I have this book of tunes which is not expressly for the Whistle, but I like to play a lot of the tunes on my whistle.
Anyway, most of the tunes go too low for my whistle (a D) but I suspect if I got a lower whistle they would go too high. (Most tunes go from about high D to low B, but some go as low as low D or as high as, say, high G.)
So, anyway, I compensate by “jacking up” the tunes by half an octave. I keep the key the same, but play, for instance, an A instead of a D, and a B instead of an E, and so on.
This works fairly well, but it can be a pain. Any suggestions?
I hope you don’t keep the key the same if you play the tune a fifth (“half an octave”) higher. If you go up a fifth, add one sharp (in the order F#, C#, G#, D#, etc). If you go up a forth (same as going down a fifth), take one sharp away. If there aren’t any sharps left to take away, add flats.
For the D-whistle it’s probably enough to remember that if you were playing C# before, you need to play Cnat after you start the tune a fifth higher. Many tunes that go below the D are actually in G. In that case, raise the tune a fourth and go from play a Cnat to playing a C#.
(This is all a bit simplified, I fear.)
/bloomfield
[ This Message was edited by: Bloomfield on 2002-04-08 15:59 ]
I would just break down and get a good tutorial, such as L.E. McCullough or Geraldine Cotter (if you don’t have one already). These have both instructions and excellent tune collections expressly for whistle. Otherwise, your transposing skills will be honed, which is probably a good thing!
Edit PS: I was assuming that the tunes you were referring to were Irish traditional, but on a closer reading of your post and the ranges of notes you mention, I wonder whether this is the case. The discussion to which I refer is specifically about Irish tunes that dip below D and is probably of very little use to other kinds of music.
[ This Message was edited by: StevieJ on 2002-04-08 16:29 ]
On 2002-04-08 16:08, cj wrote:
I would just break down and get a good tutorial, such as L.E. McCullough or Geraldine Cotter (if you don’t have one already). These have both instructions and excellent tune collections expressly for whistle. Otherwise, your transposing skills will be honed, which is probably a good thing!
I don’t know about Cotter, but McCullough does not discuss transposing and the tune collection is, frankly, not ideal for beginners. And it’s really tough trying to start out with the Kesh. I’d recommend the Clarke tutor by Bill Ochs. Easier yet, get a pdf session tune collection off the internet and learn those. There is a great one at the House of Ireland site.
PS: I was assuming that the tunes you were referring to were Irish traditional, but on a closer reading of your post and the ranges of notes you mention, I wonder whether this is the case. The discussion to which I refer is specifically about Irish tunes that dip below D and is probably of very little use to other kinds of music.
[/quote]
Actually the book contains Irish/Scottish traditional music, plus new stuff in roughly the same style. Andy Stewart stuff, if any of y’all are familiar with him. In my opinion-- and I hold no stock in the publisher, nor am I affiliated in any way with it, nor do I have any relatives by blood or marriage who are (as far as I know) affiliated with it in any way, shape, or form-- it is very good stuff.
P.S. Brother Steve, your website is awesome!
A Whistling Southpaw (and proud of it!)
[ This Message was edited by: WhistlingSouthpaw on 2002-04-08 17:31 ]
While transposing a tune can work, sometimes there’s a simpler method. If not too many notes are out of range, you can simply jump octaves a bit.
I can think of two examples. First, most of the A part to Farewell to Erin is too low for the whistle–a lot of it is played on the lowest string of the fiddle. If you take it up an octave, though, it works just fine. The tune then jumps up two octaves to a high G. Having already been playing it up an octave, you can just jump one octave, and you’re in the right place.
Another fairly common tune in which this octave transfer is often done on flute and whistle is Martin Wynne’s. There is a figure in it:
DB,A,B, DEF2
The “B,A,B,” part is obviously too low for a D whistle, but these are the only notes in the whole tune that go out of range. So, it’s much easier to just play BAB than to transpose the entire tune into another key.
I don’t know about Cotter, but McCullough does not discuss transposing and the tune collection is, frankly, not ideal for beginners. And it’s really tough trying to start out with the Kesh. I’d recommend the Clarke tutor by Bill Ochs. Easier yet, get a pdf session tune collection off the internet and learn those. There is a great one at the House of Ireland site.[/quote]
Bloomfield, you’re right, L.E. and Geraldine may be a bit much for a beginner. And working it out by ear and trusting one’s ear is always good training.
On 2002-04-09 12:29, WhistlingSouthpaw wrote:
Ok, so I guess my “music theory” ignorance is showing. What I guess I’m doing is playing in the key of G.
And if you get a low-A whistle (Mike Burke and possibly others make them) and play that exact same fingering, you’ll be playing back in the original key of D, with all the right “concert pitch” notes, ready to play with other instruments!
And that, ladies and gents, is why we can legitimately tell our spouses we need all these different whistles!
