I have a beautiful air I want to learn. Sheet music is not available.
And this piece may not be playable on the whistle..this is one thing I am asking.
The first part is in D…and I figured out the notes Ok by listening to it.
Then it changes key…to what key I don’t know. What can I do now? if anything?
I can think of two (semi-serious) options:
- Drop your D whistle and pick up another whistle in the other key
- Find someone else to play with and make it a duet.
John Mac
On 2002-10-04 11:02, Lizzie wrote:
I have a beautiful air I want to learn. Sheet music is not available.
And this piece may not be playable on the whistle..this is one thing I am asking.
The first part is in D…and I figured out the notes Ok by listening to it.
Then it changes key…to what key I don’t know. What can I do now? if anything?
It might help if we knew which air you’re thinking of.
Blackhawk…it is part of something called Celtic Suite, written by a Toronto musician. So no one would know it.
I should probably just be content finding things to play for which I have music…BUT, I so love this one and I learn more by at least trying to figure them out.
Lizzie,
If you know someone who plays keyboard they can probably listen to the melody and plunk it out on the piano and then tell you what key it is in. Then you can figure out a combination of whistles that will work.
Are you folks saying that my only answer is to play this on more than one whistle?
it depends on what key it changes to. You can play the keys of D and G easily on a D whistle, and I think you can force one or two more out depending on how good you are at half holing.
Your first step is to identify the key, and you can do that by identifying what notes are being played. There will be sharps and flats, and those will tell you what key is being used.
Edited for typo.
[ This Message was edited by: avanutria on 2002-10-04 18:47 ]
If you send me a sound clip of this tune, I’ll write it out for you in any key you want, complete with guitar chords.
JP
I just went looking for this piece, online, and it occured to me that it is a suite, which could mean that the key change is another song.
Do you know whoo the composer is? There are several Celtic Suites.
JP
The piece may not in fact change key at all. When a group plays a medley, the switch from one tune to another often sounds like a key change.
On 2002-10-05 11:08, Whitmores75087 wrote:
The piece may not in fact change key at all. When a group plays a medley, the switch from one tune to another often sounds like a key change.
Very good point, and just what I was thinking! A simple change in guitar chords doesn’t necessarily mean the whistle would be a different key.
On 2002-10-05 11:17, madguy wrote:
Very good point, and just what I was thinking! A simple change in guitar chords doesn’t necessarily mean the whistle would be a different key.
I’m not sure whether this is really a different point but here goes. The key might change but the whistle required might not. I think you said it starts out in D. A modulation to G major or Em, Am or Bm might sound dramtic but would be easy to handle on D whistle.
I play 3 tuneswith the band, that I can think of where he changes key in the middle. I have to quickly change from one whistle to another.
No problem really, you just have to be alert
and not be thinking about what to add to the grocery list!
Lolly
Now, I know why I was getting confused!
Yes, if i want to play this with someone else, I would have to change whistles..apparently it goes into the key of B minor.
If I just want to play it by myself I can use one whistle.
The penny has dropped!
Thanks all for the help.
BTW, are b minor and b flat the same?
On 2002-10-07 14:48, Lizzie wrote:
Now, I know why I was getting confused!
Yes, if i want to play this with someone else, I would have to change whistles..apparently it goes into the key of B minor.
If I just want to play it by myself I can use one whistle.The penny has dropped!
Thanks all for the help.BTW, are b minor and b flat the same?
If the tune goes into B minor, you can easily play the B-minor section without changing whistles. Regardless of whether or not you are playing with anyone else.
In fact B minor is the relative minor of D major, and so not even the key signature changes - you have the same sharps or flats (2 sharps in this case).
It will just sound “minor” (usually thought of as a more melancholy, darker sound) because your home note (tonic) is now B and your third (D) is a minor 3rd interval.
As for your last point: B minor means a minor scale (in which the third and usually sixth notes of the scale are flattened by a semitone relative to a major scale) starting on the note B.
B-flat is just a note one semitone below B (halfway between A and B). You can have a B-flat major or minor scale.
Omigosh…that sounds so complicated!
I need to learn some music theory methinks.
Thanks Steve,you are a dear as always…
On 2002-10-07 18:10, Lizzie wrote:
Omigosh…that sounds so complicated!
I need to learn some music theory methinks.
Relax Lizzie, it’s nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. Just a little music theory will go a long way and there was a thread on this well … just the other day. That thread has directions to places containing (collectively) probably 100 times more information than you need. As your needs increase, your natural curiosity will make you want to find out more—it needn’t be a burden.
Here’s a start. Take a D whistle. Obviously you can play in D. As just observed, you can also play in Bm on it because the scale contains the same notes—it’s just that you start and end on B instead of D. You can also play in G because the only difference between a G scale and a D scale is that it contains C natural rather than C# and you can get that by half-holing or cross finguring quite easily. Like before, you start and end on G in this case. You can also play in Em just by starting and ending on E. (Whether you play C natural or C# depends on the tune but the sheet music or your ears will tell you which.)
A good place to go to get a feel for this is Cathal McConnell’s book and CD on Homespun. He explains everything I’ve just said with examples and tunes (in the book and on CD), chats engagingly and plays the tunes delightfully. That’s all you need to understand what we’ve been talking about.
Happy whistling.