“I guess if you were trying to learn irish trad, you’d
grasp it quicker on a high D”
This quote appeared in an earlier thread. I am wondering exactly what it refers to…and I am wondering just what I am learning (been taking lessons for 6 months now) . Irish Trad or something else Irish? And what could that be? And maybe this is a really dumb question?
Since I didn’t read the message that you mention, I can only take a stab at it . . .
When I think of “irish trad”, I think of playing with little tounging, using cuts and rolls to aticulate. I find this challanging enough on a high D, but if you’re new to playing whistles, it might be near impossible on a Low D.
But I think most players use both tounging and cuts to articulate notes. Some use more and some less . . . I think it depends on the sound you want to create. For example, I have two tutorials, one by Bill Ochs and one by Gereldine Cotter. Bill tounges more and Gereldine cuts and rolls more. I actually prefer Bill.
To each his own. Keep playing!
Best ask your teacher, I reckon.
But I would bet you’re learning trad,
cause that’s what teachers usually
teach.
There are plenty of artists
who are playing traditional Irish
music with a more expansive approach
(e.g. Solas). They don’t sound so
traditional, but they’re definitely
playing celtic music. And, of course,
there’s a growing body of whistle playing
that isn’t primarily Irish, e.g. American
folk, The Dixie Chicks use a whistler,
and so on.
IrTrad is just a small part of what I attempt on the whistle. Our beloved little instrument also fits well in other types of music (nearly all of Simon and Garfunkel’s hits sound great). I even do the old instrumental rock classic “Sleepwalk”.
I say, if you think it will sound good with a whistle, try it out. Play along with your CD’s/tapes/records and find out for yourself (also a good way to develop ear playing). However, if you really have your heart set on playing IrTrad, do like Brother Steve says and learn the language.
Take care,
BB
At a rough guess about 80% of Irish Traditional (dance) tunes (reels, jigs, polkas, slides, step dances, hornpipes etc) are written in the keys of D or G, the two keys easy to play in on a D whistle. The notes also fall between D and b, the two octaves covered by the D whistle’s range, and the three top strings on a fiddle (from open D up to 4th finger on the E string in 1st position).
The next most popular key would be A, accounting for maybe another 15% of tunes, played a lot in Donegal and also in Scottish Traditional music. There was much cultural excange between Donegal & Scotland in the old days. I’m ignorant about the counties in Northern Ireland. (Now here’s a project for the whistle makers out there - a whistle that covers the same range as a D whistle, but is tuned in the Key of A (all Fs, Cs and Gs are sharp)).
In the Irish Trad whistle class I’m attending this term, we all play Ds (mostly Walton Brass Mellow D’s for those keeping count), and the teacher may play a low D at the same time (to be heard amongst our squeaks and rattles).
When he’s playing the tune for the first time, he’ll play through at half speed on a Susato tuneable high D, then again at full speed. We all tape it (or mini-disk it 
) so we can play back and learn by ear. It’s not as hard as I expected it to be, at least when he plays at half speed!
If I brought along a whistle in any other key, there’s be astonishment, then hilarity, and then probably blood on the carpet. :roll:
Thanks you all for this info…I learn so much here and folks are so willing to share their knowledge..it really is quite wonderful!
Yes, I do think I am mainly learning trad…according to my teacher, in the style of Mary Bergin…which is a combo of tongueing and cuts etc. Howwver,she lets me learn anything I want to..I am currenty working on the Theme From the Thornbirds, which is lovely on the whistle. Oh, such fun I am having!!!
I did a quick tot up on 156 Jigs & Reels in 100 Essential Irish Tunes (all Jigs & reels)&
100 Enduring Irish Tunes (other tune types included), and came up with:
Key D 57 reels, 30 jigs = 56% of sample
Key G 36 reels, 27 jigs = 40% of sample
Key A 4 reels, 1 jig = 3% of sample
Key C 1 reel = less than 1% of sample
There should actually be 158 Jigs/reels in total, but I can’t count very well.
So I guess that means you can easily use your D whistle on all of them except that reel in C, and you can even use it there if you just play pentatonics, right? No wonder all the players I talk to have a zillion whistles in D and only one in all the other keys!
Absolutely, except for the few that go below D, as they might be written initially for fiddle lead (e.g. Martin Wynne’s #1 and #2). Even these you could work out alternatives for the low notes, or play those notes an octave higher if playing in a session.
I have O’Neill’s 1001 Dance tunes, so eventually I’ll sit down & check those too. I know there are a few more rare keys used, but that D whistle is still good for 90% of the tunes!
If you have a music notation program like Melody Assistant you can take those rare tunes written in C and enter them into the computer and then transpose them. If they go down only 1 note below D, transpose them up 2 semitones to D. If they go all the way down to G ( 3 spaces below the staff ) transpose them up to the key of G. Tunes written in A can be transposed down 2 semitones to G. They all then become playable on a D whistle. Or else you can stick to the other 90% or so as written! If you do play in sessions with transposed music you’ll need to switch to a whistle in a different key.
Best wishes, Tom