When I play this song by ear, I’ve no problems to make it sound more or less right, but when I try playing it reading the following sheetmusic, I just cannot figure out how to finger the 11th note in the first line.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/7557
It looks like a C natural, however I’ve also tried playing C sharp. No matter what I do it just sounds off.
Got any suggestions?
Eileen Ivers plays C-natural. And she wrote it. 
On the recording Joanie Madden also plays the C-nat on whistle.
MTGuru, I know there’s no doubt this is a C-nat. When I first took a look at this note, I knew a 100% for sure this was a C-nat.
However, I seem to be unable to finger a C-nat on my Dixon Trad that really does sound like a C-nat. So now, I’m looking for alternative ways to finger this note.
So far, I’ve tried:
oxx ooo
oxo xxx
…and it sounds off!
Then again, maybe it’s because I’m half deaf by now for I’ve been playing those high notes in a very small room for about 30 minutes now.
Actually, my first inclination is to play it as a c# - to parallel the g-f#-g half-step in the previous measure. But that’s not what she does.
If you want complete control of the intonation, half-hole the c-nat.
On my Dixon Trad, the oxxooo c-nat is perfectly OK. oxxxox and oxxxxo flatten the note slightly, but also darken the tone. Finger the d vented oxxxxxx, and the transition to any of those fingerings is easy.
Thanks, MT. I’ve tried half-holing the note today right after coming home from work and it sounds just perfect!
Even if you have a whistle where oxx|ooo is a perfectly good C-natural, there are times like this that you’ll want to half-hole.
A tune that (to me) just cries out to be half-holed in Slieve Russell. It simply doesn’t sound right to me if I don’t.
I also half-hole the C-natural in Slieve Russell, even when playing 6-key flute. It just sounds right.
–James
(Edited to fix a typo.)
Peeplj, could you kindly post a diagram of how to grip the C-nat when half-holing?
Not to preempt James … But when I prepare to half-hole c-nat, I push my first finger forward a bit, so that the knuckle joint is almost sitting over the hole. Then just angle or “lever” the tip joint of your finger from the knuckle, leaving the knuckle pressed firmly against the tube, and not lifting the entire finger. This gives you fine motor control over the movement, and allows you to control the intonation very precisely.
Thanks Guru, I didn’t see this till now.
Yeah, I do basically the same thing. I don’t move the left hand first finger at all except to “roll” it off of the tone hole a bit. This rolling motion is “down” the flute or whistle, towards the right hand.
It sounds complicated but is really a very simple, clean motion, as the Guru pointed out, very easy to control.
Years ago, I used to play quite a bit of recorder. This is the same “rolling” motion that I used in the left-hand thumb to vent the octave.
–James
Thank you both for the help. Truth be told, it was Peeplj’s recorder analogy that finally explained it all as I used to play one, too, many years ago.
Do you ever find yourself controlling intonation with breath rather than fingers? Or is that A Bad Thing?
More often than you might think…after all, one of the instruments I play is the Baroque traverso.
When you play whistle, use every skill that is in your toolbox, and always try to pick up more.
–James