I did, precarious position to start giving advice from though.
As I said, the C is not at the end of a phrase, it’s at the end of the bar, tunes are rarely, if ever, phrased by the bar. A longer D could work, a breathing space every now and again an A
On th issue of key, and I have discussed this at some length with Bloomfield in the past, see his comment: starting on D I never quite feel comfortable approaching this tune as a full on Dm i.e. playing all Fs as Fnat (just as I wouldn’t play the Broken Pledge with Fnat throughout, it makes me cringe). Listen to Joe Ryan playing the tune on Cheoil an Clar for example.
Somehow approaching the tune as an Em, starting on E, does work but gives a very different feel to the tune.
Jason,
the notation for this tune in the session is confusing and I believe
incorrect. The tune is not in Dm but in D Dorian mode. As you point
out, the ‘B’ in the tune is natural, not flat as the Key of ‘F’ would imply.
The notation should be in the key of ‘C’ (no accidentals) and at that point
the choice of whistle becomes more obvious - you are best playing this
setting in Dorian mode on a ‘C’ whistle where you will have no half holing
to deal with.
I have the Maids of Mitchelstown with counter melody notation on a pdf
file however my attempt to email it to you failed.
Please PM me with your correct email address if you want this file.
It sounds more interesting and alive to my ear played on a D whistle with half-holing, and as Peter mentioned it’s nice to play some of the F’s as F#…Aggie Whyte played the first F in the B part as F# and the second one as F natural, which makes the tune even more mysterious and haunting (and older sounding) than the Bothy Band version. And besides, in the Bothy Band recording Matt Molloy played that tune on a D flute. He had the F-natural keys to help him, but in this particular tune it’s quite easy to get those F-naturals on a whistle (you can slide up to them from E). It’s good practice besides.
I take your point, however, I still think playing the tune in D Dorian on a C
whistle is more appropriate for a self-confessed newbie like Jason who
is still feeling his way around the instrument. Half-holed notes sound
rather ambiguous to beginners - heck, to many intermediate players too!
It all depends on what way you like to colour the tune. I think the approach of staring it on D is markedly different in character from the one starting on D. Isn’t it the whole point that the notes are ambigious? I must say that I would go for the sliding roll, starting on E and sliding through Fnat to Fsharp rather than half holed notes.
Peter,
I don’t disagree with you, however there are two entirely different
contexts here - one is the experienced player such as yourself using a
controlled, intentional ambiguity by sliding into a note, and the other is
the inexperienced beginner such as Jason who is probably still working on
the basics of fingering, breathing and phrasing.
I don’t think there are many teachers around who would have a beginner
sliding into a half holed ‘F’ to play this tune on a D whistle . There is
quite enough on the beginners plate to concentrate on without adding
barriers to learning that don’t need to be erected. That’s my point.
I know you are a piper and I must say I think the emotional impact of
sliding into notes on Uillean pipes makes the hair on the back of my neck
stand up. Few things touch the soul like the wailing of the Uillean pipes.
I’m slowly beginning to get this tune down. What really helped is getting the ABC Navigator. I got a longer (maybe full?) version of the tune from JC’s Tune Finder and brought it into ABC Nav. So, I got the sheet music and the MIDI.
This is really helping a lot. It doesn’t get much simpler than a MIDI file, and I can control the speed. Pairing this up with the actual recorded tune (for realism/ornamentation) can be a good combination for newbies, I think.
As for C or D whistles, I don’t know yet. It is easier to play on the C whistle, and not just because of the Fnat. I also get tripped up on the D whistle when flipping around between B, Cnat, A and D. I’m getting it though. I’ve been playing it more on my D whistle also because it just a better whistle. The C I currently have is a borrowed, not-so-great Generation.
A workable combination but definitely be sure you always have a recorded version of the tune to learn from (like you do now)…learning from MIDI files alone is a sure way to make your playing sound like you learned from MIDI files! They’re lifeless and don’t even remotely resemble traditional Irish music.
Ok, this is a more radical suggestion. You do as I have done and make a whistle specially suited for minor keys. I´m from Sweden and a lot of swedish folk-music is “written” in minor keyes. There is a special folk music instrument/flute called spilaapipa (playing pipe) in Sweden which is mostly made in minor keyes. So I had a need for a whistle suited for minor keyes. I reduced the size on the c# note and the b# to c-natural and Bb (on a D-whistle). This instrument is very well suited for playing in g-minor. I take some time to adapt to the new fingering though…
I sent you a private message