Thinking here of a “normal session” with a few fiddles, a box, whistles, a guitar/mandolin etc.
Also, What are the most common keys for the most common instruments?(If that makes sense lol)
Basically I mean what is the main key for a box, for fiddles and for guitars etc.
Reason I ask is I have Susato whistles in D and Bb - and a few feadog’s, in C and Eb (all high, apart I suppose from the Bb) and so I want to know what is the wisest next buy - or which is the wisest to invest good money in.
Long time since I was in London.. lol. In those days it was Blues and that meant either a Guitar or a Guitar.
Hope you get to the lift earlier next time.
Irish music is most often written and played in G, D, A and C, but there are lots of tunes in F, Bb and OC stuff that should be in D etc played on Eb mode and the rest. But most sessions are locked into the regular keys.
Like the experts here suggest any TW in D is fine for a start, and I notice you already have a Bb. That is a smart choice for practicing slowly, and it goes into the high scale without being shrill as well
I think the Walton Book/CD/TW -pack, a good deal for a newbie and learning those tunes would keep you busy for quite some time.
I don’t use whistles in sessions, but, for sessions, why would anyone want a whistle in anything other than D, except for accompanying the occasional song?
Exactly, I think the logical step to playing stuff other than D, G, Em and Am with your D whistle is to switch to an instrument that can play them, like a keyed flute for a whistle player. I’ve seen a few good whistle players carry a C whistle with them, but most just bring their D and don’t bother with other keys.
Interesting, this is very different than my experience. Typical would be like my friend Dale, who these days usually seems to carry two high Ds, a C, and a low D. (I think he may have more keys he leaves in his car – I know I’ve seen him run get a Bb.)
I know I’m not the only one out there carrying a wide assortment of keys. For me, D is definitely primary, low D is occasional, low E is surprisingly handy, then very occasional uses of A and low G. I use the C surprisingly little; I think the only tunes I normally run into that require it are “Julia Delany’s”, “Broken Pledge”, and “Tuttle’s”, and for whatever reason they don’t come up that much. Seriously, the C whistle sees more use at the once a year session in C I bump into than it does the entire rest of the year. (I routinely carry a B whistle as well, but despite having my friends talk about loving to play sessions in B, I’ve never actually seen one in practice.)
There are quite a few tunes that drop down to the C below D. Most people just modify the tune because they can’t reach that C. But another alternative is to switch to playing those tunes in C. It depends on the tune, of course, as you don’t want to get stuck in a maze of half-holing to reach the other notes in the tune.
I play 2 tunes on a C whistle at session semi-regularly. Everything else I play on a D whistle. That means that my D whistle gets over 99% of the work. I can’t imagine needing any other key really, and I could just sit out on those two tunes in C if I had to. At the sessions I’ve been to, I’ve seen the occasional folk with a complete set of Copelands or Susatos, and seen the D be the only one played. I can’t imagine that in a typical session many other keys would get much use.
I guess it’s all about taste but the reason why I never bothered with Dm tunes before on the whistle, even though I could have played them with a C whistle, is just because it’s too much hassle for the few times you’ll play the tunes, and I hate switching whistle during a set. But the other reason is that most Dm tunes I know go lower than the low C on a C whistle, so even though you can play it, the real character of the tune doesnt come out, anyway for me. I would say the same about tunes like Farewell to Ireland/Eirin, the low A is a really important note and I don’t bother much with the tune on a whistle.
So that’s why two years and a half ago I decided to solve the problem altogether and order a concertina. Now I can throw the low Bs, As, F naturals and G#, and it’s all on the same instrument.
And talking about Dale, I keep on telling him he should play the fiddle or something, but anyway he’s thinking about it, but as you might know there is some reason why he’s stucked with the whistle at the moment.
That reason would be that when you’re a world-class whistler, it takes time to reach a similiar level of proficiency on fiddle. He’s already working on it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s years before he’s good enough that he’s happy with his playing. (Assuming we’re talking about the same Dale – did he come out and visit your neighborhood for a week after Chris Langan this year?)
Do you get to play with Wolf often? My (admittedly a bit vague) memory of playing tunes with him last summer is that he carried D & C flutes with him, and had a C whistle as well…
I pretty much agree about the usefulness of a C whistle in a D session, but in a D session dominated by fiddlers, the low E whistle can be really handy. (Of course, Dale would just half-hole to get A major and E major, but that seems like too much work.)
I also have a theory that A & G whistles are nearly essential for keeping up with Newfoundland one-row accordion players, but that’s mostly untested…
Hehe, yeah, we’re talking about the same Dale. Him and Wolf showed up after Chris Langan in here, we had a few private sessions etc, was fun. It’s always depressing to hang around Dale after a while, because when you think you know a lot of tunes and spend time with him, you realize you dont know shite
The other thing about the whistle is that it’s so easy to play compared to other instruments, you only need to move your fingers but the instrument is very light. Even tunes I find easy on the concertina are just way much easier on the whistle because I don’t have to have any special posture, I’m not using my arms muscle, etc. I just respect the pipers so much for handling such a beast.
We can’t get even get him to start tunes around here any more, because he’s lost the knack of remembering which ones we know, and if he starts one at random, odds are no one else knows it.
I agree completely. But on the other hand I do carry around a Kiernan C chanter just for good measure. I once showed up downtown, and there happened to be a whistle player with a C whistle, so we shared a tune. It was great fun, to play in a different key as they suggested.
The other option is to get one of each. Since the method of play does not vary much from one whistle to the next, you could then fit in anywhere. Also, make sure your whitles are tunable. This helps when sitting in with a group like the Chieftains, who change their tuning nightly.
