hello all, i’ve been a traditional whistler for some time now, and recently my friends and i have become interested in attempting to find sheet music for some of the songs by either the dropkick murphys or flogging molly
expressly, i have been scouring the internet in a vague effort to find some sort of passable whistle sheet music for “what’s left of the flag” and “devil’s dance floor” by flogging molly. it has been an exhaustive search which has turned up several people who know how to play the songs because they have worked it out by ear (a skill i have tried and failed at) but no one who seems interested in posting this in a sheet music format.
can someone please help! any information on a sight i might be able to get this music from, or someone who would be willing to transcribe it would be most appreciated.
You might try using Slow Downer software, i.e. software that slows music way down but keeps it in the same pitch so you can hear more easily note for note what’s going on and transcribe it yourself.
On Mac, Quick Time Player can slow down a tune by 1/2, which usually is slow enough for me to pick up most stuff.
I make it this way. Yez can add the ornamentation yerselves.
Drop it into ABC Navigator to get your stave.
X:1
T:Devil’s Dance Floor
M:4/4
S:Flogging Molly
R:Reel
K:G
ea aa g2ef|e2AB AGE2|ea aa g2ef|e2AB G4|
ea aa g2ef|e2AB AGE2|ea aa g2ef|e2AB G4:|
|:eA ABA2AB|c2dcBAG2|eA ABA2AB|c2dcB4|
eA ABA2AB|c2dcBAG2|eA ABA2AB|c2dcB4|
eA ABA2AB|c2dcBAG2|eA ABA2AB|cAB2A4:|
X:1
T:What’s left of the flag
M:4/4
S:Flogging Molly
R:Reel
K:D
BAG3AG2|Bde3ed2|BAG3ABA2|G2D6|
BAG3AG2|Bde3ed2|BAG3ABA2|G2G6||
Bde3ee2|dBd3dd2|Bd e3fg2|B2d6|
BAG2ABG2|Bd e3ed2|BAG2ABA2|G2G6||
Not bad, IB, those are very close. You’re definitely developing the skillz. For your benefit (and the OP), here’s my ABC. Besides a few stray notes, your keys are off, and your second tune is shifted over by one beat.
And don’t forget the trucker’s gear changes - every good song needs one.
Of course, you might want to reconsider your first statement in light of your second statement.
Seriously … Ear skills are the heart of Irish traditional whistling. And these Flogging Molly melodies are ultra-simple. If you’re finding them difficult, and you’re serious about the music, you need to tackle your problem head-on with the aid of a teacher, training software, whatever. If you can’t hear it you can’t play it, and sheet music is part of the problem, not part of the solution. You’ll be much happier in the long run.
Interested? Keep in mind that these are copyrighted, commercial songs. If you want the sheet music, you should expect to pay for it, in whatever form the band chooses to make it available. Yes, many groups tend to tolerate simple tabs and ABCs like these. But you shouldn’t count on that.
Normally used for a sudden and unprepared change of key. It’s used lots in old, cheesy pop songs (and quite a bit in old ‘country’ recordings) and is often a shift up of either a semitone or a tone. The effect is as of a sudden wrench which, in a disrespectful allusion to truckers, is supposed to be the effect produced when they change gear.
Gosh, and all that without recourse to Wiki. I must have got it wrong …
I’m not sure that “unprepared” is the right word if I understand what you’re talking about…
and I’m assuming that what you’re talking about is what David Wilcox does in this video at about the 1:54 mark. David Wilcox-Rusty Old American Dream
First time I saw him do that move was about 20 years ago at a live show. It was a small venue in NYC and I was about 10 feet from him. It took a few seconds for what he did to register and when it did I was sitting there thinking, “WTF, that ain’t fair! This guy is breaking all the fecking rules! I didn’t know we were allowed to do that!”
Seeing DW play was a real eye-opener for me and a good nudge into the world of alternate tunings but that mid-song capo slide still blows me away. “Slick” is the right word for it.
