Swing

Whistle
1

Any one succesfully pulled of swing music on a whistle? if so please share your gifts and tell us all how you did so. ive been trying to play some commin swing songs (it don’t mean a thing, zoot suit riot, i wanna be just like you) on my whistle and i cant get it to wrok very well.

2

Glenn Miller’s American Patrol works quite well on whistle. It even gets used over here as a tune for Border Morris.

3

I don’t play much Irish Trad, and have really tried to find other types of music that work on the whistle. And the ONE thing I can’t get to sound even OK is swing/big band. I think it’s because many of those songs have rather simple melodies that rely on the REST of the band to make it sound “swing.” I think, if you had a drummer and a bass, plus a horn or two as well as a whistle, you could do it. But, in my experience, swing is tough to make sound good on a whistle.

On the other hand, blues is fun…especially if you have a blues whistle (I’ve got one from Erik the flutemaker).

4

Kar,

Do you have the names/sources of some blues favorites you play on the whistle? I’d be interested in giving blues a try.

Best

5

well, when i’m done with my effing dissertation, i am seriously interested in exploring cuban charanga flute playing and spanish flemenco. probably will be relagated to the flute though, since i imagine i’ll need a few more accidentals than a whistle can provide. but you never know.

i can’t image a whistle adding up to much in big band swing music. would simply be drowned out. and not versitile enough. but again, ya never know. can’t hurt to try.

now, blues is another story. i’ve always wanted to try that heart-wrenching blues tune/song ‘was born a motherless child’ (?) on low whistle. wynton marsalis played it on trumpet many moons ago.

6

Peteinmn–
When I play blues, I don’t play any specific songs or tunes, I just noodle around with the blues whistle. Turn off the lights, light the candles, relax and just sort of play.

Wish I could help with more specifics!

7

Here’s a basic rendition of “St. James Infirmary”. I’m not happy with the precise timing. I don’t think it matches exactly how I play the basic melody, but it’s a start.

X:1
T:St. James Infirmary
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:BMIN
Q:180
B/de/|f2 f2 e2 f2| d B4 B/ d e/| f2 f2 b2 a2| f4 z B/ d e/|
f2 f2 e2 f2| d B4 z F/ B c/| d B d B f e d2| B8|

This is “Summertime”, from JC’s ABC Tune Finder, transposed from G minor (Bb) to B minor (D), with the triplet in measure 8 of the original modified to get rid of the low B.

X:484
T:Summertime 1
S:Jack Tuttle
Z:Nigel Gatherer
M:4/4
L:1/8
F:http://users.argonet.co.uk/users/gatherer/tunes/abc/tb10.abc 2004-03-03 07:37:44 UT
K:BMIN %Transposed from GMIN
{=f}^fd | {=f}^f- f7- | f2 ed efd{^A}B- | B F3- F4- | F4 {=f}(3^f2e2d2 |
{^d}e- e7- | e2 dB de d2 | {=c}^c- c7- | c2 BF Bcde |
{=f}^f- f7- | f2 ed efd{=f}B- | B F3- F4- | F8 |
A2 FA B d3 | {e}=f e3- edBA | {^A}B- B7- | B6 |]

Finally, here’s a very basic “Sweet Georgia Brown”:

X:2
T:Sweet Georgia Brown
R:Song
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=180
K:C
c2B2^A2|A2B2^c2A2|e2^c2^f2e2|a4e2^c2|A8|
A2B2c2A2|e2^c2^f2e2|a4^f2e2|d8|
G2A2B2G2|d2B2e2d2|g4d2B2|G2G2AGA2|
e8|e2G2AGA2|e8|^d8|
A2B2^c2A2|e2^c2^f2e2|a4e2^c2|A8|
A2B2c2A2|e2^c2^f2e2|a4^f2e2|d8|
e4e4|d2B2e4|e4e4|d2B2e4|
G2A2c2e2|gega2ge2|dcdg2ed2|c8|

I don’t play any of these exactly as written, and I seldom play them the same way twice–at leat not on purpose. These give me my improvisation fix that I can’t really get from the Irish stuff. They all sound pretty good on my Hoover Whitecap mid-range A, too.

Edited to add: Although “Sweet Georgia Brown” is in C, it’s written for D whistle. However, to play it with other instruments in the traditional key of F, you’d need to use a G whistle. Also, I get the A# in the lead-in by half-holing the second hole, which can be tricky at full speed, so the lead-in could just be omitted. I get the D# in measure 16 by half-holing the sixth hole.