Okay, hope you guys don’t mind e dropping in and asking for a little info. I’ve only just picked up a Generation C tin whistle and loved the way it sounded so i decided to teach myself. I’ve been copying The Boys of the Lough tunes (i’m Irish). I know NOTHING so forgive these ignorant questions.
I find the second Octave (which it took me a while to discover existed at all!) quite shrill, squeaky and breathy and i was wondering, is the quality of this altered by the type or cost of whistle or do i just need practice? Also, i’ve heard mention of getting three octaves from a whistle - is this possible or have i read wrong?
Oh, and if any of you know any good sites to find whistle music for Iriah Jigs and Reels i’d be real appreciative. Thanks very much!!
Camilla 
You might want to get a D whistle very soon as it is much more versitile. As for the shrill upper octave, keep at it. With practice you will learn just how hard or how softly you need to blow to get it right. You are correct when you say that whistles differ. But from my experience and what I’ve read on this board even inexpensive whistles are capable of sounding very good.
The third octave is possible, but talk about needing practice! You have to really hit it just right – and you don’t want to stay there for more than a note or two!!
Surf the web and you’ll find many sites with whistle music. Here is one to get you started:
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/findtune.html
Steve
[ This Message was edited by: Blarney Pilgrim on 2001-12-20 16:19 ]
http://www.slowplayers.org/Slowplayers_Music_List.html
Lots of good tunes for beginners, in a few different formats.
There’s only 2 or 2 and a half octaves on some whistles. It gets a little weird after the second octave on some whistles…
I don’t have any whistles I’ve gotten an entire third octave that sounded right out of…
Hrm…
A regular visitor to these pages has the following site which has some lovely tunes: http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/
For yet more tunes & very good guidance on how to play them see Brother Steve:
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/index.html
another source of tunes with sound files: http://fingertrip.net/whistle/index.html
That should be more than enough to get you busy - they all have sound so you can learn by ear.
I second the suggestion to get another whistle in the key of D. This will allow you to play tunes in the keys of G and D, which covers 80% of Irish music. You can play the same tunes using the same fingering on your C, but they will be a tone lower. The D will be even squeakier than the C at first, but with practice…
Hey Camilla,
Welcome to the board! I know how you feel. I started with a C Clarke’s. Prepare for WhOA. Whistles range in price from a few dollars to hundreds. What complicates this is that some of the best players make the inexpensive whistles sound wonderful. Then across the price range there are differences in the sound quality of the whistle and the playability. Anyway, it becomes very confusing and very expensive as you begin to accumulate whistles of various types in various keys (hence Wh-istle O-bsessive A-cquisition disorder.)
Generations although preferred by many traditional players, have a reputation for inconsistant quality. I have a Walton’s Mellow C that is a nice inexpensive whistle. I’d suggest that you poke around the C&F website and see what info you can gain about whistles (there is quite a bit) and keep asking questions! Whistle preferences are VERY individual!
The second octive is tough. It does take some practice but there are vast differences between how various whistles play it. Keep working at it.
Again, welcome and have a Merry Christmas.
Vinny
[ This Message was edited by: Vinny on 2001-12-21 08:44 ]
Camilla…
Try these two site for tunes
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/
This is Richard robinsons Tunebook he’s collecting tunes from all over the world,
and also try joing http://www.thesession.org
sorry about the spelling I meant joining the session (www.thesession.org)
Hey gogo,
Thanks for that link, I was able to find a weekly slow session here in Denver from it
Ron
Welcome to the board, Camilla! You’ll have a lot of fun on here and it’s very informative!
Peace,
Sara
On 2001-12-21 09:57, Ron Rowe wrote:
Hey gogo,
Thanks for that link, I was able to find a weekly slow session here in Denver from itRon
Hey Ron,
I love the slow sessions! I’d been playing the whistle forever, but never in a group, and I’m having a great time since I started with a slow session. It’s a great motivator, really gives me hope that I’ll be able to play up to full speed someday!
gg
Thanks for the info, and the welcome! All the web sites you’ve mentioned will keep me occupied for a while - that’s great. I’ll just keep plugging away, every time i play the higher notes get easier and easier.
Right, this’ll be my last post for two weeks as i’m off back to Eire for the christmas hols (hoorah!). Thanks for all the help you’ve given and have a great christmas!! Talk soon,
Camilla