Hello,
New to the board. I’m a tuba player and have recently taken up the Pennywhistle for fun. It’s very relaxing and much easier to carry in my pocket. Do most of you play from sheet music or do you memorize tunes? I know this depends on the player and his practice habits, but generally speaking, how long does it take to reach a decent level of proficiency on the whistle? Tell me how long it took you.
It’s very relaxing and much easier to carry in my pocket.
I can believe that!
Sheet music vs. learning by ear has been discussed here many times. Try a search. In short, many people use sheet music, but the concensus among the more experienced players is that sheet music is not the way for a new player (at least one aspiring to use the whistle for Irish trad. music) to get started. Once you’ve gotten an understanding of the “Irish sound” imbedded safely in your head, sheet music can then be used as a mean of adding new tunes to your repertoire.
How long does it take to become proficient? The question is too general of course, it depends on how talented the new player is, how much he practices, whether he is trying to learn by himself, or whether he’s got a teacher to lead him in the right direction. And loads of other factors as well. But be patient! You’re not gonna sound like a pro within a month.
Cheers & welcome,
Jens
It also depends on your definition of “proficient”! If one who’d like to be able to sit with, let’s say, Eamonn Cotter, play a tune, and not have Cotter think in his head “darn, he/she sucks!”, proficient might take forever to reach 