I’ve been playing music for over five years now. I can read sheet music. I know a lot of theory. Given all of that, how necessary is it to get a whistle teacher? I can already play Swallowtail Jig at a moderate tempo, so I think I’m progressing okay, but are there any really bad habits that can form with the whistle? I don’t mind taking lessons, but I wonder how beneficial they’ll be.
Anyone know of any central ohio teachers?
I heartily recommend lessons, if for no other reason than to spend time with someone who knows the music and can play it right. Nothing takes the place of hearing it played right.
The whistle player for The Kells, Brian McCoy, teaches in Columbus. There is a member here who takes lessons, and I hope he sees this. I can’t find any info on him.
Jeff,
I guess it all depends with what you want to do. Traditionally, trad music has been learned by ear, at least in Ireland. I don’t want to revive the old sheet music vs by ear thing, but if playing whistle from sheet music makes you happy, then I wouldnt worry too much about it. If you ever wanted to play in a session with other musicians, which might not be the case, then you’d have to look at things differently. I guess phrasing is very important in irish music, and sheet music can’t teach you that, in fact I’ll say that it distances you from it. Tunes that make people want to dance don’t have the same phrasing as tunes played in an orchestra 
Listening to older trad recordings, if you can afford, is a good way of getting your ear used to the “dirty” sound of irish music, those uneven notes that make that music so great, that makes it swing.
As for a teacher, if you can get a good one, it can’t hurt for sure 
Yeah, I’ve been wondering if I should take a more traditional approach to learning the whistle. I started out as a classical musician, then slowly moved toward folk, so I’m very biased toward sheet music. I’ve played in a few sessions, and have a handful of songs memorized, but I learned all of them from sheet music. Hmm…maybe it would be better to start from scratch and develop my ear.
I googled Brian McCoy, and found a few references, but nothing about lessons.
Since my friend Moxy is teaching me how to be more open minded, I’ll carefully chose my words There are many, many reasons why you should learn by ear, in my opinion. Just to be able to let go of written anchors would make a big change (in theory!) in your playing. If you’re able to learn by ear, it will be easier for you to toy with the tune, to change it’s flavor, it’s feeling, to adapt it to your mood, etc. Also, by ear means that if you show up in sessions, you’ll be able to pick up tunes easier after a while and maybe even be able to play the tunes you’ve heard often in a session without actually sitting and learning it. I could go on forever, but if you intend to share that music with people, start feeding your fireplace with your sheet music and let your ear “sing” 
I like that, Az. There’s a sig line in there somewhere, I can feel it.
(climbing up on the soapbox)…
IF you are playing in a way that makes you happy - be that with paper, without paper, whatever, then keep at it, and you don’t need a teacher.
IF you find there’s some technique you can’t seem to get “on your own” or there’s something that just doesn’t make sense, or you need some direction on basics or tunes to play, then you might want to look for a teacher for just a few lessons.
IF you want to play tunes in your way, with your emphasis, then you’ll need to learn to play without paper and use your ear. As long as you are using paper, you are playing what the arranger put down, not what you may add.
So - it all depends on what you want to do with the whistle (or any instrument, for that matter). When we teach dulcimer, we teach technique, not repetoire. We can have most people get the “basics” in 6 to 8 lessons, and from there, it’s just a matter of what they want to emphasize, or possibly learning a specific song or whatever. But at 8 lessons, they are equiped to go out and learn the tunes they want to play, not what we want them to play.
You are in the “Mecca” of dulcimer and folk festivals (several Irish ones, too), and many of these also offer whistle workshops. Check out our website, or email me as the festival season roles around again (starts in February) and I’ll let you know of close ones with whistle tie-ins.
Missy
I say take the lessons. You can always quit if it doesn’t work out, it’s not a life-long commitment. There are many subtleties in Irish music and the paradox is that if you don’t know they are there, you don’t hear them. A good teacher will get you going faster than you can do alone.
Thanks for the help. Now I just have to FIND a teacher.
Good advice throughout this thread. Depends upon what you want. If you want to learn Irish music so it sounds like “Irish Music,” then the sheet music will put some severe limits on you. You need to listen to hear what it sounds like, which, like Az said, isn’t on paper. Taking some lessons early on will give you a head start on getting the ornamentation techniques correct from the beginning. I’ve heard people who’ve been playing for a couple of years doing the ornamentation wrong and it’s got to be difficult to break those habits. You’ll definitely learn a lot by listening to good players.
Tony
Now, now, don’t be narrow minded, Tony! (my own inside joke, sorry!)
That was a reference to you, Azalin. You’re just too touchy.
Tony
Hey Tony, my “narrow minded” joke was a little kick in my own arse, I wasnt complaining about what you said But if I can pretend to be touchy and get compliments every time, I’ll get on the touchy bandwagon for sure
The thing I got out of my (few) lessons, was a sense of the style that I was striving for.
I listened to ITM before, and had thoughts along the lines of “What is that fluttery sound the
flautist is making?” In my lessons I learned the cut, the tap, the roll, and other ornaments,
and how they related to what I was hearing. I don’t know if I would have gotten that on
my own.
I was going to add that one can also learn what not to do by listening to other players, but maybe, I’ll leave that one alone. You never know how that will be interpreted.
Tony
Thanks for the help. I start my lessons with Brian McCoy this Wednesday. Woohoo!
Good for you.
I have been playing a week longer than I have been a member to this board, dont read a lick of sheet music, play along with a massive collection of MP3s every night to relax, and learned a heckuva lot on my own with sheer practice.
However, I spent a day a few years ago at a seminar with Wendy Morrison at mvplank’s place near Gettysburg. That seminar taught me some subleties that I never would have realized on my own.
Someday I will probably contact Wendy and see if I can arrange a lesson or 2 on proper breathing as soon as I overcome my fear that she will tell me that my problem is that I am fat, old, flabby, bald, smoke too much, talentless, get too little exercise, and am musically over the hill, among other things.
Wish me luck.
Great news. He’s really good. Make sure you tell him that the guy he met at Dublin festival who tried to chat him up about whistles before he was distracted by a highland piper recommended you to him.
If I had the funds, and someone close by that had the expertise, I’d sure like to take lessons…