Tunes for an A whistle

[riverman]

@markbell

@riverman

Which note do you start on, and which do you have to cross finger and how??

Riverman,

Playing the key of D on an A whistle requires the same half-holing or cross-fingering (at the whistler’s preference) as playing the key of G on a D whistle. That is to say, you need to flat the note typically played with all six holes open. Instead of ooooo, some people cross-finger oxxooo to get the flatted note. I prefer the half-hole vooooo.

You start on whatever note the song starts on, but of course, it will be in a different place on an A whistle. D will be xxxooo, which is the fingering for G on a D whistle.

Mark

love the signature line, btw… have you checked out
www.praisewhistlers.org ?

Thanks, Mark! And, I am a praisewhistler–under Kelly, which happens to be my real name!

[pancelticpiper]

[quote=“talasiga”]

Are you talking strictly Emin key signature or do you mean pieces that a chordal accompanist resolves with E min. In ITM the latter could cover both fully Aeolian mode pieces (rare) and Dorian Mode (and gapped mode) pieces. [quote]

That’s a good point. Yes true E minor is rare in Irish music, it’s usually Dorian (the difference being that minor would have C naturals while Dorian has C sharps).

Likewise the A minor tunes are nearly always actually A Dorian, the difference being A minor would have F naturals while A Dorian has F sharps.

The place a true minor mode is usually played on the D whistle is B minor.

But in Irish music when people talk about the keys tunes are in they’re usually meaning, as you say, the chord that feels like the home chord for the tune.

[talasiga]

Thanks. Its nice when someone shows they understand a post.
Its not just about whether I am right but more about,
“How well did I communicate?”

[sackbut]

I mostly use the A whistle for low harmony parts, but it’s great to find tunes for what is my favourite home-made whistle. The A will also play in E, of course, and my doctor, who’s also a great flute player, has written an excellent tune in E. F#m is also a great key to fool around in, and soulful tunes in Bm sound even more soulful transposed down to F#m.
If I can promote my own book, Ramble Through West Yorkshire (which is a slow travel book, but also contains 20 whistle-friendly tunes, and can be purchased from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s website), it contains five tunes for the A whistle, three of them originalish.

[sackbut]

Another suggestion: Peter Kennedy’s Fiddler’s Tune Book series has quite a few tunes that need an A whistle. Try ‘Lord St Vincent’s Hornpipe’ in the Hornpipes book, or the ‘Teatime Waltz’ in the Waltzes book. Both those tunes use the full two octaves from bottom A to top A.
I also like ‘The Countess of Ormond’s Galliard’ (in D), which I learned by ear off a lute CD, and which leads nicely into ‘Lord St Vincent’s Hornpipe’. I follow that with ‘MacIntosh of MacIntosh’, transposed down to A from B flat - written by James MacIntosh; only a Scotsman would write a tune for his raincoat.

[MusicalADD]

My interest in A whistles has been rekindled since I bought a Dixon polymer (?) A off another C&F’fer… I like the Dixon a lot. Not as nice as my Copeland, but then again, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving the Copeland lying around at a session.

And I just noticed that there’s a pair of tunes that Jerry Holland recorded, that both work easily on an A whistle:

Hearty Boys of Ballymote (Edor?)
Dan Collins’ Father’s Favorite (D)

[Howie]

riverman. I believe what they are saying is, just as on a D whistle we can play the notes of C natural or C#. On an A whistle we can play G natural or G#. The D scale has a C# and an F#. The A scale has a C# a F# and a G#. Therefore an A whistle plays quite nicely in the key of D because we can hit the G natural quite easily. Any tune that you can play by ear or memory in G on a D whistle you can now play in D on an A whistle. Clear as mud?

Howie

[pancelticpiper]

I use the Low A whistle for fiddle tunes in the key of D, E dorian/mixolydian, A major/mixolydian, and B minor which go below the D whistle’s “bottom D”.

All I can think of right now are:

Mason’s Apron in D

The Bear Reel in E mixolydian/dorian

The Dawn in A major

Martin Wynn’s Reel in B dorian

Lads of Laois in B dorian

(and a common session jig in B dorian I can’t remember the name of…)

[MeaghanEryn]

My Irish group plays a set of tunes that work well on A whistle: The Red-Haired Boy (aka The Beggarman), Devil’s Dream, and the ever-popular Mason’s Apron. The first tune is actually in D, but since the other two are in A I just play it on the same whistle as if it were in “G”. The Devil’s Dream is a bit low, and I find on my Susato whistle it gets really awfully screechy when I take it up the octave (which our fiddler loves, 'cause he thinks the frantic edge adds to the piece), but its fun to play anyway.

[riverman]

@Tommy

@MusicalADD

So, what tunes to folks tend to play, at session, on an A whistle?

Or do you tend to not take your A whistle to a session, as it’s just not loud enough for that setting?



Anyone else have any choice tunes well suited for A whistles?

I always have an A whistle at session. The key of A is the primary key it plays in, however with only one cross finger the A whistle plays in the key D. So no need to say fingers are to short for a low
D whistle.

Also by playing in the key of D on an A whistle there are some lower notes that can be reached. We play ‘‘Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile’’ with an A whistle because this version dips down to the bell note of A. The whistle I use is loud enough.

Can you tell me more about playing D tunes on an A whistle? How do you do it?

[MTGuru]

@riverman

Can you tell me more about playing D tunes on an A whistle? How do you do it?

Just play D tunes in G (i.e., transpose them to G fingering), and fold the octaves as necessary.

[riverman]

@Howie

riverman. I believe what they are saying is, just as on a D whistle we can play the notes of C natural or C#. On an A whistle we can play G natural or G#. The D scale has a C# and an F#. The A scale has a C# a F# and a G#. Therefore an A whistle plays quite nicely in the key of D because we can hit the G natural quite easily. Any tune that you can play by ear or memory in G on a D whistle you can now play in D on an A whistle. Clear as mud?

Howie

Thanks Howie, this is easier than I could have hoped!!

[Howie]

riverman: Any tune you finger out of G (by ear or by memory) on a D whistle will automatically be in D on an A whistle.

Howie