The way you get there is to never play it so fast that you aren’t controlling it. Speed comes with control, and staying relaxed, and playing the tune over and over and over again.
I can’t emphasize enough–tense fingers are slow fingers. You must relax.
Thank you, James! That is very helpful. And a great prelude to what has been on my mind to ask all you pros out there:
What do you think is the best way to get my fingers to do those beautiful little trills and rolls that find their way into a good player’s music.
I’ve learned a good handful of tunes now, but I still feel like a little kid playing a recorder in school because I can’t make it feel Irish with the ornaments. When I do try, they feel forced and don’t seem to add much – to my ear anyway.
So my fingers feel slow and stiff at trying to throw in those quick little grace notes. Are there any exercises that can help with that? Or is it just a matter of working, working, working with a tune until the ornaments eventually become more natural?
I keep in mind what Wanderer wrote on his site (quote) :
“It took me 3 years before I felt comfortable with the whistle. It took me another 3 years or so before I started feeling comfortable making some of the more complex ornaments like rolls and cranns. I’m just now starting to get comfortable learning tunes on the fly, and learning better variations for tunes. I may be really happy with my playing in another 5-10 years.”
Since I’ve started about 1.5 years ago, I’m already happy that I’ve got the basic idea of what a roll should be…
Thanks so much. This is all very helpful. Sounds like in general I need to NOT be in a hurry, slow down and enjoy the journey, and do a lot of listening.
Thanks especially for Bro. Steve’s site. I didn’t know about that before – I’ll spend a lot of time perusing, I’m sure.
Dabri: I have been in your shoes. Though I am not an advanced player necessarily, I will share one thing that helped me.
That was hearing those rolls and other articulations played on other instruments and imitating the sound. It sounds counter-intuitive, but when you hear a fiddle playing rolls, it’s kind of different than how it sounds on the whistle but it almost seems to fit better, especially on old recordings of reels (I am thinking of the Traditional Music of Clare recording, for example, on Roll Out the Barrel). . Also, accordians and concertinas are limited in how they duplicate a roll, but they present the rhythmic essence of the rolls. I was deeply taken in by Bobby Gardiner on “His Masters Voice” playing Fermoy Lasses and Concertina Reel, for example. Pipes can show you the essence of crans.
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So, in addition to the usual technical advice from Bro Steve and Grey Larsen’s book, this really helped me. And in each case, it was a version of a tune which I absolutely loved and wanted to “fit in” with as I played along. It’s like you charge in, wanting to play just the guy (or gal) on the record and you have to figure out how to make your whistle imitate it. In the course of doing that, you “get it.”
“Sound Irish” is an interesting way to think about it. Just like it takes a good ear to put on a passable Irish accent when speaking, it takes a practiced ear to play a tune that sounds Irish. Playing more will give you mastery over your breath and your fingers. Listening more will allow you to add the Irish accent. It’s not a formula or set of rules. It’s just the way they do it.
I think it’s easier to pick up sitting next to someone playing ITM live than listening to a recording. Maybe the movements give you additional cues or it’s the feeling that comes out in the music.
Here’s some advice I got recently from Mike McGoldrick:
“It’s best to spend the time to get the technique down on a few tunes before you expand your list. If you get it right to begin, then the technique falls into place as you expand your tune-list.”
I’d say this:
Technique includes the speed you play things.
Listen very closely to your favourite artists - learn to detect which ornaments they are using. This takes time as you become familiar with the sound of each - and what is actually being done can be deceptive.
Remember - the standard ITM ornaments for whistle are usually not “trills” or grace-notes - the articulations are part of the rhythm, not part of the melody - percieved as beats, not notes. Learning to place them in a way that supports the rhythm is time well spent. That’s where the Irish feel comes from. Above all - ITM is traditionally dance music - if it’s too fast to dance to, then it’s too fast (unless you are doing some kind of “show-piece”).
Getting your cuts, taps, rolls etc to execute crisply is done with practice - starting s-l-o-w-l-y with an even beat. Speed just happens when you have your hands and breath sufficiently trained.
The previous posters are absolutely correct about keeping your fingers relaxed. Don’t force yourself. Patience is necessary, pain is not.
Remember - the standard ITM ornaments for whistle are usually not “trills” or grace-notes - the articulations are part of the rhythm, not part of the melody - percieved as beats, not notes. Learning to place them in a way that supports the rhythm is time well spent.
I’ll go along with that and add a thing. Cuts in particular, are also an ‘attack’ on a note: the beginning sound of some notes- that makes the peculiar tin whistle sound. If you think of the cut (the most common technique by far on whistle) as being part of the note, then, you need to get it out quick, right on top of the note. The common mistake I hear is people playing a cut in 3 distinct parts: a finger down tone, then a finger up tone, then the note. (There may be places where you intend that for rhythmic purposes, but it’s not a good sounding attack on a note.) So, the trick is to get your cutting finger off the hole at the very moment you start the note and then, right back down as fast as possible. I’d suggest listening to a recording slowed down to get the idea. It takes hearing and imitating. (Don’t randomly pick a Clips tune or you might get seriously messed up. )
Besides that, the most important thing I can think of is timing: make sure anything you put in fits and doesn’t push a melody note, ie, the rhythm out of place. If cuts or whatever are done too slowly, what comes next is done too late and the rhythm goes bad. This actually sounds a lot worse than getting a wrong note here and there that’s at least played with good timing.
Oh yeah…if you’re struggling, don’t keep speeding up like that will make it sound better. Tension in the playing is fairly obvious and doesn’t improve things, either.
Tony
Remember - the standard ITM ornaments for whistle are usually not “trills” or grace-notes - the articulations are part of the rhythm, not part of the melody - percieved as beats, not notes. Learning to place them in a way that supports the rhythm is time well spent.
I’ll go along with that and add a thing. Cuts in particular, are also an ‘attack’ on a note: the beginning sound of some notes- that makes the peculiar tin whistle sound. If you think of the cut (the most common technique by far on whistle) as being part of the note, then, you need to get it out quick, right on top of the note. The common mistake I hear is people playing a cut in 3 distinct parts: a finger down tone, then a finger up tone, then the note. (There may be places where you intend that for rhythmic purposes, but it’s not a good sounding attack on a note.) So, the trick is to get your cutting finger off the hole at the very moment you start the note and then, right back down as fast as possible. I’d suggest listening to a recording slowed down to get the idea. It takes hearing and imitating. (Don’t randomly pick a Clips tune or you might get seriously messed up. )
Besides that, the most important thing I can think of is timing: make sure anything you put in fits and doesn’t push a melody note, ie, the rhythm out of place. If cuts or whatever are done too slowly, what comes next is done too late and the rhythm goes bad. This actually sounds a lot worse than getting a wrong note here and there that’s at least played with good timing.
Oh yeah…if you’re struggling, don’t keep speeding up like that will make it sound better. Tension in the playing is fairly obvious and doesn’t improve things, either.
While I’m posting, I’ll add something else that helps the sound. Get a pulse or bounce or whatever you want to call it. A listener should be able to tap their foot and know exactly where your down beat is. That often goes missing with beginners and it’s hard to figure out what the rhythm is. A key trick is to prolong the first note of each group of 3 (for a jig) or 4 (for a reel). An exaggerated example is how the first note in a waltz stretches out longer than the next two. There’s more to it than that, but this is a start.
Tony
Tony
Remember - the standard ITM ornaments for whistle are usually not “trills” or grace-notes - the articulations are part of the rhythm, not part of the melody - percieved as beats, not notes. Learning to place them in a way that supports the rhythm is time well spent.
I’ll go along with that and add a thing. Cuts in particular, are also an ‘attack’ on a note: the beginning sound of some notes- that makes the peculiar tin whistle sound. If you think of the cut (the most common technique by far on whistle) as being part of the note, then, you need to get it out quick, right on top of the note. The common mistake I hear is people playing a cut in 3 distinct parts: a finger down tone, then a finger up tone, then the note. (There may be places where you intend that for rhythmic purposes, but it’s not a good sounding attack on a note.) So, the trick is to get your cutting finger off the hole at the very moment you start the note and then, right back down as fast as possible. I’d suggest listening to a recording slowed down to get the idea. It takes hearing and imitating. (Don’t randomly pick a Clips tune or you might get seriously messed up. )
Besides that, the most important thing I can think of is timing: make sure anything you put in fits and doesn’t push a melody note, ie, the rhythm out of place. If cuts or whatever are done too slowly, what comes next is done too late and the rhythm goes bad. This actually sounds a lot worse than getting a wrong note here and there that’s at least played with good timing.
Oh yeah…if you’re struggling, don’t keep speeding up like that will make it sound better. Tension in the playing is fairly obvious and doesn’t improve things, either.
While I’m posting, I’ll add something else that helps the sound. Get a pulse or bounce or whatever you want to call it. A listener should be able to tap their foot and know exactly where your down beat is. That often goes missing with beginners and it’s hard to figure out what the rhythm is. A key trick is to prolong the first note of each group of 3 (for a jig) or 4 (for a reel). An exaggerated example is how the first note in a waltz stretches out longer than the next two. There’s more to it than that, but this is a start.
Tony
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