Its that time again, the time where you get to help some poor unimaginitive whistle player pick out the next tune he learns (we used to do it more frequently, come to think about it). Im currently in a dorm with a hammer dulcimer player down the hallway, and weâd really like to play something together. So, does anyone have a personal favorite that sounds good with HD? (or they think might sound good with HD?) Thanks
David
(ps and ot, to all the people at the SF low whistle fest, you lucky people, I wish I could have been there)
Itâs not ITM, but âOver the Waterfallâ sounds great on HD, and itâs in the Bill Ochâs tutorial. In fact, âWest Fork Galsâ, which is on the same page, should sound good on HD, too.
My aunt plays HD, and we play together a lot. Just about any tune can sound good, I think. It more depends on the arrangement than the tune itself (canât help you there, my aunt is the arranger). Iâd say just pick something you like and try it!
Every Monday night I can make the hoolie, we always (almost always) have a well known HD player that plays with us.
Her favorite sets that sounds really good with a whistle are:
{Boyne Hunt - Drowsie Maggie}
{Haste to the Wedding - Kesh Jig}
Then thereâs just the fun tunes that sound good too like Rakes of Mallow, Swallowtail Jig, Morrisonâs, etc. Also not all Irish Trad, but hey it all sounds good with a whistle.
Overall, I agree⌠just about any of them sounds good together. If you like it, it works. Anyway, those are tunes that are always played at every session to be sure. Ok, my $.02 Iâll shut up now
When my flute playing friend gets some free time I want to try a medley of tunes 1) Cutting Ferns-a Strathspey 2) Shakinâ Down the Acorns-old time and 3) Falls of Richmond-old time again. Theyâre all in A but the first and third are mainly in dorian and the other one is mixolydian. These should be good at a slowish to moderate tempo. A couple of others that should be good are Neil Gowâs Lament for His Brother also known in Ireland as The Gallowglass. If your dulcimer friend has John McCutcheonâs album The Wind that Shakes the Barley, check out Scullyâs Reel-also known as Scollayâs. Itâs played at a slowish tempo. It should be very nice. Itâs a version of the hornpipe The King of the Faeries.
Joemy Wilson, a dulcimer player, did a series of albums of OâCarolan music. Thereâs no whistle on them; there is flute and occasionally piccolo, but all of them play well on the whistle. Her arrangements are pretty plain, but listening to them might give you some ideas.
I really like whistle or flute with hammered dulcimer. They sound different enough to give the music depth, but at the same time the different timbres complement each other.
Start by having each of you pick a tune you already know and like, and have the other one learn that tune. Then youâll have two tunes to play together, for the price of learning one tune each.
Anything that works well on a D whistle should work well on a hammered dulcimer, because the easiest keys on HD are those with one or two sharps (G, D, and related modes). There are some things that may be fairly easy on dulcimer that would present a challenge on whistle, though, due to going out of range or having a melody that jumps around a lot. (For example, The Gravel Walks is pretty easy on hammered dulcimer, but a flute player friend told me itâs not so easy on flute. I assume that would apply to whistle, too.) Depending on your skill level on the whistle, you might need to give your friend a little guidance to pick a tune appropriate for you to learn on whistle.
Here a few ideas of things that I (not a great whistle player) like & can play on both instruments:
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Over the Waterfall (already mentioned; itâs a HD standard â see The Kitchen Musician website at http://members.aol.com/kitchieboy/joke.html )
anything by Turlough OâCarolan: try standards like Si Bheag Si Mohr and Fanny Power for a start
Young Jane (a waltz; it sounded really pretty when we had HD + whistles & flutes one time. I have a low harmony that sounds nice on the dulcimer.)
whistle player pick out the next tune he learns (we used to do it more frequently, come to think about it). Im currently in a dorm with a hammer dulcimer player down the hallway, and weâd really like to play something together. So, does anyone have a personal favorite that sounds good with HD? (or they think might sound good with HD?) Thanks
