I am in the process of learning a non trad song (actually a love song from about 20 years ago). The problem I am running into is that nearly every other measure contains a single note repeated 2, 3 or 4 times.
At first, I separated each note with a glottal stop which sounded very boring. Then I tried a combination of glottal stops and tounging. It sounded better but there are so many instances of these that the song sounded more staccato than legato (which is the goal). When I added taps and cuts, I was able to get a more of a legatto feel, but, the song began to sound like I was giving it an Irish accent. While an Irish accent in non Irish songs can be a plus, it just doesn’t work in this case.
Do I have any other choices to seperate repeated notes that will allow me to get the legatto sound I am after without the Irish accent?
Just an idea… have you tried doing a little slide (would that be the proper term?) between notes? Like, say you’re playing an E, you’d lightly pull your finger across the D hole. In other words like an extended tap.
Legato tonguing, like I sometimes use on the French (pardon the term ) horn, also works with the whistle. You try to keep a steady air flow going but interrupt the flow slightly by touching the tongue lightly to the roof of the mouth rather than forward towards the gums and teeth. It’s harder to explain than it is to do.
I find that making “trills” is easier if I adopt a r-r-r-r-uffles have r-r-r-r-idges purr with my throat without vocalizing.
Do you think these tripples or quad notes of yours are the Irish “cran” or “strike” notes? That is to say,momentarily lifting the lowest covered tonehole and then momentarily striking the next lowest tonehole for a “triplet”?
You could also adopt a head-shaking warble like Shakuhachi players use or modulate your diaphram(non-cotraceptive :roll: )
I am new to the whistle and have learned/am learning several songs and tunes both Irish trad and otherwise. My latest three songs/tunes are Blind Mary (beautiful tune when played slowly), Castle on a Cloud from Les Miserables and Debbie Boone’s You Light up My Life. As you can see, it’s a pretty varied selection. I can play each of these (among others), but I still need to work on being able to do it consistantly.
You Light up My Life is my current nemisis. While I can play the entire song though using glottal stops and/or tounging between the multitude of repeated notes, I don’t like the staccato sound it produces. This is the first of several of this type of song I will be learning. Bette Middler’s The Rose is next which also contains a very large number of double notes. These songs are played at a tempo of around 90 or 100 with mostly quarter or eighth notes being repeated as opposed to say a jig played at 180 with sixteenth notes being repeated. The notes are more daaaaaaaah, daaaaaaaah, daaaaaaah than dah, dah, dah.
I am learning these songs because I enjoy listening to them (hey, I’m a good guy despite my questionable taste in music. :roll: ). I am playing solo with no vocals or other insturments (other than the computer). In the Irish tunes I am learning, I want to use the cuts, taps, slides, rolls, crans etc as I learn them as they provide a great Irish flavor to the music that I really enjoy.
In the case of the other music I’m learning, I want to be able to play them using the techniques a clasical flutist might use (those that can be played on a whistle anyway). My problem (one of them anyway) is that I don’t know what techniques are available in other types of music to separate repeated notes. What I have found that works the best so far is Ridseard’s suggestion of legatto tounging. I spent about an hour and a half today practicing it (and some others). It’s going to take quite a bit more practice before I’m any good at it.
I hope that this extra info helps. Thanks for all of the suggestions so far.
If you want decoration that doesn’t sound Irish but enhances the melody, you might go for a little jazzy decoration. A brief melodic doodle that lands you back on the repeated note, for example might sound good. Perhaps repeat the note but vary the time a bit: push one note and delay the next, for example, for added interest. Also, there are jazzy counterparts of taps and cuts in which you sound the decorative notes quite distinctly. Here, don’t play with a steady rhythm but let it swing a bit.
) horn, also works with the whistle. You try to keep a steady air flow going but interrupt the flow slightly by touching the tongue lightly to the roof of the mouth rather than forward towards the gums and teeth. It’s harder to explain than it is to do.