Feeling shamefaced because Dale gave Brother Steve’s site a plug in the newsletter when I haven’t added anything to it for months (except for a translation of almost the entire site into French by Sylvain Maillot, francophones please note), I have added an amusing (and possibly useful) tip to the “Quick tips” section, which I’ll summarize here. I apologize if it’s been posted before or if everyone knows it already - I didn’t until recently.
I got this trick from Brad Hurley, he of the very useful flute site.
Fiddlers often play G tunes in A just to annoy us. Take “Out on the ocean”, for example. This particular tune is easy enough to relearn in A, but if you’re too lazy, or in an emergency (?) try this.
Simply move all your fingers up one hole. With all your fingers down, the D hole is open, the third finger of your bottom hand will now be covering the E hole (rather than the D hole), the third finger of your top hand covers the A hole rather than its usual G hole, and so on. The first finger of your top hand is not covering a hole at all but resting on the body of the whistle above the topmost hole.
Now just play the tune as though your fingers were in the normal position. Hey presto! Out on the ocean in A.
Sounds too good to be true? The limitation is that it only works with G tunes having no F#s or or C-naturals, and you might have to purge the odd F# out of your ocean before succeeding with this trick. And of course your carefully honed rolls on B will produce nothing at all.
Steve,
this is great: Very funny. I whish I could try, but my reputation in the office is bad enough as it stands…
I love this paragraph from your page, too:
Brother Steve writes on his > tin-whistle pages> :
Another commonly fiddle-jacked tune this trick will work for (again possibly subject to a little reworking to avoid Cs and Fs) is The foxhunter’s reel. And if you feel like giving fiddle players a taste of their own medicine, try playing Willie Coleman’s jig and Christmas eve in A using this method in a session and observe their consternation! (Although if you get into a “weird keys for old tunes” contest with a halfway decent fiddle player, you will almost certainly lose. He or she will rightly regard dipping into your bag for a different whistle as cheating.)
I’ve played at that game and lost. I can sort of manage Fanny Powers in D, but this fiddle player I know will play things like Caliope House in just about any key you name (I’ve tried). He just shrugs and says “there isn’t that many notes in it, anyway.”
Too many for this here whistler…
Thanks for posting this trick, Steve.
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-12-09 10:28 ]
On 2002-12-09 10:30, avanutria wrote:
That’s hilarious Steve, thanks!
Bloo - I will have to learn Calliope and give it a try! >
Yeah, learn Calliope House. It is a fairly recent American tune, composed in honor of this arts center near Chicago (iirc) that is called Calliope House. And of course I don’t have to tell you that Calliope is the muse of dramatic poetry in Greek mythology…
Ripping good tune, often heard at dances, and there is a recording by Patrick Street, I believe. It is normally played in E (that’s right E), which makes it bright and cheerful. It’s the reason I carry an E whistle (if you’re no slouch with a (lower) G# you can do it on a D whistle, too). At sessions you often hear it done in D though, tto humor the flutes, I am sure.
Yeah, learn Calliope House. It is a fairly recent American tune, composed in honor of this arts center near Chicago (iirc) that is called Calliope House.
Ah so that’s what it refers to, thanks Bloomfield.
Actually (believe it or not) the composer is an Englishman, Dave Richardson of Boys of the Lough.
Irrelevant footnote: I once seriously annoyed a well-known Scottish piper by pointing out that another tune was composed by a sassenach. Jerry O’Sullivan played “Margaret’s Waltz” in concert and said he didn’t know who composed it. Your famous (and rather pompous) man called out that it was a Shetland tune. I helpfully added that it was composed by an Englishman, Pat Shaw. He went apoplectic. I felt smug. At least that’s how I remember the incident but I could be exaggerating for effect.
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Irrelevant footnote: I once seriously annoyed a well-known Scottish piper by pointing out that another tune was composed by a sassenach. Jerry O’Sullivan played “Margaret’s Waltz” in concert and said he didn’t know who composed it. Your famous (and rather pompous) man called out that it was a Shetland tune. I helpfully added that it was composed by an Englishman, Pat Shaw. He went apoplectic. I felt smug. At least that’s how I remember the incident but I could be exaggerating for effect.
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It very rare for Jerry not to know about tunes since he plays both Scottish and Irish pipes plus the Whistle. Right now he is touring with Bonnie Rideouts Scottish Crismas show.
Bonnie Rideout
"One of the finest Scottish fiddlers of our time, Bonnie Rideout brings a brilliant virtuosity to her music. A three-time U.S. Scottish fiddle champion, Bonnie has performed from Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival to America’s Kennedy Center. Praised by THE WASHINGTON POST for her ‘soulful, elegant and virtuosic fiddle playing,’ she has won prestigious fiddle competitions worldwide, performs throughout North America and Europe, and is a sanctioned Scottish F.I.R.E. teacher and adjudicator for Scottish festivals throughout the U.S. " http://www.bonnierideout.com/
Jerry nomal gig is with the Eileen Ivers Band which is a must see for anyone not offended by a somewhat non traditional but fun filled group. Jerry plays the Uilleann and small pipes and various whistles. (he play a suato and loves them).
Here’s some additional info from Charles Anderson:
“This tune was written by Dave Richardson of ‘The Boys of the Lough’ and recorded and popularized by that group. The tune is dedicated to a long time friend of Cathal McConnell and The Boys of the Lough who owns a Victorian mansion in Pittsburgh where many concerts, parties and sessions have been held featuring traditional music of many styles. The house was dubbed ‘Calliope House’ when it became the home of a non-profit folk arts organization using the same name. This organization continues sponsoring folk music concerts and a folk music school in Pittsburgh under the name ‘Calliope: the Pittsburgh Folk Music Society’”
Next time I’ll run the search before posting… But it is a great tune, particularly in E.
On 2002-12-09 11:26, StevieJ wrote:
Irrelevant footnote: I once seriously annoyed a well-known Scottish piper by pointing out that another tune was composed by a sassenach. Jerry O’Sullivan played “Margaret’s Waltz” in concert and said he didn’t know who composed it. Your famous (and rather pompous) man called out that it was a Shetland tune. I helpfully added that it was composed by an Englishman, Pat Shaw. He went apoplectic. I felt smug. At least that’s how I remember the incident but I could be exaggerating for effect.
Hehehe. I love these “nationalistic” trad types. Very amusing. It’s a bit like scratching the “British Made” label off a Generation when playing in Ireland…
On 2002-12-09 11:58, Wizzer wrote:
It very rare for Jerry not to know about tunes since he plays both Scottish and Irish pipes plus the Whistle.
I don’t know whether you misunderstood, but just in case you or anyone got the wrong end of the stick, the Scottish piper in my story is not Jerry, who is not Scottish and for whom I have great respect, but a man in the audience. It was this second man who got annoyed, not Jerry.
Ohhhhhhh. Thanks for explaining. I was confused, too. I’ve heard Jerry’s name and a couple of tunes he plays but don’t know anything about where he is from, etc.
Lez play it in july!