Hey!
Right, I’m learning the whistle part of The Corr’s song ‘Rain’, by ear! I was singing with the song last night, and the whistle part came on and I picked up my whistle and now I have figured out all but the last note of it. The whistle part isn’t very long, but I think it’s a good start on the road to learning by ear! Next song I’m gonna try and learn is ‘Rebel Heart’, by The Corrs because I can’t find the sheet music to it. 
Peace be the journey,
Sara
Excellent! It does get easier. I guess
my principal pleasure playing whistle
is playing along with CDs–especially
when they don’t have a whistle. I’ve
been playing along with the old Welsh
tune, ‘The Ash Grove,’ for a couple of
days now–recorded on hammered dulcimer.
Yesterday afternoon
I began to play the harmonies–if you
just stay with it you can get pretty
deep into the tune and learn a lot
about the music. Best
Right on Sara, thats how you do it. Just keep picking out tunes and singing em in your head. Keep up at it and before you know it you’re ear will start to develop, as it already has.
I’m starting to hear Trad Irish know. When I first listened it was very intense and I was quickly lost. It’s all I have been listening to for the last several months. Usually I’ll mix it up, and spin an eclectic brew of music. But just Irish Trad right now. The melodies and how they are put togather are becoming clear. I know my next move will be to explore the old timers and find some vintage recordings. Vinyl is very good for that.
Glad to hear your making progress, keep it up and the rewards can be amazing on many levels.
Jack “Must I listen to that jig one more time!?” Orion
[ This Message was edited by: jackorion on 2002-03-06 21:33 ]
Yay, Sara! The more you do it, the easier it gets. This is just the beginning!
Tom “I’ve just about worn out my tape of ‘Duncan Johnstone’” Wilson
Way to Go Sara! That’s totally on topic too! have you had a “EUREKA” moment yet?
Mine came when I was playing tunes on my mandolin and trying to remember where I got them from: I suddenly realised I was playing a tune I’d learnt on the whistle and never played on the mandolin before!
OK, that’s a whistle > mandolin transfer, but I’ve since been doing it the other way too.
Sometimes all the little improvements you’ve been making unnoticed all come together at once and suddenly BANG!!
Wonderful experience, isn’t it?
Try playing some tunes that you REALLY know, inside out eg Mary Had a Little Lamb. Silly, simple stuff, but if you truly have the tune in your brain, it will more easily come out via your fingers.
One of my most satisfying moments of whisteling came when I was humming this beautiful tune in my head (from the soundtrack of “The Snowman” video by Raymond Briggs). I had the idea to figure it out on the whistle, so I slowed it down in my mind and really listened to the intervals (but without “going, oh, that’s a third” or anythting). Then I picked up the whistle and I just played it through. Somehow my fingers knew to start on the right note and to play it through. I was really quite Zen. And it unfortunately has never happened again since.
Elliot “What’s up with these names?” Bloomfield
Bloomfield,
My “nickname” referred to the fact that I’m learning this (for me) extremely difficult tune by ear, and I’ve literally listened to it so many times that it’s starting to sound crackly.
Thing is, I still can’t play it up to speed yet… 
Tom “Slow Twitch” Wilson
Ahhhh.
Elliot “Don’t take me so literally” Bloomfield
Jack “I’ve started a trend” Orion
Sara,
I just noticed your sign-off above. “Peace be the journey.” Cool. (I assume) that’s from my short list of favorite movies. 
Tom “Senka, You dead mon?” Wilson
p.s. I played Duncan Johnstone up to speed this morning! There’s hope for all of us!!!
Thanks for the replies! I can’t wait to start learning other tunes!
Martin,
Sorry if I’m being dumb, but what’s a EUREKA moment? I don’t know if I’ve had one. That’s cool that you were able to transfer from whistle to mandolin.
brewerpaul,
Yeah, I think I’ll try some really simple tunes, like Mary Had a Little Lamb, see if I can do it.
Bloomfield,
That’s really cool that you were able to figure it out! But, that’s a bummer that it hasn’t happened again. That’s kinda what I’m afraid will happen. I’ll be able to learn a tune by ear this once and never again. I don’t know…hopefully I will!
WyoBadger,
Actually, I didn’t see your list of fave movies. And thanks, by the way! Actually, I got “peace be the journey” from a message board I just joined on the Train website. They’re my fave group! Does anyone else like them?
Peace be the journey,
Sara “I’m Train’s biggest fan” Michelle
On 2002-03-08 10:45, Sara wrote:
Martin,
Sorry if I’m being dumb, but what’s a EUREKA moment?
Hi Sara,
Eureka is the (ancient) Greek for “I’ve found it”. A Greek engineer called Archimedes was thinking about a problem while having a bath. (His king had asked him to confirm that a gold crown he had been given was pure gold, but he could not dammage the crown while checking it)As he got into the bath, it overflowed.
He realised in a flash of inspiration that the volume of water that sloshed out of the bath must be equal to the volume of the thing displacing the water.
As the density of an pure metal is constant, if the crown was pure gold, then its volume should be the same as a block of pure gold of the same weight. And no matter what strange shape an object is, you can measure its volume by putting it underwater, and measuring the water displaced.
Legend has it that he ran down the street, still wearing his birthday suit in excitement, yelling “Eureka, Eureka!”
I’m not suggesting you run naked down the street, but the “Eureka” moment is a reference to that flash of inspiration when something just clicks into place in your mind and everything becomes clear.
And I think this story also teaches us that sometimes a bath is still better than a shower.
Check out Archimedes, he was a top inventor!
Oh I dont know, Seeing someone running down the street yelling “Eureka” might be quite
entertaining.
Martin,
That’s a really interesting story! I’ve heard of Archimedes, but haven’t read that much about him - I love studying about Ancient Greece. I guess I really didn’t know a person could measure volume by putting it underwater…I just pictured this Ancient Greek dude with no clothes on running down the street yelling “Eureka! Eureka!” 
Graphics Guy,
It would be very entertaining indeed. 
Peace be the journey,
Sara “Train totally rocks” Michelle
“Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated.” - Train
[ This Message was edited by: Sara on 2002-03-08 15:15 ]
Good girl, Sara, you have exactly the right approach - get the tune in your ear and the rest will follow. One of the advantages of this approach is that you will find that your vocal chords unconsciously move to “mime” the notes as you’re playing, which gives a much better tone.
Though I’m now besotted with Irish trad music (which I hated when I was a kid, hearing little other than dire ceili bands on Raidio Eireann in the fifties), I actually started the whistle playing James Taylor tunes. So ignore the begrudgers who slag the Corrs, they’re not deepest-Ireland traditional musicians but who cares?
Regarding learning tunes, check out my contribution to the Silver thingie thread.