Introductions and what to practice?

Whistle
1

Hi, i’m relatively new to the whistle, less than 4-5 months and have been lurking here, looking at the posts and links and such and saying nary a word. i’m thinking I probably stumbled upon the whistle in the goofiest way imaginable, so i’ll share it then ask my questions.

I’ve always been fascinated by fairy, or faerie, lore and legends and such, and so i always pay attention to anything that has anything to do with faerie creatures. Anyway, i was watching this movie about a leprechuan on Disney channel with my kids around St. Patrick’s day, and this leprechuan, after realizing that his luck was stolen, pulls out this little flute looking thing and starts to play a sad irish song on it. It tickled me, the whole idea of it, and i actually liked the little piping sound of his song, so i began researching irish traditional instruments and found some irish piccoloes that i think he was playing. I was interested in buying one but they were rather pricey, the ones i saw anyway, being cheap and searching the page for other irish instruments i stumbled upon a whistle for like 8 dollars and figured, what the heck, let me try it.

I’ve been in love with it ever since.

Anyway, i dont know if that is the lamest way someone has come to the whistle, trying to sound like a leprechuan on a disney movie, but it’s probably up there.

In anycase, i’ve been playing for a few months now and just recently began to listen to some irish trad music outside of the you tube videos i’ve seen and have heard some really amazing whistlers (I heard this track by Mary Bergin that just really blew my mind) i think i’ve learned about 9-10 tunes, but now i have a couple of questions.

Firstly, i was wondering what to practice? I come from a guitar background, classical, jazz, rock, the gamut, and in learning that instrument there were several scales and modes and chords and exercises, not songs, just exercises, meant to give you the tools to become better. With the whistle though, it seems as if i have just been really moving from song to song, find a song i like, see if i can learn it and start to play it up to tempo, fail sometimes then move on, but not yet really finding anything other than tunes to practice with.

Is this how it generally goes? Does most of the practice of the whistle come with learning tunes and repeating them to mastery or correct speed.

I guess the only other question i have is about rhythm. I have read up a bit and know the importance of rhythm, and i’ve been trying to listen to a lot of irish music lately to somehow internalize this rhythm, but i still ahve some questions about it. I guess what i’m really asking is, is it supposed to swing? I heard a rendition of the Silver SPear on the pipes by Kilfarboy over on the Whistlethis Forum that really made me want to get up and dance, its rhythm was so strong and swinging, yet i’ve heard other renditions that sound great as well but dont have the same rhythmic swing as his, but more of a straight up metronomic rhythm.

I guess what i’m asking is, should i try to make it swing like his, or is irish rhythm generally more metronomic/staccato?

Anyway, thanks for any responses :slight_smile:

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With regards to what to practice, I think it comes down to what do you want to do with it (play in a session, play for amusement, performance, composition, etc.)? I suggest a good method book or teacher in any case.

With regards to style, there are plenty of possibilities. I think they’re all valid, except when poorly executed.

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If you want to approach the instrument methodically, order the Grey Larsen Flute and Tinwhistle Tutor. He will answer many questions you might have, give you exercises and explain the peculiarities of the playing style, because its different than “regular” classical music.
He prepares you for an eventual changeover to flute, if that’s what you ultimately intend. Brother Steve’s site also offers you a lot, online, but the Larsen gives you something you don’t have to sit by the computer to use.

That covers the physical delivery part. The other part, attaining the playing style is by listening to as much good music as you can, online, on CD, whatever. There have been many threads recommending CDs so just search about. The phrasing is everything, especially if you have a sheet that has the notes in front of you, then you see what a good fiddler does with it, and how approximate the notation can be.

As for a lame way to begin playing, remember that a lot of people came to the music because of Riverdance, which in its own way, is sorta Disney.

Yes, the rhythms do swing, especially reels. Only Polkas and marches (cut time, because many Irish marches are jig rhythms) are as metric as other kinds of music and even Polkas have a bit of lilt in 'em, especially if they are played a bit slower. Irish jigs are not three even beats either, unlike Italian or even English jigs might be. In the last few decades, some have sped reels up so blisteringly fast, that they may sound like a classical presto, but that’s not the general taste.

Use the old formula: think of reels and say" WATERMELON, WATERMELON" to equal one full measure. This works well for reel measures that have the full eight notes, but not as well for ones with mixtures of quarters and eighth notes. That’s the most basic rhythm but there are plenty of accents and internal slurring for individual tunes that will subtly affect that. I think the Jig one is JIGity JIGity. i forgot the hornpipe one. Nano knows.

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I think i really just want to be able to entertain myself. I have no professional aspirations, i just want to be able to play as well as possible, to really wow myself and anyone who happens to hear me, to be able to play a lot of tunes really well for personal satisfaction and maybe eventually be able to play along with others.

I see playing with others as something way down the line, though, not sure if there are any sessions in my area, so right now it’s for my own amusement, i guess.

Thanks for the response, i’ll check it out :slight_smile:

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Steaphan Hannigan came up with the “watermelon” mantra for reels, as far as I know. In any case, it’s in his book, The Bodhrán Book. He uses “pineapple apricot” for jigs, and “holly ivy” for hornpipes.

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A good thing to practice, if you want to do boring, monotonous practicing, is to practice ornaments on the scales. Look for Ryan Dunn’s You Tube videos. They’re searchable and also they are posted on WhistleThis.com. WhistleThis also has a monthly or so tune to learn and you can go back and learn the previous tunes.

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My introduction, strangely enough, had nothing to do with Riverdance, Titanic, or Star Trek. It’s probably even lamer than that:

Simon & Garfunkel’s El Condor Pasa. :stuck_out_tongue:

P.S.: I really would rather be a hammer than a nail. :smiley:

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also use:

http://www.youtube.com/group/whistle

click on “see all videos”

Welcome! We don’t care how you got here, just happy you made it. LOL

…john

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Thanks!

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watermelon, JIGity, pineapple apricot, holly ivy…how utterly HELPFUL! Thanks! :slight_smile:

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heard a rendition of the Silver SPear on the pipes by Kilfarboy over on the Whistlethis Forum that really made me want to get up and dance, its rhythm was so strong and swinging, yet i’ve heard other renditions that sound great as well but dont have the same rhythmic swing as his, but more of a straight up metronomic rhythm.

I come late to this, breaking a long standing abstinence from posting here. I can tell you for certain that Grey Larsen or a formulaic approach as the ‘watermelon’ chant will never get you to play the Silver Spear, or any reel, that way. The only way to get there is learning to understand the interaction between the phrases and the internal rhythms and pulse of Irish music. And you can only get that from players who have it.

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For practicing (when not learning new tunes), work on ornamentation and passages that are technically difficult. Sort of make up you own etudes, I guess.
Here’s what I do on those short occasions when I actually feel like/have the time to be organized:

  1. Work on octive skips to warm up.
  2. Work on a certain ornamentation technique.
  3. Play through a tune(s) that allows me to work on a particularly technique/a tune that has some more difficult spots in it.
  4. Work on the tunes I’m actually learning/fun stuff

I was actually able to convince myself to stick to this system for about a week and a half or two weeks and during that time I improved more rapidly than I usually do.

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My favorite thing to do is play the third octave G for as long as my breath can hold it, then right before I pass out, look outside the window at the number of dogs who’ve gathered.

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keep a whistle in your car, backpack, purse, or somewhere else it will be handy. but not in the backpocket of your lephrechaun pants. you’ll sit on it. you really need a lephrechaun vest with a specially designed whistle pocket.

what and how you practice depends on what you’re going to do and what you’re going to play. just practice. test the limits of your whistle playing. see what you and your whistle can do and fit it into whatever kind of music you’re playing. i haven’t played rap on my whistle yet, but i’ve played quite a lot of other types of music.

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Or a shoulder holster!

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I bought this fold-away camping shovel a while back, which came with a sort of carry-bag with belt-loops on it. Long and short of it is that it makes a great whistle-bag, too!

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The following link I found helpful in understanding jig rhythm…

http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/quicktips.html

Happy whistling! :slight_smile: