Simple tunes to start with?

Whistle
1

Hello again everyon.!
I know I’ve asked a lot of questions of late, and I apologize if some of them seem stupid, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to communicate with other players, so my knowledge has been majerly limited to what I’ve picked up by experiment. But I was wondering, since I am blind and therefore do not read printed sheet music, if anyone could tell me if there are any fairly simple tunes written in ABC notation that I might work with?

Thanks,
Terry

2

Hi Ganvira,

I would recommend you get a CD of tutorial tunes, and don’t bother with ABC at all. The Whistle Shop and Hobgoblin Music carry several tutorial CDs among others. Put the tune you are trying to learn on repeat, and just try to play along. The tunes will be played quite slowly so you can catch them. You’ll be suprised how quickly you develop, and cut out the written page.

You could also play tunes off the net and play along with those, such as the tunes on the Wandering Whistler’s site, or the virtual session as recommended by DazadinLA.

The advantage of this method is that when you come to play with others, you’ll have the skills required to join in on unfamiliar tunes, and to learn the tune quickly through hearing it.

Yes, I’m swinging over to the ear in the “Ear vs Eye” debate.

http://www.hobgoblin.com/

http://www.thewhistleshop.com/

http://www.pennywhistle.com/index.html

http://www.shannaquay.bigstep.com/catalog.html

http://members.aol.com/feadaniste/


online play along possibilities:

http://www.tinwhistler.com/music/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/folk/acoustic_club/launch.shtml

MCM Transatlantic Whistle Detective Agency - No Case Too Small (terms & conditions apply) - Branches in London & Salt Lake City

[ This Message was edited by: Martin Milner on 2002-05-09 06:04 ]

3

Hi Terry-- one thing you might try is to play tunes that you already know, even if they’re not traditional Celtic tunes. Mary Had a Little Lamb, TV theme songs ( Gilligan’s Island even sounds sorta Irish) etc. This will at least get your fingers used to playing a scale, hearing note intervals, etc.
There is an ongoing debate as to whether or not reading music is an advantage to the traditional musician. I personally think that it’s terrific, but MANY people maintain that learning to play by ear is the only way to go. Good luck.

4

I have a 2 year old daughter, and I started playing the whistle right after she was born.
Simple children’s songs seem to adapt well to the whistle, plus everybody knows them. Here are some examples:

  1. Amazing Grace
  2. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
  3. Frere Jacques
  4. Mary Had a Little Lamb
  5. Pop Goes the Weasel
  6. Yankee Doodle
  7. Cockles 'n Mussels
  8. Baa Baa Black Sheep
  9. Blow the Man Down
  10. This Old Man
  11. Old McDonald