The Music of the Great Tin Whistle Masters -- New York Class

Whistle
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Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know about two advanced tin whistle classes I’ll be teaching this fall – one on Mondays at 6:30, and one on Thursdays at 7:30, beginning the week of Sept. 15th. The classes will meet at my studio/apartment on 46th St. and 10th Avenue in Manhattan.

The theme of these classes will be “The Music of the Great Tin Whistle Masters.” Over the course of the year, the groups will learn tunes from recordings of such seminal players as Mary Bergin, Paddy Breen, Willie Clancy, Jim Donohue, Carmel Gunning, Josie MacDermott, Joanie Madden, Johnnie Maguire, Cathal McConnell, Micho Russell, Sean Ryan and others. Students will learn to analyze these players’ styles and techniques with an eye towards enriching their own playing.

I haven’t given this class since 1998, so I’m quite excited to be teaching this material again. It’s very rich and varied. All dialects of Irish tin whistle playing will be covered, drawing on commercial and field recordings, including field recordings that I’ve made myself over the last 30 years.

The entire course runs for 30 weeks, divided into three 10-week terms. There are still a few spaces open in each class. Students must be comfortable playing jigs and reels, have a good working knowledge of basic tin whistle ornamentation, and be able to learn tunes by ear from slowed-down recordings. If you’re interested, please contact me for further details at bill@pennywhistle.com or 212-247-3231.

I also offer a range of classes and private lessons for whistlers who are just starting out, as well as tuition for intermediate players, etc. Please see my post about the free tin whistle workshop I’ll be giving at The Irish Arts Center in Manhattan on Sunday, Sept. 14, from 2 to 5 PM.

Best,

Bill Ochs

Web: www.pennywhistle.com
E-mail: bill@pennywhistle.com
Phone: 212.247.3231

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Bill didn’t mention it, but all of you already have a friend in the class, whichever day you choose. There’s already at least one contributor (that I know of) in each section. I’m in for the Monday group. I’ll let the others 'fess up for themselves.

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Lemme see, that’s only a 3 hr drive from here…
Bill-- love to see you take a “best of” mini version of that class on the road eg Upstate !! Sounds terrific.
On a perhaps more practical note, how about condensing some of that material into a book/CD combo similar to your terrific whistle tutor? Sign me up for that one , for sure!

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Thanks, Paul. I’d be happy to do an upstate workshop on this or any other theme if enough folks were interested.

Re a book on the master whistlers, great idea! First I need to finish my book on Micho Russell, which is still a few years from completion. I just finished a 2227-entry database of Micho’s tunes in my own collection. There are many duplicate tunes in the collection, of course. But this is the tool l’m using to cull the best performances and versions of each piece.

Bill

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You’re going to find this hard to believe but every so often I get the urge to live in New York rather than Wollongong. Any chance of bringing the show on an Australian tour?

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I’d love to do that. Basically I’m open to going to anywhere to give a workshop, provided the organizers can pay my travel expenses and some sort of fee for my services. Interested parties, please e-mail me off forum. Thanks!