just sharing...

Irish Flute
1

i’ve been working long and hard on Ashokan Farewell. i practice it slowly at every opportunity. i figure someday, once my fingers know how to play the tune, the correct speed will come of itself… anyway…

when i am driving down the road, thinking about Ashokan, i start whistling… then it occurred to me, the song i was whistling was NOT Ashokan… i had no idea what it was… i came home and was able to play it right off… but it still wasn’t ashokan… then, this afternoon i was listening to a CD i had never listened to… there, buried in one of the tracks was the tune i’ve been whistling… it’s called “The Minstrel Boy.” i double checked… i had never listened to the CD… i wonder where i heard the song and how it got stuck wandering around in my pea sized brain… musta been lonely in there…

Finally, i can claim that i know an Irish tune… and i know the title, too.

it just gets better and better.

be well all,

jim

added: dang.. didn’t know the song had lyrics. just found them. how incredibly sad and intense. now i will have to learn the words, as well. along with the story of the song. now it is hard to play without tears… dang.

2

I remember the Minstrel Boy in the movie Black Hawk Down, brought tears to my eyes

Nice tune esp played on my Bb flute

M

3

Can either of your play a bit of “The Minstrel Boy” and post it?

Can’t think of how the tune sounds.

Thanks,

Will

4

Try Here

5

I love it when tunes spring forth automatically.

The sad thing about the flute is you can’t sing along to yourself.

6

Speak for yourself. The best thing about the flute is I CAN’T sing while I’m playing. Just ask my wife, she’ll tell you. :slight_smile:

Jay

7

Yes, but you can still hum while you are playing the flute. Try playing D and humming D#.

8

i’m no longer married… i wonder if my singing had something to do with that?

like you, diane, i love the spontaneity (sp?) of the flute… my day isn’t complete until i sit with one of my flutes and just noodle to see what comes out.

btw… i have found that Ashokan and Minstrel make a nice medley even though they are in different time sigs… and because of the third verse of minstrel there is a strong tie-in.

anyway… thank you, all for sharing… please continue…

be well,

jim

9

Well, I said I like it when tunes spring forth, but sadly they don’t seem to do that so much from my flute.

10

Ah, but they will… eventually. Really, they will.
Arbo

11

Thanks, I.D.10-t

No familiar…hmmm.

I’ll have to go back and watch “Blackhawk” again and listen for it.

12

One thing that always sounds strange to me on that tune is the second D in part B of the song. I have always played it as a D# rather than a Dnat. Yet, I have not seen it written down or played that way other than the book that I first saw it. I know, it’s just one note, get over it…

Still when I go to play it I play XXOXOX not OXXXXX.

JC’s ABC Tune Match

T: the Minstrel Boy
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: G
D2 |: G3 A | cB AG | B2 d2 | g2 fg | e2 d2 | B>c dB | A4 | G4 :expressionless:
|| g2 f2 | e2 fg | f3 e | d3 d(d#?) | e3 B | B3 B | e2 f2 | g2 BA ||

13

i play the d#, too. it just seems right.

be well,

jim

14

Are you sure it’s D# you are playing? On my flute, XXOXOX is G# not D#

Geoff

15

Sorry for the confusion, The Minstrel Boy was one of the first tunes I could play in the upper registers on the fife where those fingerings work. On the flute it would be half holed XXXXXD for a D#.