Hi, I’m a newbie here! Been playing tin whistle since Christmas (but not an absolute beginner, I have a background in the recorder).
I am trying to play the song “Gabriel’s Oboe” from the movie “The Mission”. (One of my favorite pieces of music!)…but dang, I just can’t hit that high note…the one with just one finger on the first hole and blowing the heck out of it. Note sure if it’s me, or if my whistles just cannot do it. I have a Feadog D, and I just bought a set of brass Generation whistles in all the keys. (Just cheapo whistles here, although I’m not adverse to spending a bit more on a decent one if I get better) Is this just a hard note to play? It shouldn’t sound that screechy.
If you’re new to whistle, those high notes can seem terribly hard to reach, but it’s usually just a question of breath control. I haven’t yet come across a whistle that doesn’t play high B and even high C and C# with relative ease - once you know how to do it.
I think what you might need to do is to play some longish notes, kind of leading up to that high B. Just as an exercise, you understand. So, play a long note on high F# and, without stopping to take another breath, slur up to a high G and hold it. Do that a couple or so of times. Then play a long note on high G and slur up to a high A and hold it. Do that a few times. Then play a long note on high A and slur up to the high B and hold it. Do that a few times.
After a while, you should find that you’re able to go from, say, high G to high B, without the A in between, then high F# straight to the B etc. Your breath control by that stage will be improving, and you may not have a problem hitting that high note at all.
Yes, but if I’m not mistaken, Alison is talking about the B which is a minor third below that high D, which should be doable, and even nice, on just about any whistle.
BTW, I occasionally go to the high E, on some of my whistles - a tone above that high D of yours, Kevin. I’d only do that somewhere loud though.
Yes, I meant the high B is also doable. I generally play some D & G arpeggios D F# A f f# a d’, and D G B d g b d’ up and down (not sure of the octave naming conventions).
Or you can transpose(?). Start on E - but there is a note that needs half-holing (G# I think, but dont take my word for it I am hopeless at the musical algebra). That neatly avoids the top of the whistle, so you can play you favourite tune before you have mastered the top of the whistle.
You’ve never been hopeless at it, Phill. Quite right, anyway - G#. For me at least, that G# is enough to put me off playing it in that key. Unless someone else wants to play it like that, with me on whistle, in which case I would. But it’s an awkward place for the G#, because of the pattern G#AG#F#. I’ve just tried it, and it’s OK. Just not my favourite sort of pattern to get my fingers around. Also, the hole you’re half-holing for that is slightly smaller than some others, so the note can be a bit ‘veiled’. OK, though.
For what it’s worth, I had a very hard time with those upper second octave notes on my feadog when I was new to this as well. For some reason it seemed much easier for me on my Generation. Maybe you’ll have a similar experience. The feadog did get better as my skill improved but it was never one of my personal favorites.
Well, thanks for all the response. I will definitely practice that method benhall. I played the tune all day today on different whistles, the B Flat Generation didn’t sound nearly so screechy, and when I’d mastered it on that, I went back to the D whistle, and was sounding better. But boy, it is rather loud.
I also played it on a MEG Clarkes C I had (that I actually never liked the sound of, as it always had a ‘muted’ kind of sound to me), and that surprisingly sounded the least screechy on that high note (I guess it’s a high B on the D whistle, but would be a different note on a different key whistle?) I never can remember the names of the notes, but know how to play reading music!
So practice, practice, practice…
I’m enjoying playing whistles more than the recorder! Glad to have found the forum. Now I can ‘talk whistles’ with other folks!
For what it’s worth - I find that my Meg D is very easy to play in the second octave, the 3rd octave is actually easy too, except that my tinnitus can’t take it. It plays the second octave effortlessly anyway. And it does it a bit easier than the Meg C, and the Feadog.
When that’s said - I don’t have any trouble with the second octave on any of my whistles now (they just take different amounts of push, or attitude, or what to call it..). I’m a beginner and I believe it was more troublesome right at the start than what it is now. So the short conclusion is that the Meg D is easy in the high octave(s) almost right away, the others (including a Feadog) will come with a little bit of practice. I have actually started to play the Meg D again quite a bit (my cheapest whistle) because some of the noodling in the second octave which I do sounds good (to me) on that whistle.
Because I was more successful playing the high note on my Clarke Meg C, I was thinking of getting the Clarke D too. Funny I never thought I liked the Clark Meg sound…now I’m thinking that different songs are better played with their own specific whistle to sound good. Do you all have that experience? (Eg, I love the sound of Greensleeves on the B Flat)
Were there any other recommendations for similar whistles that have that ‘breathier’ sort of sound, that would sound better for songs played in the upper octave? What are the Dixon and Goldie like? The other thing I don’t like about the Clarke Meg is the ridge where the metal is folded and welded underneath. Is that common on all Clarke’s? I have the silver tin one. It’s not dreadful, just a bit of an annoyance.
I can see now why you all have extensive whistle ‘collections’!
In addition to all that has been said (breath control being the most important factor in my opinion), I would like to weigh in by suggesting to try a very easy and simple tweak for the feadog (also effective on whistles with similar mouthpieces).
In a few words is all about filling the cavity below the windway up to the edge.
I have done that with putty on two feadog mouthpieces and the improvements on high notes have been astonishing. What was once shrill and squeaky is now refined and stable (and I’m a newbie too so my breath control has still a long way to go).
Not offhand, no. But I wonder why you want ABC when you already have the staff notation here. I can think of a few possible reasons, but I’m curious why.
Of course, an ABC version of the sheet with comparable detail is unlikely because of copyright.
I can’t get that to work at all on any of my whistles. On some of them, like my Reyburn, that just produces a horrible squawk.