-purpose whistle.
Also for the curious at heart, here are the third octave fingerings for the Dixon:
high D = o x x | o o o
high E = x x o | x x o
high F# = x o x | x x x
high G = x o x | o o o
high A = o x x | x x o
Great tune!