Being new to the whistle I would like some suggestions as I learn this piece. Thanks! 
Try this</a](http://www.cs.tcd.ie/~mcintyrp/Assignments/Flash/Flash%20Website/Tin%20Whistle.swf">this</a)> just for the fun of it.
Joannie Madden does a really nice version on Songs of the Irish Whistle (1). Her main thing is a lot of cuts, and she slides into a lot of notes.
What a fantastic resource. I hope he’s going to one for the accordion and tenor banjo too.
Wouldn’t that be great now 
Someone’s put a lot of work into that. I don’t want to offend. I’m sure he means well but … ???
Best wishes,
Jerry
It is WAY too early in my day to do that to me, Peter! NOT NICE!
(stumbling away and shaking my head)
I innocently ran my mouse across that screen. . .
(sniff) I was so excited. 6 replies already! But no, it was all just a tease. 
Seriously, though …
Is it intended to be a joke, or is it a misguided attempt to create something useful? (Lord knows, I’m gullible.)
Best wishes,
Jerry
Down by the Sally Gardens was the first tune I learned.
Get the tune down note by note first, then add an occasional slide. Try to keep a stable sound with each note.
If you learn the tune in D, and know the notes, try playing it in G. Once you learn that, toggle between the 2 keys (like Joannie Madden does on her track).
I try to keep the tune as lonely-sounding as possible with an occasional ornamentation for emphasis.
I’m going to venture the hypothesis that this is a student’s class assignment project in learning Flash programming and not a serious (ack!) attempt to teach the whistle.
That would explain the considerable effort that went into creating it and its astonishing uselessness as an actual teaching tool (although you can play an almost recognizable version of Old MacDonald with it, which must count for something, at least).
Best wishes,
Jerry
In order not to cloud up Sue’s thread any further I have given the ‘teach yourself whistle’ site it’s own thread.
HeySue,
Take a listen to this one in the Clips and Snips tune archives under MISC, done by a fellow Chiffer, Ashley Jones, listed as ‘In the Sally Gardens’, you might like it for the ornamentation and style, I think it’s great! Here’s the direct link:
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/3-04/sallygardensajones.mp3
That was pretty random.
Here’s a serious reply: be careful not to over-ornament songs. Use finger vibrato, slides and note swells, sparingly. Many great players say that slow songs are actually the hardest kind of Irish music to play (harder than, say, polkas, jigs and reels), because you have to achieve more with less. (I hope this makes sense.)
Thanks all for the tips and references! Maybe I’ll have something presentable soon!
I think song-air playing is so difficult because you would be trying to capture the nuances of the song sung in an instrumental format. The undertanding of the sean nos singing is what makes the challenge. As for ornamentation, listen to Willie Clancy playing Bean Dubh an Gleanna or the Trip we took over the mountain which are wonderfully self indulging in the way he throws in the ornamentation.
More a parlour piece than a sean nos piece, the Sally Gardens will benefit from a bit of minimalism.
I like her rendition too, and the ornamentation isn’t overdone. Sally Gardens is one of those tunes that, at least in my opinion, sounds wonderful when simple. Because of that, I think it’s a great tune to play when you’re just getting started with ornamentation.
I don’t know if that helps, Sue…lol, I don’t think it does really. But you can’t go wrong if you find a good recording of the tune, and try to do some of the ornamentation that the player does.
Ok, I’m not any kind of superhero of the whistle. But here’s an idea anyway that gets a little more obviously technical. When you play the highnotes in the tone, and you are thinking about the balance of the timing, add a little bit more time onto the long notes prior to descending to the next note down. This gives it a nice air type quality, again in my humble opinion.
Good luck with the tune!
Cheers!
Have you checked out
http://www.whistletutor.com/requests.htm#sally ?
It’s a beginner’s tutorial on ornamentation for Down by the Sally Gardens that includes a video.