I play 2 D whistles (Sweetone, and Syn). I also have a second tube for the Syn in the key of C. I understand that most music for the whistle is written in the key of D. And if you play the same fingerings on a C whistle that the tune is now in the key of C.
Where the confusion comes in is that I have found several tunes in G that fall in the same range of notes that the key of D whistle plays.(on the musical staff) Can I just play these on a D whistle with the normal D fingerings? The tunes seem to sound correctly. I have seen the charts that show the keys that a given key of whistle can play. But as I understand it when you play the other major key you use an alternate set of fingerings.
I guess the question boils down to this: If the notes of a tune are in the range of notes for a D whistle, can I play it on a D whistle and not worry about what the key the song is written in?
I am nearly illiterate when it comes to music theory, so any help would be great. Thanks for the feedback and support of a new whistle player!
The difference between the keys of D major and G major is the c#/c-natural. On your D whistle you can play c sharp (ooo ooo) or c-nat (oxx ooo, oxx xox). This means that you can play both in D or in G (and related keys and modes).
Short answer:
Yes, you can. The key of G can be played on a standard D whistle with a single cross-fingering (C natural instead of C #).
Longer answer:
Look at the charts to be found here - http://www.fullbodyburn.com/
Ok, so I can play in D and G on my D whistle. Then if I’m playing my C whistle is there an equivalent second key? I looked at the Full Body
Burn website and couldn’t figure it out. Would it be the key of F? and would the the C nat and C# be the changes in fingering? I’m just trying to get my head wrapped around this whole concept.
Thanks again
Yes. The notes you are looking for are b-natural (for C major) and b-flat (for F major).
on a C whistle these are fingered ooo ooo for b-nat and oxx xox for b-flat.
Thanks, That will keep me out of mischief for a while. If I learn something new every day then the day isn’t a total loss!
What’s really neat is that you can play every whistle in a few different major and minor keys by following the same pattern every time.
Maybe this might help …
The D whistle is considered the “standard” whistle because it is the concert pitch whistle. That is, whatever note you play on the D whistle is the actual “piano” note that sounds. (Actually, the whistle note is one octave higher than the piano note, but you can ignore that detail for now.) If you have a piano or keyboard handy, you can check this yourself. On the D whistle, play a note. Now play that same note on the piano. Same note!
The C whistle is one whole step lower than the D whistle. This means that everyhing you do on a D whistle will be one whole step lower when you do the same thing on a C whistle.
So … If the “good” keys on a D whistle are D and G, then those same fingerings on a C whistle will give you:
D minus a whole step = C
G minus a whole step = F
Those are the actual “piano pitches” and keys you’ll be producing on the lower C whistle. Every note you play will sound one whole step lower.
Now here’s where it get really confusing … Finger a G note (xxxooo) on the C whistle. There are 2 different ways to think about this. You can think:
-
OK, I’m playing a G. But I know this whistle moves everything down a whole step. So I’m really sounding an F note. If a fiddle player asks me what note I’m playing, I have to tell him “F”, because that’s the note the fiddle has to play to match my note. Or …
-
I know I’m fingering a G and sounding an F. But if I’m playing by myself, I’ll just pretend I’m sounding a G, and ignore the fact that everything is a whole step lower. Whatever I play will still sound right, relative to itself.
The first way is the “concert pitch” approach, and the second way is the “transposing pitch” approach. In my experience, the majority of whistle players tend to think in terms of #2. So for example, if someone starts to play a tune in the key of F, you think: I can play that in G on my C whistle. The whistle will move everything I play down a whole step to the key of F, and everyone is happy.
Hope that doesn’t just confuse you more! Good luck.
MTGuru, Your explanation helps, and the fog is slowly lifting. I keep finding new tunes that I want to learn on the whistle. Now I have a little more lattitude in what key the tunes are written in. I suppose I’ll have to figure out how to transpose sooner or later. But I have enough music in my “to Learn” pile that it shouldn’t be a problem for a while.
But the fun does not stop there, especially if you play by yourself.
Say a song is written in the key of A. Your first inclination would be to pick up an “A” whistle, right? But what if you only have a “D” whistle?
Simple
Since whistles are transposing instruments just pretend you have an “A” whistle in your hands and play away. What will happen is that you will be playing in “A” in your mind, but the whistle will be playing in “D”.
Works for ANY whistle as well too. So, if you play by yourself you really only need one whistle. Well, get a low D too!
That doesn’t quite work for me…
Half the time I whistle by myself, the other have I play alongside my Dads dulcimer (which he’s learning as I learn the whistle) and I have to stay in the same key he does.
I’m going to collect whistle keys, just so I don’t get left behind, he keeps finding weird tunings that he likes… sounds good, but I have to lay the whistle down when he plays them.
(I think I’ll need an A some time)
That’s where the key/mode charts will come in handy. You can find the key he plays the tune in, and then identify which whistle you can reasonably play it on.
I was just thinking of times when he’s play in A, and uses both octaves, but goes below the range of my current whistles (going an octave up is sometimes too loud)
Yes, in that situation, there are a couple of solutions:
- Use an A whistle, as you said.
- Use the technique called “octave folding” – playing parts of the melody one octave higher or lower, to stay within the range of the whistle, or the range that you want to play in.
Many or most tunes in the dulcimer traditions (you didn’t say hammered or mountain) are fiddle tunes. Which means that they will fall within the common first position fiddle range: G, to b (in ABC notation), or from G below middle C to b above the treble staff.
Since the lowest note on a D whistle is, well, D, the fiddle notes that fall below are G, A, B, C (and corresponding sharps and flats). When these occur, just play them up an octave. Conversely, if melody notes in the high range (g and above) sound too loud or harsh with the dulcimer, play them down an octave. The whistle’s first octave range should blend nicely with a dulcimer.
Of course, it’s not quite that mechanical. There’s an art to octave folding, picking the right transition points, keeping the phrases smooth. But that’s the basic idea.
Also remember that with an A whistle (solution #1), the common notes d and above will now fall in the highest left hand range of the whistle. So they may be fairly loud, and your breath control in that range must be good.
Good luck!