Hi,
I am considering the purchase of a Busman whistle at the moment (mainly because they are beautiful looking instruments). I already have a Chieftain high d (which is great) and I was wondering what is the next most common whistle used whistle in Irish trad music? Any advice would be most welcome.
Thank you
Paul
Man, you live in Dublin! Walk into the Brazen Head pub after 10 pm and ask one of the musicians there!
yeah I know mate but I’m pretty new to this whole whistling scene and besides that I’m bored in work at the moment so I just thought I’d get the forum’s opinion.
Most common? Honestly, it’s usually about 2 dozen more High Ds.
That said, the second most useful key is C. A or Bb is probably the next…then it’s time to get wacky.
Low D, Low F, Low G…
Cheers Scheky 
I’d go and visit Mick O’Brien in Raheny and try out some Burke whistles or better, try a flute! 018311985
High C. After that it gets strange.
I’m not sure if it’s the next most commonly used whistle after a high d, but it’s the one I got next, and the one I would still get next, and advise anyone to get next. Mostly for the number of waltzes that you seem to get in C, plus all those jigs, reels and slip-jigs that have a middle C in them somewhere.
MTGuru will tell you you can fake it, and yes, you can, but you’ll always wonder what it sounds like unfaked.
Probably a Bb would be next after that, but I got a B instead… In fact, I got a G and never played the bloody thing as the holes are too close together for my fingers. I’ve got an F somewhere and haven’t played that for years.
If I’m travelling I’ll carry the High D and the High C, and that’s all. But for a routine practice I’ll have a high D, High C, High B and High A. (Well, that’s a low high A, for playing Asokan Farewell. ) And a low D. And these days, a Willowflute and two Koncovkas.
I’d recommend the C as well… With a D whistle, you can play in D and G and with a C whistle, you can play in C and F. So, you cover the whole top of the circle-of-fifths and most of the major keys you’re likely to find. If you can get a decent G# on your D whistle (I can’t in the lower octave), you can also cover A. Similarly, you might be able to get to Bb by half-holing the E on the C whistle.
Good Luck!
Pat
C whistle it is so. Go raibh maith agaibh
All of these answers are interesting, but none of them really answer the question properly.
Almost all Irish sessions are built off D and require a D whistle or flute. Significantly rarer are Eb sessions, but they’re popular here and there. Every once in a while you’ll find people tuned down to C or Bb, but this is really rare and tends to be in piping sessions or with concertinas. I played in one F session, but that was a bunch of crazy Boston flute players who decided to have a low-F whistle session at 4 AM.
Basically, D, then Eb, then C or Bb…
Agreed, assuming Fun Time wants to play sessions - a pretty reasonable assumption in Dublin, I guess!
Actually, tunes in Gdor and Dm/Ddor and even C Major pop up often enough in normal sessions, and for those you really want a C whistle as your second session whistle.
An E whistle is a great cheater for A Major tunes, but most people just use a D whistle for those.
In the mezzo range, there’s something about the size and range of an F whistle that seems to be just right for solo playing. Or crazy 4 AM sessions.
Chris,
The mythical Eb session is a pretty rare beast. A normal session will find plenty of use for a C whistle (you could expect to pull it out in most sessions), but an Eb is a once in a blue moon thing. Heck, most people have never even seen an Eb session.
Is there much difference betwwen a soprano d and a mezzo d? Could either be used in a d session for example?
Well the major difference is Size… Normally called “low whistles” or “low D’s”, the only other real difference is that one is an octave Lower, but it’s still a D whistle, just like an Irish flute in D. Sure you can use it in sessions if you really like playing the monstrosity that much.
But your second whistle to get I agree would definitely be a C whistle.
Wish I lived in North County Dublin. I have a friend in Skerries who wouldn’t mind either!
Yeah, sorry, the terminology isn’t very standardized. One scheme: Bb whistles and up are high. Whistles from A down to E or Eb are mezzo or middle. And low D or below are low. Or mezzo G whistles and below are simply called low to easily distinguish them from their 8va counterparts. Kerrywhistles uses a different scheme of mezzo, alto and tenor.
Sure, low D whistles work fine in sessions, doubling the flute range.