i am new to the whistle, and i could use some tips. i have a few books
but i have alot of trouble with eigth and sixteenth notes, and i was wandering if anyone could help me with this?
I would say just practice less complicated songs at first.
What books do you have? Some of the better ones offer some basic music theory and drill along with the tunes. A good way to get a feel for eighth notes, for example, is start playing a scale on whole notes (a metronome is useful for this, but you can use a nice, steady foot tap as well). Then you divide the whole notes in half to get half notes. Then divide again and play the scale on quarter notes. Then divide once more to get eighth notes. Get a feel for how they feel in relation to the other notes.
Redwolf
Your question isn’t very clear - do you mean you are having trouble understanding what eighth and sixteenth notes are, or how to count them? Or do you mean you’re having trouble playing fast?
Assuming it’s the first, and this is not an answer to your question, my view is that written music is an unnecessary and potentially very confusing complication when you are first learning an instrument, especially if it’s your first instrument.
You need to learn to relate to the instrument and the sound it makes first. That is really enough to be getting on with, without your eyes and rational brain getting in on the act.
Why not put aside the books and learn your way around the instrument by teaching yourself (by ear) nursery rhymes, simple Christmas carols, playground songs or ditties or anything else that is very familiar to you from childhood?
Once you’ve got comfortable with that, if you must learn from music, pick the music to tunes you know well and can sing to yourself. Then the eighth and sixteenth notes and all the other time values will make sense without your having to scratch your head.
Some of the good books come with a CD which lets you hear the tunes in the book-- this should help clear up your confusion. One good one is Bill Ochs’ The Clarke Tinwhistle.
Hey Paul…what are those very colorful whistles in your avatar? Are they Delrin Busmans?
Redwolf
I reckon you’d get a lot more help if you had a problem with the 15th rather than the 16th …
Yes…15th notes are extremetly difficult to play. Timing is a killer, but you can use that extra fraction of a second to get in a quick breath. 