What are some good songs for the fledgling wistler to sweat over?
I’ve been playing for a little over 3 weeks now with one of Jerry’s Sweetones (I’m an addict now. thanks! 
). I’ve dedicated a fair amount of time learning to play Merrily I Kissed the Quaker’s Wife and Si Bheag & Si Mhor and become pretty proficient at both.
I was just curious to see if anyone had any suggestions.
Thanks.
Peg Ryan’s (polka) and Jim Ward’s Jig (stays in the bottom octave for the A part).
Before you learn any more tunes, buy a lot of expensive whistles. Then, you’ll feel obligated to learn. And if you don’t learn any, you can pull the whistles out to look at. Wood is very nice.
Just kidding. If you want to learn Irish dance music, which you imply, learn jigs, polkas, and hornpipes before dealing with reels. You’ll get a better handle on rhythm that way. Don’t fool with ornamentation much until you can at least hear the rhythms in your playing.
Some easy jigs are Swallowtail Jig, 10 Penny Bit, Blackthorn Stick. A nice slip jig is Fig for a Kiss. (Be sure you understand 9/8 time). Polkas: Ballydesmond (there are several). Hornpipes: Off to California, Harvest Home, Boys of Bluehill.
You’ll find plenty of recordings of these popular session tunes. You’ll need to listen to the music, whether on recordings, or live, to get a sense of how to play it. (Don’t learn from beginners who have been playing only a year longer than you. Skip that step.) Have fun. Practice like a maniac.
Tony
Tripping up the Stairs is a pretty easy and common jig. Hmmm… also, Terry Teehan’s Polka is really easy and kind of cute. It goes well with that Peg one someone mentioned above.
For only 3 weeks you have tackled some good tunes!
I would recommend:
Drowsey Maggie
Ten Penny Bit
Scarborough Fair
Spancil Hill
Have fun!
Sandy
Hey, I resemble that remark! 
Just kidding.
Oh sure, now you tell me!
Thanks a bunch.
Yes, the tunes in Brother Steve’s tin whistle site. Each one is there to teach you something about ornamentation, phrasing, etc, and they’re good tunes that you actually will play in sessions.
g
There is a thread on “easy cover songs.” Cover in this context, refers to songs recognizable by the general public.
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=13463
A song that is easy for one person may not be easy for the next. With that caveat, the list of cover songs includes:
Amazing Grace
Greensleeves (and many other Christmas time tunes)
Lord of the Rings song (hobbit song?)
North Country Blues (Bob Dylan)
Scarborough Fair
Simple Gifts
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Texas Playboys (and various other Al Jolson tunes)
The Star Spangled Banner
Glauber - thank you! is printing like mad
Hi Jack,
I would start with slow tunes like O’Carolan tunes, & polkas, mazurkas if you can hear them, then move onto jigs, slipjigs, slides, hornpipes & finally reels.
Slow tunes are slow so they’re easier, though slow airs can be tricky, so you need to hear them first.
Polkas have maximum 4 quavers in a bar, and a good swing to them.
Jigs have six quavers in a bar, so they’re 50% harder then polkas.
Reels have 8 quavers in a bar, so they’re 100% harder then polkas. They’re also usually played the fastest.
Slip jigs have 9 quavers in a bar, but once you get the feel for them they’re not really any harder than jigs - you can put them together with jigs in a set.
Slides have 12 quavers in a bar, but that doesn’t make them 3 times harder than reels, because they work very like jigs - you can put them together with jigs (and slipjigs) in a set.
Tadaaa! Who first related music to mathematics? Good Ol’ Pythagoras, that’s who, first name Monty.
Anything for John Joe (reel)
Little Sack of Spuds (reel)
Dawning of the Day (march)
Star of the County Down (march)
Egan’s Polka
Rattling bog (polka)
Ballydesmond 2 (polka)
These are the first tunes my teacher gave me.
Opps, I posted this on another topic but it applies here better
Some easy tunes at my beginning.
I’d also recommend for the older folks to run through a few of your favorite songs you learned years ago and already know by heart. It becomes a simple thing, once you find the right starting notes and Key (G or D for a d whistle; C or F for a C whistle).
For example, in another thread, folks found Rocky Raccoon and Black Bird from the Beatles album, fit nicely. As did the House of the Rising Sun. Also a number of lullabys like All Through the Night work well for beginner, simple and slow and well known.
The trick is to find a tune you already know forwards and backwards. Maybe it was that first slow dance with girl of your dreams, or the tune you and your mates claimed as your theme song, or song your uncle revelled in when he had one too many. If it’s one you’ve heard 100 times; it will be easy to find on your whistle. Not all songs work, some are just too much rythmn and not enough melody, but other will florish, filled with melodic content as well as the wealth of heart you’ve already invested in them.[/list]