I was wondering if someone could look at this and tell me what key of whistle would be easiest to play this on. I really like this tune but am still having a hard time understanding how to fit tunes with the keys whistles are made in. I have looked Dale’s Tinwhistle Table over several times hoping to grasp it but have been unsuccessful. I wish someone would just post something that showed the key the tune is in and what key of whistle works best.
The tune is in G minor. I suggest you transpose the tune up a tone into A minor.
Note that you’ll still have to do some half-holing in the second part, where there are some low Eb notes. These will become F-naturals in your transposed version.
If you want the tune to sound in its original key, e.g. for playing with other musicians, simply play your A-minor version on a C whistle (i.e., as if you were playing a D whistle). It’ll then come out in G minor.
If you have trouble with the transposing let me know and I’ll post a modified ABC.
You could also try putting in the key of B minor and then playing it on a Bb whistle to put it in the key of G minor. This has the advantage that there is an Eb on a Bb whistle. It has the disadvantage of making you play pretty high to get the high Bbs in the 2nd part.
Seems as tho a Tarbuka is a Middle Eastern,
kinda goblet-shaped, hand drum. Lark in
the Morning’s Newsletter shows a like
drum with a spelling of (D)arbuka. Surely,
some percussionist out there can fill us in.
Hi, this is Brigitte here. Tarbukas as Stan said are metal drums used in easter/african music a lot and mostly found written as “darbuka” but it is also a dance form I presume because I found quite a lot of dances in a Russian and some Eastern European sides (incl. even North African and Jewish Music sites) called Tarbuka, together with Circle Dances (probably this drums used a lot with this). So maybe the tune’s name here means more like Tommy’s “Kind of Dance” than Tommy’s “Kind of Drum”? Well, probably being stupid with this conclusion here so please do not mind, wish you all a good evening Brigitte
You could transpose the tune down 3 halftones from G-Dorian (Gmin) to E-Dorian (Emin). It then could be played on a Low-G whistle. You would have to reach to the top of the second octave (G") but you would maintain the minor mode. It would also put the tune in a key that could be easily played by a guitar accompaniment (Em).
Once learned, if you needed to play it in the original key, have your guitarist capo-up 3 frets, and you play the same fingering but on a Bb whistle instead of the G you originally learned the tune on.
So transpose down 3 half steps and play on G whistle.
