Now, I’ve owned my D whistle for a year, but I’m only now starting to get into it. I work at Music and Arts Center, and I saw a book on one of our shelves that I picked up (hurray for 40% off books!). It’s the Irish Sessions Tunes - The Blue Book. Now I know this book is for Violin, but would it be easy for me to transpose this for my D whistle? I really don’t know much about Violin, and I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance!
I think I answered my own question. After looking at the book, it seems that every piece is in either the key of G or D. So, then I should just be able to read straight from this music without transposing?
Correct. You will be able to play stuff in the key of D or G on a D whistle without transposing.
Umm, not being a real musician, I don’t quite get the question, but I’ll tell you what I do when faced with music. Kind of the primitive method, I suppose.
There will be lots of technical explanations forthcoming, I’m sure, but maybe a simplistic explanation will give nonmusical newbs some hope. Not to mention giving the musical techno-whizzes something to critique.
You know on the staff where that C is? The one below the bottom line? The next note up, D, is the lowest note on your whistle. (Sorry that this sounds so rudimentary . . . it’s just the way I think of it.) As long as the notes in your book go from that D to roughly 2 octaves above it, you can play it on your whistle.
I prefer to stop at the top line of the staff, or the note or two above it, on a whistle. For the sake of the neighbors.
If it’s already in D or G, that’s handy. If it’s not in D or G, then you can half-hole or cross-finger to get what you need. Some keys are more trouble than they are worth, though.
If your music has that C on the bottom line, then just play another note that sounds nice. Or rework that section.
Enjoy your whistle! What kind is it, by the way?
I agree that sometimes a simple answer is always good. Sometimes one can forget that not everyone is on the same level of understanding, and you can’t always asume that someone will understand what you mean if you talk ‘technical’. My music theory is a bit rusty, but I’m remembering things pretty quick now.
I have a Tony Dixon D tunable whistle that I got at the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, PA about a year ago. I also have an E whistle that was done by Glenn Shultz shortly before his passing. Now that I have more time to spend on music since I’m making it my career (after 10 years of being in the computer industry), I plan on learning to play some instruments that I’ve neglected like my whistles and my bodhran.