I’m usually over on th UP forum so this is my first real post over on this forum. I’m getting a Burke Bb whistle to play along with a friends Bb flat set of pipes. But what can you do with it with other instruments? How does a guitarist play along???
I’m not the font of musical knowledge that many here are, but all that any chromtic instrument has to do is play in the correct key. For guitar there’d be a set of chords that would work best when playing with a Bb whistle. I have no idea what they’d be.
Well, if you’re playing in Bb, they’d be Bb, Eb, and F mainly, and their substitutions. Probably the easiest thing to do, though, would be to use a capo on the first fret and play as if in the key of A, usually more familiar to guitarists.
Of course you can also play easily in Eb on a Bb whistle, so a guitarist could play as if in D with a capo on the first fret.
And so on, for the minor-ish keys possible on a Bb whistle…
Carol
oh yeah, a capo- I forgot you can do that
You can play along with many woodwind instruments without them either complaining or killing you. Bb is a very friendly key and the whistle sounds a lot more mellow…I love my generation Bb. Plus, it comes in handy with those playing in Eb.
A sixth fret guitar Capo would work. It would be god for playing with Woodwinds as Bb is usually their favorite key.
I recently was listening to album by Cran. I tried a few songs with my D whistle, but the tunes weren’t sounding quite right. I tried my Bflat whistle and everything fell into place.
I know that I would be DEAD without it! The group that I play in, “Barleyjuice”, has a load of songs that incorporate the bagpipes. Without the Bb, I would be designated to the Davey Jones job of playing percussion.
Learn it. Enjoy it. Expand everyone else’s musical keys! 
I love my Bb Burke. I’ve been experimenting with some jazz standards, including backing a great local vocalist. I also just recorded a trad waltz on it with guitar, viola and piano accordian. Yummy stuff. 
tim
experimenting with some jazz standards -
are there any whistle players who have CDs featuring jazz as well/instead of celtic. I’ve the the new fraser fifield trio one and need more. Could be the break through for me..
what key whistle would be best for playing jazz tunes do you think? Thanks.
It’s not out yet (as far as I know), but the CD release party for Millish is two weeks from today. I’ve got the EP which has half the tracks from the album, and there is a ton of jazzy low whistle work in there.
I heard Frankie Gavin playing an air and a slow reel on a Generation Bb (nickel bluetop) this weekend. Marvellous stuff. (Didn’t go much on his accompaniment though).
fel bautista,
If, like me, you consider a capo to be cheating, tune your guitar to DADGAD and use the following chords:
Bb, Eb, F (Standard 3 chord progression)
Bb, Cm, Dm, Eb, F, Gm, Am, Bb (full major scale chord progression)
DADGAD isn’t the only way to do it, but it is probably one of the easier ways.
By the way, if you’re looking for examples of playing in Eb, check out Dervish. A lot of their music is recorded in Eb instead of D.