Recently i bought a waltons D whistle, along with a book and CD to help me learn it. Lessons are starting new me in the new year, so untill then i have been using the book. I can play a few tunes in the book. But tunes such as the wild rover, which seems like a good beginners tune i struggle with. i know that you blow when you are repeating a note, but when you go down or up, do you hold your breath or blow again for each individual note. I just cant change fingers and reblow fast enough. Im nothing if none of this is making sense, but if it does, and you think you can help me, please reply.
There are various ways to blow a flute/whistle.
In dance music (but not limited to this) you dont pause the breath between notes but rather have a steady flow. Unless you pause because you need air.
When you want to accentuate a note (after breathing or when beginning a melody), you often use the tongue, just press it like your saying the letter “T”.
Ornamentation is used when a note is repeated. Can be done in several ways, but I myself just lift the finger and press it down again fast.
Matter of fact I am fairly new to the whistle as well…playing about 3 months now and I bought the same whistle as you did.
I had prior experience in playing a wind instrument so I already knew about that but what I did learn on the tin whistle is that most of the time you don’t tongue the notes…meaning that you stop and start the windflow with your tongue between notes. You want to keep a steady stream of air going while moving your fingers to get to different notes. The way to separate the same notes is by using a cut. As the notes get higher you have to change the positioning of your mouth (embouchure) and increase the air speed to get the higher notes.
I started the basics of the whistle from a book too. But what really made the difference is that I started taken lessons from a seasoned player of the whistle.
Again welcome aboard and don’t be shy to ask questions here. The group of people here are great and they are very helpful.
By the way, where are you located? Depending where you are, there might be some whistle sessions that you can go to.
Others have addressed your question better than I can (great stuff on breathing, btw), but as a person who has played guitar for over thirty years, I can add to this that you should not rush yourself. Commit the tunes to muscle memory and increase your speed only when you can play the song without errors at a slow pace.
I can’t tell you how many days, months, maybe years of progress retardation I committed by rushing my guitar playing. I committed many, many errors to memory and had a very difficult time overcoming them. Don’t make that mistake. Be patient and it will come.
Welcome aboard! I’ve only been playing the whistle for a couple of weeks now and I’ve already started hoarding them. It will happen to you!
Hi Woodsy, you are starting on a very pleasant journey!
I also started with the Walton’s starter kit–who can lose with something this simple? And the whistle has a fast learning curve.
Later, when you’re ready, you might want to get Grey Larsen’s “The Tin Whistle Toolbox” which also comes with a CD. That book helped me immensely.
Also, when you are ready, try a few other whistles.
And don’t be insulted when the cat comes up into your lap and yowls for you to stop–like mine did! (To the intense amusement of my family!)
welcome to your new life as a Whistler .i started with the same book and whistle. stick with it one day you will pick up the whistle and it will just seem to all fall into place well almost
hi guys, the past few nights ive been trying to “slur” the notes out, but when i do its hard to repeat notes and rebreathing. I read about about cutting repeated notes instead in the book, but can anyone go into greater detail on this?
To cut, simply lift the finger on the bottom most hole of the note you are playing and put it back down. It needs to be done quickly, but the practice should be done slowly with a gradual buildup in speed as you get the co-ordination. To cut on the B note (top most hole) it is the same procedure, simply lift and drop the finger.
Actually, that’s not the standard or normal way to perform a cut, although it is one way. The T1/T3 finger technique, or the “next finger” technique are more usual. Check Brother Steve’s site or another tutorial resource for the details.
Ornamentation (such as a cut or a tap) can be used to separate two notes (same or not) but be careful that you don’t inadvertently introduce an accent in the wrong place, else it will diminish the pulse or phrasing of the tune. For example, the first bar of The Connaughtman’s Rambles
|:FAA dAA|
could be played with cuts separating the two ‘A’ notes,
|:FA{c}A dA{c}A|
provided that you do not affect the timing of the triplets FAA and dAA, whether they are played straight or swung. Nor do you want to cause the third note in the triplet to be accented, unless that’s your intention (actually it’s a neat effect, but that’s another story).
Occasionally you’ll hear players who seem to deftly execute ornaments but for some reason the rhythm seems convoluted. Now you know (part of) the reason why.
Yes, I should have said it was one way of doing it. I tend to forget the more usual way as I like the sound of Grey Larsons method from his book ‘Tin Whistle Toolbox’. Apologies for any misunderstanding I may have caused.
No prob, Mick! Just be aware that your description is not the technique Grey Larson describes, either.
Larson advocates “close cuts” - lifting the next finger above the bottom-most finger, not the bottom-most finger itself (except when there’s no other choice).
I use all three cut techniques - T1/T3, close cuts, bottom cuts - as the music and mood suits, and all are good to have in one’s bag of tricks.
Just keep on blowing & let your fingers do the walking… - most note articulation is done w/fingers - occasionally using tongue, but 98.73% fingers… ; ) Break the tunes down into little sections & learn each section separately & put them all together. - takes hundreds of repetitions to learn 1 tune when you are first starting out, but worth it in the end. Used to take me a week to get the hang of a tune - slowly - another week to get some speed… Now I can get the hang in a couple of hours…Memorize everything - don’t rely on scratches on paper.
Hang in there - it will get better - practice daily or won’t improve much - Best 'o luck,
world of whistles. You have come to the right place.
