Playing songs that span two octaves

Whistle
1

Greetings to the list! I have been lurking for some time and have learned a lot by reading posts and searching certain topics. Now I have a question to ask. (Actually two, but I will ask the second one in a different post because it is a different topic).

I will be playing my high D brass whistle with my dulcimer club at our local Culture Fest the end of September. The music is all traditional and written in D. A couple of the songs span two octaves (examples follow) and if I am to play them as written, I would have to begin in the second octave to achieve the lowest note, which is played in the first octave. Problem is, later in the song, that forces me to go up to the third octave for the highest note, which does not sound very good on my whistle and is hard for me to consistently hit (I am a relative newbie).

For example, “Southwind” in the key of D has an A below the staff in the seventh measure. In order to hit that, I have to start playing the song in the second octave so I can go down the first when I get to that measure. In the eleventh measure, I have to go up to a high E in the third octave. I have trouble hitting that consistently and it does not sound very good (squeakey and not true).

Second example is “Westphalia Waltz” also in D. It begins with a low A in the first octave then goes up to a D in the second octave. However, in the first measure of the “B” part, the tune goes up to a D, which I must play in the third octave. Also hard to hit and a little squeaky.

I have worked out a couple solutions my own and I want to know what you all think about them. I also want to know if you all have another suggestion.

Solution 1: Start out in the first octave and just skip the low notes I cannot play. Or start out in the second octave and skip the high notes I have trouble with.

Solution 2: For “Westphalia” which is played AABB, play the AA part of the song in the second octave and play the BB part in the first octave.

I don’t know much music theory and read music slowly. I appreciate your input. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

Dayna

2

Solution 3: Get a whistle in A. A ‘D’ on an A whistle is fingered as a ‘G’ on d D whistle, so you’d have four additional notes below D you seem to need for that tune. ‘A’ is, however, not a very common key for whistles, so you won’t find a “cheap” whistle in that key.

You can also always play parts of tunes an octave lower or higher as they are written or played on other instruments. Your solution 2 goes in that direction, but depending on the tune, you might not need to play a whole A or B part in a different octave, just the bars you have trouble with. Do what sounds best. :wink:

Sonja

3

Solution four: play the notes that dip below your range one octave higher than written.

so instead of the low A up to D, play a first octave A down to D

It works beautifully in most tunes.

4

Solution 5 (if I have my count correct): Substitute in another note in harmony…instead of the pesky low A to D try an F to D, or repeat the D.

5

I usually jump around on the octaves; it sounds odd by itself but
when in a group it will be just fine. Whatever way is the easiest to play.
Lolly

6

suato makes an A for 38$ if I’m not mistaken



otherwise solution four looks interesting… ill try that myself

7

Tony Dixon makes an A for about $42.50 US plus shipping. We really like the ‘Dixon Sound’ a lot.