Whistle styles are very hard to choose. You listen to Vinnie Killduff and are blown away and want to be able to play that fast.
Then, you put on Micho Russell and are amazed at how beautiful his deceptivily simple style is and then Mary Bergin and company sound so “busy”.
Some whistlers just can’t leave a long note alone…
Combining all that stuff to make your own style takes lots of listening, absorbing of all that ear candy and then discovering new stuff suddenly appearing under your fingers and surprising yourself.
That is when the whistle really grabs you by the soul and won’t let go.
James, and i’ve given you a chance to partake in my crimes of hubris (which is alot of rhetorical bluster, btw, to be taken with a bucket o salt). but alas, to no avail. i’ll have to work on ya.
However, if i have unwittingly beamed out too many non-nicities or crossed some line, i hope somebody will tell me to tone it down (IM me please). Thanks! It’s easier of course talking face-to-face because the dynamics between rhetoric and non-rhetoric can be better judged. Harder to gauge here, of course. And we all have our days of course…
Well, I was addressing Mongoose, Feadogin. Your post came up right after I sent mine and you made the good point about WW having a public website after all. I hadda rethink it but got busy doing other things.
And I musta read it completely wrong, Wanderer, but that’s how I sensed it after reading the collected posts. Sorry if it seemed sour. The way I read it, Mongoose was looking up to you, not as you characterized, being the newcomer and all.
I stand by the idea that its weird to ask people about someone who you play with regularly instead of direct discussion or personal reflection via learning and listening. And I hope it never happens to me. Hey, most musicians I know have very thin skins, to our eternal detriment. It keeps us “sensitive.” Nyuk.
Best wishes to all.
PS. One way to make a silk purse outta this sow’s ear is to pose this question.
In the last band I was in, before WhiskyTones, they had a rule that you couldn’t comment on each other’s playing (except positively) so nobody’s feelings would get hurt. How do any of you deal with that? Any band stories that show wisdom (something I obviously missed above)?
fancypiper, I believe you hit it right on! One of Frank Sinatra’s greatest hits, “My Way” comes to mind here. Listening is great for just that, listening. After listening to some I almost want to quit playing until I bring myself up and say, “That’s him/her - not me, but I love the sound.”
“And then discovering stuff suddenly appearing under your fingers. . .” is perfect! Last night I was playing around with “Little Boat” (can’t do it in Irish) when that happened twice. “Wow”, I said to me, “did that feel good”. And did it ever!
This has been a good thread and I’m glad to hear from wondering whistler. Love your site, by the way, and thanx for all the hard work on it.
I will comment From the standpoint of a beginner. If someone posts a tune and everyone says it is great then we beginners feel this is someone we should pattern our playing after. If you were just being nice then we will never know what is “right” and what is “wrong”. I often turn to a site that someone says is great and am disappointed because it just doesn’t sound “right” to me. If, however, one of you has said that the playing is great then I should try to play like that individual. If the performer was a well known person no one would hesitate to comment on whether they liked the playing or not. No one here has any problem commenting on certain individuals whose names come up from time to time. I understand that there are legitimate differences of opinion on what is right and what is wrong. I would prefer to hear comments that say things like; “to me his playing is to rushed”, " he needs to slow down a little", “he does not play cuts as crisp as I like”. You get the idea. Some of us come here to learn and we are not helped if no one points out poor playing. If I posted a tune I would expect people to tell me how I can improve. I haven’t posted because I haven’t recorded a tune that doesn’t cause me to wonder why I even try.
There are a few folks who will criticize others’ music pretty sternly here, sometimes even when not invited to.
I’ve heard these folks play–the critics, I mean.
Some of 'em sound like a runaway freight train on a very bumpy track.
So I guess my advice is simply this: before you decide how much weight to give someone’s opinion, hear them play, and then decide if you think they are really qualified to give that opinion.
I agree with a lot of points here. A publicly posted rendition invites public comment. When commenting, stating personal qualifications (I’m a beginner or IMHO etc.) would be important.
I also agree that dirty laundry should be washed at home. If you are in a group and cannot openly discuss the group’s or individual member’s style then you need to consider if the group is actually viable, growing and going in the direction desired.
One last point, and I am not sure if it has been mentioned or not, it the cold nature of text. Smiley’s help, but it is sure difficult to imflect and empahsize with a keyboard.
Critics should be truthful and use tact.
Those being crituqued should be open minded.
This is a hobby/art and there are as many ways of reaching the goal as there are people.
Greg, thanks for weighing in on this one. It really took some odd turns. I was especially surprised that so many people felt it would be mean spirited to critique your style.
Anyway, as I said before, your style blends in well with the band and we definitely appreciate you as a part of it all. Phyllis and I will probably continue to play plain Jane style, with you jazzing it up.
See you Friday (and Saturday) all being well.
Tom.
So the majority of people who say you’re brilliant, invited or not, in your train of thought are dismissed too[most will not qualify to give an opinion]. The whole process is useless so unless critique is issued by invited members who play well, provided they only say nice things? As the bishop said to the actress: ‘Madam, that is a cunning stunt’
So the majority of people who say you’re brilliant, invited or not, in your train of thought are dismissed too[most will not qualify to give an opinion].
This is true. I do always thank anyone kindly who has a good word, also often (lately, always) also thanking those who offer critical words as well. But I don’t take either the compliments or the criticisms too much to heart in most cases.
The whole process is useless so unless critique is issued by invited members who play well, provided they only say nice things?
Well, I don’t think posting tunes is useless. I have found posting tunes for critical feedback to be almost entirely useless, because the point or technique I was seeking feedback on is rarely the thing which is commented upon.
But posting tunes itself is a form of sharing, and sharing I think is always good. It doesn’t have to have any other purpose.
Peter, I think you’ve seen me comment on your playing often enough in other threads to know I have a lot of respect for you as a musician. I do respect your opinions and your comments about my playing when you have chosen to offer them. And I don’t remember almost any of them being nice things! So you can’t really say I only value the nice things, now, can you?
Truth is, I don’t post tunes looking for free music lessons. And I don’t recommend anyone else do that, either. The board as a whole is far too hostile and too arrogant to make that a viable way to learn to play. I have read again and again of humility but there is no humility to be found anywhere here except in the beginning players.
I would recommend to anyone who asks: if you want to learn to play, seek out a teacher. If there are none in your area, check out Scoiltrad. That’s my best opinion of how to learn to play, and it is what I have done myself.
Ditto. In my case, I think I’m influenced by “decorated” singing styles, like Jean Ritchie and early Ralph Stanley–and maybe electric blues guitar. It happens spontaneously, so after a while I have to go back to the CD or sheet music to find out what the original was like. Sometimes I’m playing three or four times as many notes as were in what I first learned. Of course, I’m mostly playing slow airs, so there are lots of long notes.
I don’t know, James. We must be reading different boards. Have you hung out elsewhere in cyberspace, beside gaeliccrossing? Especially if you disregard the OT threads, the chiffboard is a mindbogglingly cozy and friendly place. I have not seen hostility against anyone who posts clips. As for the arrogance, in my dictionary that requires more that saying “this is the way to do it; that is off” but I expect that you have may have a different definition there.
I shouldn’t care, I guess, but it puzzles me that you consider the board hostile and arrogant when it comes to posting clips. (Although I also suspect that you might accuse me of both hostility and arrogance: you didn’t like my assessment of your tutorial tunes on gaeliccrossing, as I recall.)
Yes, that has always been my point. Anyway, there’s a pretty basic rule if you really want to play the “right way”. Don’t learn from anyone on the board beside StevieJ and Peter. Maybe there are other I have heard before, but that’s that.
What is the “right” way? For some, it’s “what makes you happy”, which I totally disagree with, 'cause what makes you happy can make other people unhappy, and sometimes it’s nice to think about others around you. After going in Ireland for many years in a row now, I’d say the “right way” is emulating the old style, not commercial CD lez rush style. I’m struggling with this myself. It’s hard to describe, but anyway, learn from someone who’ve been around real ITM musicians, and has the ITM culture, or at least some true ITM CDs and recordings.
I’m currently in Seattle, at the Friday Harbor festival, and have been in a couple of sessions where some whistle players were just over the top, bad rythm, lotsa ornament at random, self-destructive phrasing, and it kills the music. It sucks.
As the bishop said to the actress: ‘Madam, that is a cunning stunt’