I got a Chieftan Low G for christmas, but there was no fingering chart. I have done a bunch of looking but cant find exactly what I’m looking for. I know I can just pertend it’s a D, BUT I’M JUST curious to see a G chart. ANy ideas?
the notes, from the bottom up, are g,a,b,c,d,e,f# and G
and here is a link to more info:
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/whistlekeys.html
\
Tyghress
…And I go on, pursuing through the hours,
Another tiger, the one not found in verse.
Jorge Luis Borges
[ This Message was edited by: tyghress on 2002-12-29 12:25 ]
You have to understand that the only thing you can do is think of it as transposing. No one, other forum denizens correct me, no one plays a G whistle while reading tunes written on a G scale. Irish music is traditionally written as though the instrument were pitched in D, just like Scottish music tends to be written in A.
If you’re dying to see a chart in G, I would download this one and relabel it for the key. Or, this works:
G XXX XXX
A XXX XXO
B XXX XOO
C XXX OOO
D XXO OOO
E XOO OOO
Fnat OXX OOO or OXO XXX, etc.
F# OOO OOO
G OXX XXX
There you go! If your goal is to play Irish music, I don’t think I’d get used to thinking of the notes this way, though, since most people refer to the “cardinal” pitches on a D instrument. Remember this and you should be able to communicate with the string players:
D major on a D :: G major on a G
G major on a G :: C major on a G
E minor on a D :: A minor on a G
B minor on a D :: E minor on a G
Those are probably the most common of the keys for Irish stuff.
Does that help?
Oh, look, Tyghress and I were responding simultaneously!
Stuart
GMTA
On 2002-12-29 12:26, sturob wrote:
You have to understand that the only thing you can do is think of it as transposing. No one, other forum denizens correct me, no one plays a G whistle while reading tunes written on a G scale. Irish music is traditionally written as though the instrument were pitched in D, just like Scottish music tends to be written in A.
…
OK, I’ll correct you. I’ve run across a couple of tunes written in G (or C) that fit in the scale of of a G whistle, and thus need to be read in key of G.
Granted, D scales are FAR more common. But especially if you’re dealing with songs, rather than reels/jigs, you will occasionally see other scales.
And, of course, if you’re dealing with Lúnasa’s new book of music, you’d better be good at reading F/Bb. 
If there’s one thing you can absolutely count on, it’s that there are no absolutes.
I didn’t even know Lúnasa had a book of music . . . I’ll have to look for it.
I wonder why they wrote stuff in F.
Stuart
On 2002-12-29 14:27, sturob wrote:
I didn’t even know Lúnasa had a book of music . . . I’ll have to look for it.I wonder why they wrote stuff in F.
Stuart
Yup, just go to http://lunasa.ie/ The book covers all of the music from all of their albums to date.
As for why they wrote it for the F whistle, well, that’s simple. They play them in those keys. Personally, I really like the sound of it in the lower tones, less shrill, more “full” sounding.
Well, OK, yeah, that’s true (that they play them in those keys). I guess I just don’t really think there’s much point in writing out the music in that key unless they’re playing a D instrument in F. I mean, whistles are diatonic instrumens . . . oh, well. FINE.
I did look on the site and order it. I especially liked their slick sales engine that automatically took off the VAT. Nice!
On 2002-12-30 06:18, sturob wrote:
Well, OK, yeah, that’s true (that they play them in those keys). I guess I just don’t really think there’s much point in writing out the music in that key unless they’re playing a D instrument in F. I mean, whistles are diatonic instrumens . . . oh, well. FINE.
Shh, don’t tell anyone, but there’s actually other instruments out there besides whistles.