not too long ago, a very helpful post was on this board listing songs for beginners. i found that very helpful - but wanted to continue the thought - giving me something to work up to. so, what tunes would you suggest for individuals a couple of steps beyond the beginnings of whistledom?
Well, the term “intermediate” could mean lots of things to lots of folks, but here is what comes to mind for tunes anyway:
Handsome Sally
The Maid Behind the Bar
The Radio Reel
The Blackthorn Stick
The Foxhunter’s Jig
Kid on the Mountain
The Burnt Old Man
O’Sullivan’s March
The Butterfly
Off She Goes
Connie Walsh’s Slide
The Britches Full O’Stiches
The Boys of Bluehill
King of the Faeries
Alexander’s Hornpipe
Trip to Sligo
Pipe on the Hob
Munster Buttermilk
Blarney Pilgrim
Kitty’s Gone a-Milking
Fermoy Lasses
Cooley’s
Glen Allen
Boys of the Town
I think the main difference between what I think of as “intermediate” and “advanced” on these tunes is an intermediate player will use less ornamentation (only occasional rolls, almost no rhythmic cuts, rare slides, probably no triplets), and will tend to play at a slower tempo (or should, anyway).
An advanced player will take the same tune but add rhythmically-placed cuts to give lift (and will sometimes be replaced with a tap for emphasis or variation), there will be manner to the madness in where rolls get placed and when they get played, the tempo (rather faster or not) will be rock-steady and won’t ever sound rushed no matter how fast it is, breathing and phrasing will enhance the tune rather than detract or interrupt it, sliding into notes may be used to “round out” the melody,–well, you get the idea.
Lots of times the real difference between a good intermediate player and a player who is starting to be advanced (which is where I place myself, by the way, emphasis on “starting to be”) is the amount of listening they’ve done to other players, and how good they are at hearing a tune and understanding from the listening what the player is doing and where they are going with it.
A really advanced player has the experience that allows more freedom in the way the tune is played and those surprising wonderful little variations that make you think “now why did I never think of that?” (Answer: you ain’t been playing that same tune for 30 years yet!)
Just some thoughts,
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
James,
very valuable comments! there is more to this than what can be captured on the music score it appears! maybe that’s why it is so infectious! thanks for your thoughts, comments and suggestions. they will aid in the journey…
Man, I’m messed up. Many of those tunes I learned right off as a rank beginner! Good thing no one told me so. 
i consider myself an advanced beginner.. and i agree with the “maid behind the bar” suggestion. i just learned it and i can say that so far it has been the most fullfilling song to practice. it seemed extremely tough at first, but suddenly something clicked and i am able to play it much faster and comfortably than i thought i would ever be able to. also, the ornamentation seems to come naturally after you practice it a many many many times. it did set off my breathing a bit.
i just printed out “the glass of beer” and i am going to try to learn that one. although it seems to have a lot of ornamentation. you should try “morrison’s jig” it is an easy one to learn and it sounds great.
On 2002-10-23 12:39, fiddling_tenor wrote:
Man, I’m messed up. Many of those tunes I learned right off as a rank beginner! Good thing no one told me so. >
Me too. The learning bit certainly; but probably the messed-up bit as well. But didn’t it occur to you that some of those tunes were more difficult than slow airs? I sort of figured that if I could get these ones down adequately, I was on the way.
I suppose I’m intermediate then. That’s nice to know although I think that in my case it’s more a matter of time playing whistle and Irish music and less a matter of listening. I’ve been playing other instruments in other styles for up to 35 years and I’ve been listening to Celtic music for quite a while. I just haven’t been trying to play it for very long. (When I play blues or jazz on whistle I use ornamentation that is probably advanced in those styles and did from the moment I had basic control—I play sax and the fingering for many things is exactly the same on whistle.)
Irish ornamentation seems much more limited and formularised than, say, jazz ornamentation in which anything that works goes. That holds if the text books are a reliable guide. But when I listen to Irish music being played, I think I hear a lot more going on than just the basic cuts, taps rolls and crans that each book grinds through. Maybe the text books aren’t a reliable guide.
In any case, thanks James for that very helpful post.
I’m working on a set now that might be good for intermediate, as they allow for wonderful practice of all sorts of rolls (b, e, g, etc.)that are worked into nice lively rhythms which can vary second time through or in second half of tune.
Kesh Jig
Morrison’s Jig
Teetotaler Reel
Drowsy Maggie
Philo
i find it interesting to see the “journey” we each take, some learning by ear, others by printed music; some learning “intermediate” pieces first; some not even playing itrad, but having fun, etc.
Thanks for all the input - now i have more challenges to work on…
Personally, I can’t imagine playing The Butterfly with out those lovely slides! To me it is one of the greatest tunes possible to learn ornamentation! Oodles of places for cuts or taps, even rolls and melodic fiddling.
I love Maid Behind the Bar, too, and while we’re talking of maids, you might look at Sligo Maid and The Wise Maid. Wonder if they’d work as a set. . .hmmm…