any easy beginner tunes?
Hi D 4rk,
Easy tunes … hmmm Someone said Kesh was easy but it didn’t turn out to be easy. Problem is that they all sound to be easy until you start applying the ornaments - then you learn it for a bit, It starts sounding good until you remember that you have to vary the tune to make it interesting than it gets hard again then after a while its good again.
I’d say anything is an easy starter if it’s got no C or F naturals, But- they will probably get a bit boring.
You know - it would be a good idea to remember that every tune is a work of art each time you play. Whether you ornament or vary, just play it and listen - if you like it then others probably will too.
The Munster Cloak is a fun and easy tune to learn. Not much ornimentation to it, yet at the same time, it makes a good tune to pratice adding your own ornimetations to it once learned.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: D D A A B B A, G G F# F# E E D
Oh Susanna: D E F# A A B A F# D E F# F# E D E
Baa Baa Black Sheep: D D A A B C# D’ B A, G G F# F# E E D
Happy Birthday to you: D D E D G F#, D D E D A G, D D D’ B G F# E, C C B G A G
Lots more here.
http://www.geocities.com/whistleandsqueak/instruction.html
Listen to a bunch of tunes and pick out the ones you really like. You like the tune = you listen to it a lot = you’ll learn to hum or sing it quickly = you’ll learn to play it quickly. Also, you’ll listen to lots of music searching for tunes you really like so you can learn them. If you’re getting the idea that listening is a big part of learning, then you’re right!
I’m a fan of learning tunes from back to front. Practice the last two measures (playing them forwards, not backwards!) until you have them down. Then learn the previous two measures and so on. When you play the tune you are always moving from less familiar territory to more familiar territiory. By the time you learn the whole tune, you’ll have practiced the last part (frequently the most complex part) many, many times and feel very comfortable with it.
Don’t get discouraged when your first rendition doesn’t sound like Joanie’s or Mico’s. Remember that they started out noobs at some point, too. Enjoy the journey; the desination will arrive in good time.
The first tune I learned was Inisheer, it’s an air so it’s pretty managable in terms of tempo.
This tune is quite simple and you can learn it by ear or sheet and play it very slowly along with the Uilliann Pipes at this website. It’s really fun. It’s called The March of the High King of Loise. There are other tunes there that are not too hard, but this is the simplest:
http://www.uilleannpipestutor.moonfruit.com/theoldbush
Some on-line tutorials might have some simple tunes you would like:
http://www.whistletutor.com/index.htm
http://nigelgatherer.com/index.html
http://www.whistleworkshop.co.uk/home.htm
This website has a lot of tunes and if you look through them some are pretty simple:
http://www.abacci.com/music/tunes.asp
I would encourage you to get some simple tunes into pretty good shape before you start on dance tunes. The simple tunes let you feel encouraged a little sooner when you are just beginning. They can sound musical when played very slowly.
I’m new myself, but have managed to learn a few fairly fun easy ones.
What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?
Off to California
Sheebeg Sheemore
Another one that’s really fun, but a little harder is Stack of Rye. There are a couple of places where my fingers become briefly disobedient, but they get back in line pretty quickly. It’s a fun tune though.
You can get all of these at:
Although there’s no whistle sample for Stack of Rye or Off to California, there are a couple on his site - but on a low whistle. If you look in the reviews section under the Chieftan Low D’s, he plays them as samples of the whistle.
Also there are a lot of Christmas carols that are fun and easy to learn.
Jason