Sorry in advance for the length!
Shatfield:
There are actually a few lovely players down in Florida. Where exactly are you? You might look into Michael Stribling (Tallahassee) or Justin Murphy (Orlando), both fantastic musicians in the irish tradition.
More and more I do think a teacher can help facilitate learning in a way that you can’t always do on your own. I’ve met many people that simply can’t hear things until they’re pointed out, but also a teacher can substantially speed up the learning process by breaking things down and explaining what’s going on.
(Full disclosure: I have never had whistle lessons. I did have piping lessons when I started, several years after the whistle, and it made a huge difference to both instruments.)
A while ago, I came to the conclusion that when learning to play irish music as a total beginner (ie, not from another instrument), you’re actually trying to learn three things at once:
- The instrument
- The music (ie the style or sound)
- The tunes (the individual reels, jigs, or so on)
It definitely is most important to have good rhythm, phrasing, lift and covering the holes properly, but it is also important to have the ornaments there, as they are a key to phrasing the tunes properly, separating notes, emphasizing the rhythm, and developing the irish sound or style. These days, a lot of irish musicians have taken to referring to these things as articulations rather than ornaments, as that generally describes their function better. At any rate, trying to put a ton of ornaments or articulation in right away isn’t a good idea. To that end simplifying the ornaments to some basic things (a cut here or there, maybe a tap or two) at the beginning is really important. But until you’ve got a solid grasp of the music, you won’t know which ones to leave in and which ones you can leave out… Another argument for a teacher!
I don’t agree at all. Listen to Micho Russel. Very sparse ornamentation, but the perfect irish sound. Triplets are not essential, but they are useful and fun.
There most certainly is right and wrong! Like most things musical, you know it when you hear it.
That’s not true. What a metronome will do is teach you to play at a steady tempo. It will not teach you irish ryhtms and can in fact make you sound, well, metronomic! A metronome can be useful, but you should always keep in mind its limitations. A better solution is to practise by playing with people or at least along with good recordings. That will teach you to listen to the rythm and will help you play with good rhythm! It will also help with the pulse or lift, phrasing, and timing of articulations, something a metronome can actually interfere with.
The great thing about irish music is that the tunes are just as good, if not better, than exercises like scales and arpeggios And they have the added benefit of (eventually!) sounding musical!
Agreed 100%!! The LE McCullough quote is also very good, with one caveat: I very much doubt I will ever wake up one day and “when you least expect it— you’ll hear yourself and realize you can play Irish traditional music on the tinwhistle really well.” I know I’m a lot better than I was even a year ago, and I also know I’ll be better still in another year. I don’t think any really good irish musicians ever look back and say “oh, ok, now I’m a great irish musician”. All the really good musicians I’ve ever met have all been constantly learning and improving. I doubt LE meant it like this, but the quote did make me think he was saying that at some point you’ll realize “you’re there”. Hopefully, if that ever happens, then shortly afterwards you’ll realize you’re not, and then you’ll keep improving!
Wyobadger also gives good advice, as does skipjack. I’d like to add that in my experience, 15mins a day is pretty much needed just to maintain your level. The more playing, the better, imo!
First, thanks for reposting the quote, I hadn’t seen it the first time! Second, I’d say that if you want to be any good at all, even a little, it takes a fair amount of obsession. To play irish music well takes a lot of time, effort, practise, and especially listening.
Slow airs (at least the proper sean nos type of slow airs that most irish musicians mean when they use the term) are very very challenging. Many irish musicians do not play slow airs because of this, while happily playing reels and jigs and everything else. I do think they are deceptive, because, as you say, slower tunes should be easier. But, getting them right, at least to an experienced musician’s ear, is very challenging! Come to think of it, just like polkas…
On the other hand you have to start somewhere…
. A good teacher will probably teach you how they ornament a tune when they teach it to you. However, it is probably best to learn the tune both with and without the ornaments; you will want to vary your ornaments through the course of the tune. Overall though, if you are interested in playing with other players, it is better by far to have a good grasp of the tune than of the ornaments. At a session, I have never heard anyone complain about someone playing the tune straight… In group settings the ornaments tend to get drowned out by what everyone else is doing (There are exceptions… a box or concertina playing chords or octaves can definitely make itself known…).
and leave me bunker 
