I’m new to Chiff and Fipple, so I thought I’d introduce myself. I’ve been playing a nickel Oak D (my first whistle) for all of 36 hours or so, and it’s great. I like it so much I just ordered a Park’s Every Whistle, so as not to annoy the neighbors, and a brass Dixon Trad. I grew up playing fiddle (traditional bluegrass), and a lot of those tunes, conveniently, are in the key of D. I can’t wait to expand my repertoire with some Irish tunes.
Anyway, it’s great to have stumbled across such a great online community!
Welcome! There’s lots of crossover in bluegrass/old-time/Irish, as you undoubtedly know. Have you learned any Irish tunes on fiddle, or are you focusing just on whistle?
Pammy:
I haven’t made it to any festivals in quite a while, but I used to go to some. I’m originally from east TN.
Thomaston:
My gf and I moved to England about 5 months ago. I quit my job for the move, and my gf’s new job didn’t pay to move much more than just her over here. We moved with two suit cases each, so I left a fiddle, mandolin and mountain dulcimer with my folks in TN. I hope I don’t forget how to play them.
We’re only going to be here 2 or 3 years, so I didn’t want to deal with the hassle/risk of moving instruments over here. I wanted to play something but it needed to be relatively inexpensive and not take up too much room. We’re also trying to travel as much as possible while we live abroad. The whistle is perfect.
I actually know some reels and a hornpipe or two that I’m sure have Irish or Scottish roots, so yeah, the linked heritage of bluegrass, old-time, and Celtic music should help with transitioning to mainly Irish and Scottish music. That said, you can’t grow up where I did without someone teaching you some rudimentary Scottish and Irish tunes. I just never developed proper Irish fiddle techniques.
Husband and I visited the crooked road in Western VA last year and we think there is more English history there with the names of the places and some of the tunes played there, no doubt I will be told differently here soon but you only have to look at some of the place names to see what I mean. A lot of the tunes and songs cross over quite a bit anyway. I’m sure you will enjoy the UK while you are here. There is loads to see and do even though we are only a little country compared to yours.
Thanks for the warm reception everyone. It was a bit of a leap of faith walking away from a great job at an engineering firm in this economy, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to live abroad for a few years while we’re young. I’m still job hunting over here, but that just means I can take breaks to practice the whistle. This little instrument will definitely be a welcome addition to my life.
Pammy:
Funny you mention the borrowed place names. It’s like that all over the US. The UK may be relatively small, but it’s packed full of amazing places to visit. So far, we’ve been to Chester, Oxford, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and all over the Lake and Peak Districts (we enjoy hiking).
mutepointe:
Specifically, there’s an Eskdale and Shrewsbury nearby. We’ve been told they’re nice places to visit. I worked in West Virginia quite a bit over the past 4 years, just north of Kanawha County.
