Hello all - In keeping with the season, and in celebration of recently obtaining two Low D’s (Dixon & Howard):
Does anyone have any suggestions for those classic
“Haunting Melodies” 
(spooky fading echoes into the mist,mist, mist…)
we all hold so near and dear to our tradition???
I’d like some stuff I can sit on the front porch and spook trick-or-treaters with 
Any ideas woudl be much appreciated.
Spooky tunes on a whistle…
Isn’t that a little like sad tunes on a banjo?
Mark V.
There are a bunch of ghostly songs that have wonderful tunes – I dunno how dark the airs are without the words, nor how they’d do on a whistle, but a few that come to mind:
The unquiet grave
She moved through the fair
When I was on horseback
Demon lover/House carpenter
Battle of the Bog (ballad of the bog?)
So ghostly then the girl came in
The latter two I’ve only heard by Kate Price; one is by a 17th or 18th c. English songwright; the other is, I think, a poem that she set to music. They’re both WAY cool.
Thanks Charlie - Any ideas on where to find abc’s or notation for any of these?
Lee
pipe tune- The Haunting
Sorry, Lee, not a clue. I looked at Mudcat, and they didn’t have any of the tunes. Contemplator
has MIDI tunes of House carpenter and The unquiet grave. The latter is a nice dark version, but kind of cluttered by accompaniment.
Cheers, Charlie
it would be hard, i think, to play spooky on whistle because many spooky songs are in minor and the key of D minor, or it may be G minor? either way, has a B and E flat with no sharps i believe. but if anyone has any spooky tunes please post them because i love the idea of playing creepy tunes on the whistle on halloween.
You can play in E minor and A minor quite easily on a D whistle.
Some haunting tunes that come to mind are:
Wayfaring Stranger
Hatikvah (I actually heard a kid’s Halloween song set to this tune once)
The Addams Family theme
Redwolf
She Moved Through the Fair is on that Chieftens album with Van Morrison. Great song, but sad to me, not spooky.
Eric
I know it sounds irreverent, but…
Two or three years ago when I was really just starting to play and listen to this music, I was in session, and they played a tune that had me seeing skeletons and pumpkin headed men cavorting in a graveyard. I remember the day vividly, because it was in early November and I thought it odd to play such an obviously halloweeny tune after the event.
“What is that cool, spooky tune???”
“Fig for a Kiss”.
oooookay.
The impression I get reading this is that you don’t really mean spooky so much as the reverb-drenched, pseudo-Celtic, ‘Stonehenge through the mists’ sound which low whistles do better than any other instrument. If I’m right, then any Gaelic lament, Scottish or Irish, will have this sound if you play it that way—lots of slides and long notes that flatten as they disappear into the mists. Griogal Cridhe is my favourite.
Any of the slow tunes on Joe McKenna’s CD ‘The Low Whistle’ would also fit the bill and this would be a good one-stop source of tunes if you can learn by ear. Personally, I find the CD pleasant but uninspired but others list it amongst their favourite whistle CDs and I think it is a must for low whistlers even if it’s not quite your cup of tea artistically.
Since I sound a bit sarcastic about the ethereal sound, I should admit that it’s a sound I like a lot but I don’t like that it is now so closely associated with all things Celtic and mystical that it has become something of a cliche. I don’t think there is anything authentically or distinctively Celtic about it at all but since when has authenticity been of concern to the marketing business? I’d hate it if the sound were to become, as it seems to be headed, a turn of the century cliche that becomes dated as quickly as 80s synth and drum machine pop.
Hi Wombat - I coundn’t agree with you more. I find myself concerned about those very issues.
In fact, my reference to “Haunting Melodies” was more ‘tongue in cheek’ than sarcastic, but certainly meant to be silly or, at least, somewhat frivilous.
But, “familiarity breeds contempt”, and while, I’m sure we all love it to some degree when our favorite type of music becomes ‘popular’, with that certainly will come a bit of clicheism and even disdain (yes, believe it or not, I know people who claim to “…hate [Irish] music…”), especially from those who do not give credence to tradition.
But, that being said, there is nothing wrong with havin’ a wee bit-o-fun, Eh? 
After all, isn’t that a key component of our tradition as well?
p.s. - this reply is not meant to be as argumentative as it may sound. Your concerns are very valid and well taken.
Happy Samhain 
Ha, Tyg, I play Fig kinda slow and halting too! I know what you mean.
Thanks Tyghress - I tried that, and it’s perfect!
I never thought of playing that one slow, but it works 
There certainly isn’t and it certainly is. 
Now I wonder who was taking you too seriously, me or everybody else? Ah, it would have to be everybody else, wouldn’t it? 