Playing on my own, I find myself speeding up and slowing down, depending on how well I know the particular part of a tune. I play at friendly, forgiving sessions and I am afraid that I take advantage of that by “smudging” certain passages and really joining in again when I am sure. Everybody says rhythm is the most important thing (apart from money, health and a long life).
Any advice on how I can become a dead-on, rock-solid, steady whistle player?
Thanks,
Bloom “Mind the Bloody Beat” Field
Welllll… for forcing yourself to learn a (fast) tune all the at the same speed you cannot beat a metronome (IMHO). However, only use it until you can keep the tune in time, and then just play, as the natural “wow and flutter” of a good person playing is very attractive. Start slow and work up the speed as you improve.
Tap your foot; eventually you will develop an inbuilt click track which will keep you on track, or at least make it very clear to you when you’re not.
Your mileage may vary, but I know it’s been invaluable to me when I’ve been struggling with a tune.
Richard
PS: There are like a million (well, okay, not a million, but more than one) free computer-based metronomes around on the web if you want one.
My instructor told me to activley listen by tapping along whenever I listen to music. Also when you practice anything…even scales practice them to a beat.
Try http://www.metronomeonline.com/metronomeonline/Default.asp?bhcp=1
And you can practice along
[ This Message was edited by: CraigMc on 2002-02-11 17:52 ]
On 2002-02-11 17:36, Bloomfield wrote:
Any advice on how I can become a dead-on, rock-solid, steady whistle player?
Practice. 
I know it’s not the miracle answer, but that’s how you develop good time. Get out the ol’ metronome.
Make sure you’re not playing faster than you r ability allows, too – slow but accurate is better than fast but all over the place.
(I’ve got rock-solid time on the bass, but I’m still occasionally all over the place on the flute, so it’s not something you learn and then never forget.)
Any advice on how I can become a dead-on, rock-solid, steady whistle player?
Hey, if you find the answer, let me know!
I agree with the advice given above. I would just add that even more useful than metronomes are bad bodhran players, in my experience. They are even easier to find, and what they teach you is invaluable: how to tune them out and listen to yourself and concentrate on your own beat.
Somewhat more seriously: speeding up is definitely the most common failing. One thing that can help is developing the proper internal rhythm in a dance tune - the lilt of a jig, or the backbeat in a reel - so that you can get into an enjoyable groove and stay there. Knowing the piece well is also a big help, so you can relax and listen to the music you’re making rather than thinking about the notes. Or wondering whether your effortless, passionate, wildly exciting playing is making an impression on that dark-eyed beauty sitting at the table over there.
Just as Steve said, internal rhythm but also play it by the phrase, know your tune, where it goes which notes are important and which are not and break it up in pieces so you have a clearly defined set of phrases.
What a lot of traditional players do is tap the rhytm with both feet, one on the beat, one for the swing. I find this keeps you very steady, a good example are whistle/flute players Joe Bane and Micho Russell who who both had that going and both had impeccable timing (which by the end of it wasn’t in their feet but in their head)
On 2002-02-12 00:03, StevieJ wrote:
Knowing the piece well is also a big help, so you can relax and listen to the music you?re making rather than thinking about the notes. Or wondering whether your effortless, passionate, wildly exciting playing is making an impression on that dark-eyed beauty sitting at the table over there.
It is one of the bitter ironies in life that, while I am passionately nailing the B part of Cooley’s and making an effortless transition into Sligo Maid, that dark-eyed beauty at the table over there is batting her eyelash at the Bodhran player who is still trying to figure out if this is a jig or a reel.
All the above stuff sounds good. There are two additional things that haven’t been mentioned yet. Here’s the things that have helped me the most (outside of playing in sessions).
On 2002-02-12 10:08, LeeMarsh wrote:
[*]Going to a couple of Contra-dances or Ceili’s. Hearing a room full of dancers pounding about on a wooden floor seems to engrain the jig and reel timing down into the bones. [/list]
I agree fully with Lee. Personally I have found playing for the sets weekly made a world of difference to my playing and understanding the music BUT make sure the dance you go to plays genuine traditional music, a bunch of guys pounding out a beat for the dancers at a zillion miles per hour won’t do you any good. Musically.
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2002-02-12 10:48 ]
It is one of the bitter ironies in life that … that dark-eyed beauty at the table over there is batting her eyelash at the Bodhran player who is still trying to figure out if this is a jig or a reel.
Sounds like you may soon have two reasons to be grateful to that particular bodhran player. If he (she?) gets together with that particular eyelash-batter, the average intelligence of the pool of available talent is bound to rise - on two counts.
(You may need to consult your British slang dictionary for this use of the word talent.)
This is just another way of saying something that others have alluded to in this thread: Not all tunes should be played at the same tempo, and not all tunes need be played at light-speed. Some jigs and reels actually sound better when one slows them down a bit, makes time to do some ornamentation, and puts a little expression into the phrasing.
I have to guard against playing too fast myself, and I suppose it’s a natural tendency. When practicing alone, one tends to play to a constant level of difficulty. As skills improve, that level of difficulty occurs at an ever faster tempo.
Dance more.
On 2002-02-12 12:40, ysgwd wrote:
Dance more.
I quote what Jackie Daly said last sunday night (while the session was discussing who of us danced at all) :
‘Real musicians don’t dance’
[/quote]
I quote what Jackie Daly said last sunday night (while the session was discussing who of us danced at all) :
‘Real musicians don’t dance’
[/quote]
I don’t think I would say that to anyone with the last name of ‘Leahy’! Those guys and girls ROCK!
On 2002-02-12 13:52, Peter Laban wrote:
On 2002-02-12 12:40, ysgwd wrote:
Dance more.I quote what Jackie Daly said last sunday night (while the session was discussing who of us danced at all) :
‘Real musicians don’t dance’
Hmm… considering the relationship, musician to dancer wouldn’t this be like …
Real Air Traffic Controllers Don’t Fly?
Just a thought,
I, though an amatuer,
find myself dancing,
at least on the inside …
Of course I’ve occasionally danced inside and out. I usually swing, sashay, glide and stomp through half a dozen steps befor my final move, not exactly a do-si-do more like a kiss-the-floor. :roll:
\
Enjoy Your Music,
Lee (who taps both left feet) Marsh
[ This Message was edited by: LeeMarsh on 2002-02-12 14:41 ]
On 2002-02-12 13:52, Peter Laban wrote:
‘Real musicians don’t dance’
It is another of life’s bitter ironies that opposites don’t always hold true. Or I’d be a real musician.
Steve:
talent > of silver contained 3,000 shekels (Ex. 38:25, 26), and was equal to 94 3/7 lbs. avoirdupois. The Greek talent, however, as in the
LXX., was only 82 1/4 lbs. It was in the form of a circular mass, as the Hebrew name kikkar denotes. A talent of gold was double the weight of a talent of silver (2 Sam. 12:30). Parable of the talents (Matt. 18:24; 25:15).
Source: Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary
Maybe I am checking the wrong sources… :roll: 
In the matter of rhythm, and, also being a piano player, I had always been baffled by compositions involving poly-rhythms. For example playing 3 beats with the right hand against 4 with the left or some even harder rhythms. It had always been explained by saying “play each hand separately and then just put them together!” Lots of luck! It never worked for me! Then I read a remarkable explanation. Take a common multiple of the 2 numbers, in this case 12, and write out the two hands in their proper spots as though they were drumbeats. Then tap out the rhythm with both hands. The idea is to forget the numbers and just drill the sound of the rhythm into your head until it sticks in your brain! It works! So, God help us, maybe we can learn something positive from that bodhran player after all! Now to figure out how he charms the dark-eyed beauties!