I have had an interesting exercise in the last few day trying to play tunes very slowly.
I know that many of you concider that the hight of trad cool is to play tunes at breakneck speed but an older and wiser muso than me said once that you loose the real taste of the music in the speed.
It took a while to understand what he meant but after playing tunes at half the speed I have developed an even greater love of the tunes when slowed down.
There is wonderful melody in them,any of them,so give it a go,SLOW THEM DOWN.
The term ol’ Bill used was STEADY.
So..steady as you go Captain.
Also when playing tunes on a whistle,it’s MUCH more of a challenge to make them sound good at a steady pace.
Phil.
Now why didn’t I think of that!?!
Guilty! Mea Culpa! Oh Crud!
Young and foolish as I am, I play too fast. My current remedy is to buy more whistles. 
Isn’t it more about pulse and groove? When Joannie Madden rips through a reel it doesn’t seem hurried, but my metronome says it’s Tempo di Scalded Cat. 
I always play at what tempo seems right to me whether it is really fast or really slow I try not to play every Reel, Jig, etc. etc at the same speed.
Great advice Phil. Even if you intend to play the tune fast, it’s well worth playing it slowly to really understand the structure of the tune. I also like playing tunes with somewhat different rhythms for fun-- “dotting” the notes of a reel, playing jigs like waltzes, etc.
Trying to learn tunes at breakneck speed is a real challange for those of us new to the whistle world. One of the best things someone suggested to me was to find some of the songs on midi and then slow them down on my midi keyboard to learn them. It is very easy for us newbies to get discouraged trying to “keep up”.
It’s nice to hear a professional suggest what can be experienced not just in the learning but in the actual listening and appreciation of the tune.
I’ve learned quite a lot in the past five months, and can do a fairly credible job of fingering on a high whistle (thanks in no small way to the ease of Mr Busmans fine whistle).
Now when I can do a better job on the Low G and Low D (A Cheiftain Low G and a Kerry Low D by the way, Mr Hardy), then I will feel ready to start to get “better” all round.
But all the same the experience is sure fullfilling. Fun on the “journey”.
If I slowed down anymore than I play now I would be at dead stop. I just can’t quite get up to speed.
Ron
Here here, Ron! 
Couldn’t agree more Phil. The County Clare musicians tend to play a piece slower and savour every note, thereby drawing much more colour and meaning from the tune. Martin Hayes and Denis Cahill in the “Lonesome Touch” give a good example of this type of playing. IMHO their rendition of the hornpipe “Paul Ha’penny” is a superb example.
BTW I got my Kerry Low D tunable Songbird from Big Whistle recently - lovely instrument and I am delighted with the tone, balance, and the beautiful finish. The tuning joint is really well formed but I find it tight and a bit of a struggle to adjust. My inclination is to take a bit of ‘000 wet and dry’ to the cork but I dont want to do anything stupid and end up with a less perfect instrument. Maybe you can suggest something I can safely do - perhaps even have patience until the joint naturally loosens up!!. 
Tony,try separating the head from the body and add some more grease to the inside if the slide and then slowly twist the body back on.Most pro players who use tunable whistles just set the slide where it is in pitch when warm and leave it there.
Phil.
see below - quote is from Galway banjo-player Poric McDonagh on the sleeve-notes of “Live At Matt Molloy’s”.
It would be potentially interesting to take a few well known tunes that appear on various recordings from the 50s onwards and see if the tempo really has changed over the years.
Also comparing live recordings to studio recordings might reveal various tempos in use.
A few old recordings I have are usually noted on the sleeve as being particularly enjoyable for the slower pace the tunes are taken at.
You should no more rush a good tune than you would a good whiskey.
You should no more rush a good tune than you would a good whiskey.
Never a truer word jbarter. with the emphasis on rush. A good player can play fast and articulate the notes so that the essence of the tune is not lost, the not so good player crams the notes in to play fast and it sounds like mush.
As has been mentioned in other topics the best way to understand the speed for tunes is to actually play for dancers, If they can dance to it then you are on the right track.
David
There are tunes that sound good slowed down and some that don’t. Not all tunes are really melodic, or melodically interesting; I think those that don’t slow down well (mostly reels IMO) are more about rhythm than melody. I don’t generally play those, because I find them kind of dull while learning them. I suspect that’s also why I don’t play nearly as many reels as jigs.
Thanks a mil Phil - I actually used a little petroleum jelly and worked the joint a bit and it is beginning to loosen up fine.
One of the guys I play with is a box player, and his button accordion seems to be tuned a bit sharp, so I have to tune every time I play with him. Most of the rest of the time I dont need to tune.
Beannachtai Ort
Petroleum jelly? I thought cork grease (the kind clarinet players use) would be preferable. I’ve got some that comes in a handy lip balm-type dispenser. Unless I misunderstood and your whistle has metal-on-metal connections. But I wouldn’t put anything but cork grease on my flute corks.
Is petroleum jelly going to cause problems with the cork?? I used it because I do not have cork grease to hand and because I half remember reading that someone, perhaps on this board, used and recommended it. So should I remove the petroleum jelly??
My wife and I play in public. She plays harp. We used to avoid reels because they just didn’t seem to fit the instrumentation. But we found that the more melodic reels (Foxhunters, Morning Dew, even Craig’s Pipes) sound really nice slowed way down. Someone said that some reels are all about rhythm. That’s absolutely correct, and those are the ones that are hardest to learn. Good musicians love them, but most audiences find them boring after a while.
I think it can be said about any type of tunes. When you end up playing AABB three times, it can get repetitive. I guess that’s when good players will have nice, subtle variations in that stuff to keep the music interesting enough. But at the end of the day, some people will just never like irish music because it all sounds all the same to them. 
PS: A wife who plays harp, lucky ya!
PS2: Nice thread Phil!