Now, before I ask my question I will need to clarify something. I can’t read music, I don’t know one end of a scale from the other. I don’t understand buying an instrument in one key and being able to play other keys on it, as I’ve read in different places online. That makes no sense to me. I know the sound of my high D whistle, and I like the lower husky tone of the low whistles. I follow the note pictures on whistle music and I know the BAG FED layout of my whistle notes (and obviously other notes)
Thats it…that’s the full extent of my knowledge. And mostly I play by ear and memory.
I would love to buy a low whistle while Im touring Southern Ireland early next year. I would rather buy from a music shop so I can hold the instrument, and maybe even play it to hear the sound and feel where the right hand note holes are on a larger whistle. Id rather not buy online and maybe end up with some random instrument, as this will be more expensive and maybe if I spend a few hundred £s on it, it will be expensive enough to be a ‘considered purchase’.
So back to my question. If I buy a low D whistle …obviously discounting the lower husky tone…will the notes be the same? Will the low D play to online videos etc as the high D does?
Im not altogether sure how I should be asking this…all I know is that I would like a low whistle that has the same note sound, and the notes in the same place …but obviously lower…that my high D does.
Yes, that’s much much better than buying online. I was lucky and got the chance to try and test a whole bunch of instruments in a shop (after years without the possibility! But the wait was worth it). MK, Burke, and many others that I had only seen online before. That made the whole difference - the instrument I bought (a low D) has a playability and a tone that makes me grab for it whenever I have a minute available.
When buying online (as I did for my mostly-cheap, but not only-cheap) high whistles it’s more miss than hit.
The problem is ofcourse there aren’t many shops with a decent selection of good quality whistles. Dixon, Kerry and Susato seems the standard fare with, if you’re lucky, one or two other makes (beyond the standard cheap range). So choice is generally very limited.
Buying online does give you the option to return any item, no questions asked, under EU rules but it is an additional hassle.
Sometimes buying something hideously expensive online has the benefit of saving a lot of money. Been there, done that. Whistles are, most of the time, best bought in person though.
As others have said, but I will add one thing. Don’t be afraid to try every whistle in the store.
A few years ago I was in Dingle and decided to try out the low whistles in the local music store (VERY friendly folks). All they had in the price range I was willing to consider were three Dixon metal D low whistles. I took all three off the shelf, they showed me to a back room where I could spend as much time as I wanted, and my only audience was the store cat. There was quite a bit of difference in the three whistles, one was clearly superior to the rest for the sound I was interested in. I walked around town and thought about them, came back and tried them all again (coming to the same conclusion), and bought the whistle.
With regard to other keys, you can still play the key of D fingering that you know, but the tune will be in the key of the whistle you are playing it on.
Example: Play your D whistle then switch to a C whistle, you are now playing your tune in the key of C, instead of key of D - if you are on your own, that’s OK - but don’t try it in company of other players who are in the key of D.
So all my notes/sounds are in the same place but it’s like if I try to sing something with the radio and it’s either too high or too low for me? That sort of thing?
The notes of the melody are in the same relative place; in different keys, they just have a different absolute starting pitch. It’s like anyone can recognize the shape of a square, regardless of how big it is (within reason) or where the starting corner is. By the same analogy, playing a tune on different keys of whistle is like cutting a square from a rectangular piece of paper: the procedure (folding on the diagonal) is the same no matter how big the paper is.
Another way of putting it, if you can play your tune in D, but want to play it in G, you just pick up & use a G whistle, same fingering, & it will now be in the key of G, instead of D.
if you can play your tune in D, but want to play it in G, you just pick up & use a G whistle, same fingering, & it will now be in the key of G, instead of D.
Playing it in G on your D whistle may just be the better option though.
We are trying to explain the different key whistles, & why you would buy them.
Now, before I ask my question I will need to clarify something. I can’t read music, I don’t know one end of a scale from the other. I don’t understand buying an instrument in one key and being able to play other keys on it, as I’ve read in different places online. That makes no sense to me. I know the sound of my high D whistle, and I like the lower husky tone of the low whistles.
(Yes, I know that you can play in C & G easily on a D.)
Edit: Diatonic instruments are not the best for playing all keys, for that you are far better off with a chromatic instrument.
We are trying to explain the different key whistles, & why you would buy them
Playing another key, say G on a D whistle, is part of the learning curve. Buying a new whistle only to use it for its basic key really defies the purpose. I don’t think pointing out the common alternative interferes with your explanation, it complements it.
Diatonic instruments are not the best for playing all keys, for that you are far better off with a chromatic instrument.
It is common practice to use a D whistle to play in D and G, Am (dorian if you like) and Em (dorian again) and A is within, relatively easy, reach as well. Works perfectly fine.
This
doesn’t make it easier to play in all keys. Even a keyed whistle or (simple system) flute isn’t really a fully chromatic instrument. Keys will help with the accidentals but you don’t quite step into playing in any key at all ( though some will be easier to fall into than others).
I see that a low D and a high D sound the same…except for the low huskiness.
That’s all I need to know, and Im very grateful for all who have taken time to explain it to me…thanks
The last couple of posts are going somewhere that I don’t understand, like when your satnav says you are on a motorway but you’re actually driving through a forest, that wide eyed “what?” look. That’s how lost I am with keys, pitches, Gs Bs and other notes.
Maybe this will help. Western music has a set of notes that sound right to us.
Do re mi fa so la ti do
That is a set of intervals, a set of pitch relationships that sound right and pleasing. Its called “the major scale,” BTW.
You would probably sing “doe, a deer a female deer” starting on a C note (do) and you would be in the key of C.
But you might start out singing the song on a D. All the intervals between the notes would be the same, but it would be in the key of D. Or you might start on B; then it would be in the key of B Nobody would notice unless they had perfect pitch: the song would sound normal and right. Your first note would be in a different pitch, but all the intervals between the notes would be the same.
So if you pick up a C whistle and play “doe, a deer” the first note is C and you are in the key of C. If you pick up a Bb whistle and play “Doe a deer,” the first note is Bb and you are in the key of Bb. But all the fingering stay the same, because the fingerings express note intervals.
Why the major scale, and why does it sound good to us? I dunno, I was told there’s a reason it’s called “music theory” and not “music fact.”
The easy way to change key with a whistle is to just pick up another whistle. Guys who are good at half holing can play in a lot of keys. I saw a guy hang at a jazz jam once with a homemade PVC flute in D. He just half holed the hell out of it and played around the missing notes.
With a chromatic instrument (piano, sax, guitar, trumpet, boehm system flute or clarinet etc.) changing keys involves a more complicated process of using different fingerings. Guitar players often cheat and use a capo
This makes sense, thinking of how I would sing something I see what you mean. Thank you so much for taking the time to think of a way to explain it to me. I think I get it
