Forgive me for what must be an obvious question, but I have looked at several web sites and cannot find the answer to this question.
What, exactly, does it mean for a whistle to be in a “key”, such as D? My first thought was..this must be like a harmonica…if you have a D harmonica, you must have to play everything in one key…D. However after looking at the transcriptions on Brother Steve’s site (www.rogermillington.com/tunetoc/index.html), I see that one page says a particular tune was played with, say, a D whistle, and the associated transcription is in another key (say, G), and in trying to play along with the MP3 on my keyboard, I find the player is in another key altogether.
So, I am thoroughly confused as to what it means for a whistle to be, say, a “D” whistle. Is it like a harmonica, where you are essentially resigned to play in one key?
A whistle in the key of “D” most easily plays the key of D (the D major scale), but with half-holing and/or crossfingering the C natural can also easily play the key of G (G major scale) as well.
If you’re really good at half-holing, you can usually get a few more notes not in the D or G major scales (assuming a D whistle) but it can get awkward. Since the vast majority of Irish music is written in keys easily playable on a D whistle or flute, this is not usually a major (no pun intended - a rarety for me) issue.
whistles usually go by the lowwest note being the key it’s in. that’ll be the easiest key to play in too cause of no cross fingering.
that doesn’t apply to certain whisltes (silktone) with the seventh hole.
ow.
From a harmonica player’s viewpoint, you’re really not resigned to playing in the key the harmonica is tuned to… in fact, most music you’ll hear a harmonica played in is not the key of the harp.
For example, if you blow into the low holes of a “D” harmonica, you are playing a “D” chord, which also means that you’ll be playing in that key. But, as it turns out, the harmonica can be more expressive by accenting the draw notes, allowing the wailing sound associated with the blues (“bending” notes).
To accentuate the draw notes in primarily the lower position is called “Second Position” or “Cross Harp” and happens to be in the key of “A” on a D harmonica.
Accentuate different notes, and you’re in “Third Position” and playing the “D” harmonica in E minor… yet the same harmonica. In fact, there are actually 12 positions on a harmonica, and in theory, with a good knowledge, you could play with anyone in any key on one harmonica (we carry more than one because most of us prefer to be proficient in about three positions, and it’s easier to pick up a different key harp).
While I went quite a way off the topic, I expect the whistle is quite the same. You have a two octave range, so you can play in a number of keys, as well. And, like the harpers, it’s easier to use the same fingering but change harps for certain different songs…
Yea it’s not as complicated as you might think at first. Like DCrom mentioned, most whistle music is in the key of D and so that’s pretty much why most people play a whistle in that key. If you’re looking at the music this is when there are 2 #s in the key signature. The other key that’s used alot though is G and the only difference is that the C note is not sharped so you would play it with your top finger, (closest to you) half covered as opposed to the C# where you fully cover the hole furthest away from you. — When I pick up a whistle in a different key, I’ll just play the music as though I’m playing in D or G and it just ends up sounding lower if I’m say, playing a lower G whistle, or maybe one in Bb. This works if you’re just sitting around playing while watching tv or if someone else also has that key of whistle. But this is sort of beside the point you were asking about. If you get a whistle book like the Bill Ochs book that teaches you to read music and then learn the tunes on the cd it will start to fall into place because the D whistle will handle both the key of D and G. -mike
You’re answer has already been well answered. Think about key in relation to the notes in the tune. If a tune in a key other than D or G doesn’t haven any accidental notes outside of those scales (e.g. D#), then it can be played on a D whistle.
So, where in North Dakota are you lost? I’m a North Dakotan refugee living in Washington state (I’m from Minot).
It is common practice to notate Irish music as if played on a concert pitch instrument i.e. an instrument in the key of D. Similarly the bottom note of the whistle (or the pipes or the flute for that matter) is referred to as bottom D and all other notes as if the whistle is in the key of D, irrespective of it’s actual key.
The notations on Steve’s site follow this practice, on the opening page it is stated what key the whistle used is in, the asterisk in the ‘played on’ column leads you t o:
All tunes are transcribed as if played on a “D” whistle or flute.
With each transcription the comment states once again the notation was done as if the tune was played on a D whislte. it seemed pretty clear when doing the write up on the material. :roll:
Ah…maybe this will help. If the tune has F#, your cool. F# and C# still cool. F#, C#, and G# it’s still doable, but not as cool. D# is doable in some instances. Like when you bend up to E starting on D#.
So all of that is cool.
If you have to play in other keys, you might want to get other whistles. You’ll either have to memorize the part or transpose though. There is software to take care of that, but you’ll pretty much have to copy the music into it. I don’t know if any software scans it and puts it down for you. Not saying it doesn’t exist, cause it might.
YOu might find different versions of the music in the right keys, but there are multitudes of variations on a single tune.
