I’ve noticed with interest that some of you play on your church worship teams. I’m excited to know that the soaring sound of the whistle is being included now in church music. I recall sitting through several services with contemporary worship music thinking that the whistle, and trad. Irish music needed to be brought into the scene.
Have you any favourite pieces you like to play/hear in the context of worship music?
A song titled “All I Know” can have a really nice whistle interlude. Also, would like to refer you to http://www.praisewhistlers.com/ , if you’d care to find rather a concentration of worshipping whistlers. (Almost said whistle-worshippers, but there may be more than a few of those here, depending on your interpretation of that term. )
As organist at my church I’ve got some say as to music and I’ve on occasion subbed in whistle during communion. This is not a contemporary
service,but close to being “high church”. Most of the membership are elderly and they love the whistle, particularly low whistle.
Many of the hymns in the 1982 or 1940 Hymnal (Episcopal) can be played on whistle. When I saw your post I immediately thought of a version of hymn # 184 by member Claus von Weiss on Easter that was posted on this site a couple of years ago. It was beautiful! I searched through the archives and found the message and link but sadly it kept playing the gower wassail for some reason
I’ll play my whistle on just about anything when I have the chance. I have so much fun when I get the opportunity to play for church. Alas, it doesn’t happen very often, since I am the entire worship team for our very small congregation and whistle, while wonderful, isn’t a great lead instrument. So I “play” (if you can call it that) the keyboard instead most of the time. Every once in a while I get to hook up with another worship team and then can whistle to my hearts’ content.
Have you heard Robin Mark’s “Revival In Belfast” CD? Great praise and worship tunes, lots of whistle on everything from fast handclapping tunes (even a jig or two) to slow ballads. Great CD.
Yes, that Robin Mark CD is a good example of what can be done. He put out an equally great sequel lately (Revival in Belfast2) (quite ingenious, don’t you think?).
Brian Doerksen is a local guy who has written many worship songs performed by others. His own CD, You Shine, is a good example of whistle use, too. James Isaacs on whistle (looked like Copelands in concert). www.briandoerksen.com
Just don’t try this in a “Church of Christ,” “Primitive Baptist,” or some Mennonite congregations… and to be on the safe side, if they are Calvinist AND sing from the Psalter, exercise caution.
Do note, though, that some Church of Christ congregations MIGHT be willing to allow you to sound the opening note of a hymn, with your whistle, to set the pitch.
Prairie Bible Institute (Canada) has put out a duo of Celtic worship CDs that are very beautiful using a variety of trad. tunes and instruments, plus some songs in Gaelic.
God Above, God Below
Kindle My Heart
Both are available through Amazon.com or through Prairie Bible Institute.
This past Christmas season, I arranged O Holy Night for some of the members of my youth choir. No vocals. Just Viola, Cello, and Guitar. The Guitar had finger picked chords throughout and the Cello and Viola traded melody and counter melody. The guitarist is an adult and very proficient at her craft. After showing her a few of the alternate fingerings for some of the chord inversions I had written, she had it down. My kids however, ambitious as they were, were a little “surprised”(shall we say?) by the exposed nature of a trio like this. I suspect they would have been much more comfortable hiding in the sections they play in at school.
After a few rehearsals I knew I had to double the Cello line on my Copeland low D and get one of the superb recorder players from the church to help fortify the Viola. The rehearsal with all five of us sounded realllly nice. I was very pleased by the mix and blend of all the instruments. As it turned out, our Cello player spaced the start time for the Christmas concert, so I was the only one playing the cello line on low whistle. By Christmas morning, the Cello player had her stuff ready, and the viola player was a little squeamish about her part, so I doubled her part on my high D (also a Copeland)
It was a real gas. I hope to get the chance to do some more like that in the future.
I play in a worship band which is rather of rock-band setting, so I tended to look for whistles that can pierce through the heavy loudness created by amplified e-guitars, bass and drums.
Relative loud whistles – Copeland, Chieftain and Overton, those low Ds are some of my weapons, but I have heard comments that Dixons, Burkes and even cane whistles (! and not amplified!) could be heard.
By the way, about a week ago one of the team members brought a praise&worship CD and it featured the pipes. Got to check who it is…it sounded like the blend of Danny Boy and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.
Yep I do. Be Thou My Vision, Shout to the North and South, Come, now is the Time to Worship, Before the Throne of God. A couple others. I really like my Burke for that kind of thing.
I try most songs in D as that is my primary whistle - an original clark. It is rather soft tho so I usually take it up an octave to cut through. (sometimes I try my Impempe which is a little louder) I have done When the music fades, Come now is the time, awesome God, Lord I lift your name on high, More Love More Power etc…I play a trumpet usually but prefer the whistle by far. I am too tied into the music with my trumpet, whereas with a whistle it frees me up to just JAM along and do some frilly bits. I want to try using my electronic bagpipe when next we do an Eb number, I jam along to Matt Redmans “when the music fades” and “Jesus Christ” at home on CD and have a blast, perhaps I will even pull out the GHB. Maybe they will kick me out. Maybe my wife will kick me out. O the joys of the celtic instruments!
in a Catholic setting, if you are using “Gather”…
All the Ends of the Earth (responsorial)
Now the Green Blade Rises
Sing of the Lord’s Goodness (you can add some great triplet runs on this)
And other songs if you can “talk” the darn guitar players into playing more in D!!! (I know, I know, I just like my D whistle the best!).
I visit many churches in the Essex are in the UK as part of my historical understanding of the area.
I have found ‘Be Thou my vision’ (hymn) played as a solo ‘air’ with cuts to be particularly inspirational in church settings and celtic Christian meetings.
Robin Mark’s CD’s are great. After Revival in Belfast, there was an album called Heal This Land. It starts with a great reel call “Mulhaires”. I couldn’t find the music for it, but was able to transcibe it. Any way, the main whistle player’s name is Michelle Wooderson who actually wrote a book called “Irish Whistle in Worship”. You can only get it from that church, Christ Fellowship Church, Belfast, Ireland.
In most Christian bookstores, in the worship section, there are normally a couple of kind of generic CD’s called “Celtic Worship”. They may be good to try out just to hear what others have done in a worship setting.
I play in a contemporary worship band that covers many styles on Sunday mornings. I play mainly electric and acoustic guitars but add whistle to the mix when it seems appropriate. It has help me out greatly in these situations to have tuneable whistles in just about every key I can think of! But that may not be for everyone.
Wowzers, thanks for all the replies. It certainly is interesting to hear of your experiences and how you bring the whistle to worship.
Our worship tends to be contemporary music with some older hymns.
My husband always brings a variety of whistles and flutes to improvise along.
Have you heard the Deep Still CD? It’s another Celtic worship CD which blends songs with trad. reels and jigs. http://www.worshipmusic.com/4517792722.html Check out the clip of Celebration Jig.
An interesting note: Some of our church members are First Nations people (Native Americans) and they just love the whistle and flute because it is such a part of their cultural heritage. Talking to them got us listening to Native American flute playing. But that’s another topic.
Also, if you are a rock listener, you may like Iona. They play a mixture of hard and soft progressive rock and include plenty of Irish-y stuff like whistles and u-pipes, and there’s no hint of preachiness or “plastic optimism” in the lyrics. Think Kansas or Asia with a female lead singer and Celtic influences.
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I hope to get the chance to do some more like that in the future.
