I know this is going to sound silly…I’ve no clue about ABC notation and less about notated music…I do know the rudimentary all cows eat grass thingy…I’ve picked up a local session tune…got the name( Walsh’s Hornpipe )… went to youtube…found a version and learned it…can someone tell me if there are any C naturals in this tune…our local piper/whistleplayer insists that it is played with all C naturals…I can’t get my ears around this…to me, all the C’s should be sharp…I want to be prepared for the next time I question the local session leader…at times like this, I really wish I could sight read…to me it sound really strange with all C naturals…thanks for your help!
oops! I guess I should add that it is the version that starts with A…I just ran through it when starting with G and the C naturals are played when starting the tune in G but not when starting the tune in A? Starting with A they are all C sharp?
From your description, the tune would be in the key of A, which means that C, F and G are all sharp. A quick scan of the version of the tune on the Session suggests that there aren’t any Gs to worry about so just sharpen the Cs and you’ll be all set on your D whistle.
Of course, five different players will play the tune seven different ways, so you may well find variants in a session.
Best wishes.
Steve
Yes … If it’s the tune I’m thinking of, then it’s most commonly played in A Major. In which case the C’s will be sharp. Because the key of AMaj entails three sharps: F#, C# and G#.
Like many A tunes, it may also be played in G Major. In which case the C’s will be natural. Because the key of GMaj entails only one sharp: F#.
Since the tune begins on the tonic of the key (ignoring the pickup notes), then the version that starts with A would be the A Major version with C-sharps.
A question though. When you say the piper “insists that it is played with all C naturals”, do you mean that’s the way he actually plays it, and you’ve actually heard him play it that way? Or are you just reporting what he says?
If the former, then that’s pretty odd. Because flattening the C’s to C-nat in AMaj would turn the scale into a melodic minor, and you should be able to hear immediately that the tune has been minor-ized. And unless the rest of the session has agreed on that, the resulting clash would be pretty bad. If the latter, maybe he misspoke or you misunderstood? Or he was referring to the G Major setting, apples and oranges?
And maybe one of the lessons here is that when it comes to self-reporting of performance, sometimes it pays to put more faith in what people play than in what they say. 
Thanks for the replies guys!..funny thing MT…I heard the tune one week…recorded it that night…learned it when I went at it again…next session, I told the piper that I learned Walsh’s, said I was confused on the C#/ C natural thing…he said he plays the C naturals…I said really…he said yup…they’re all C naturals…we both proceeded to play the tune…both of us playing whistle…I played all C naturals…after the tune I said that it sounded really weird…that’s how it’s played he say…I recorded myself playing with both C and C#…the C naturals sound beyond weird…he insists on playing it that way…weird because he’s a great player with good ears…a piper has to have good ears I’d imagine…anyway thanks for clearing it up! I’ll have to set him straight…very diplomatically of course as he is the paid man for this session…that same night, I was having a hard time playing in tune with him and a fiddler…I said as such…they just shrugged their shoulders…I said, well it couldn’t pipes or fiddle I s’pose cause they NEVER play out of tune…you could have heard a pin drop from the silence and stares I got… 
There is the problem that a tune like this, in A, will sit awkwardly on the pipes when played over the drones. Sometimes pipers ‘soften’ the effect by introducing some flattened Cs. That works in some tunes (The Blackhaired Lass and the Ivy Leaf spring to mind although I have met people who stick staunchly to sharp Cs throughout those as well). That doesn’t really work for Walsh’s, you really need your Cs sharp there for it to work.
I learned the tune from Jackie Daly years ago, we used it for the last figure of the set. Jackie played it in A most of the time although I think there have been occasions where we played it both in G and A. D is doable if you don’t mind using third D in a tune.
Hmmm. Does this belong in the tinnititus thread?
Thanks for the explaination Mr G!..It certainly felt right playing all Csharps when in A…we are very lucky to have Jackie Daly come over to our Island as often as he does…he’s well loved over here!
I use very little 3rd D myself but once in a Blue Tune it’s needed and doesn’t sound that bad on the right whislt …Susato not so much but not too bad at all on your Sindt I s’pose…I don’t mind it on mine but I certainly prefer to fold..all the best
Thread drift alert !
So it’s a piping thing? That showed up in a tune I ran into at a session recently — folks called it Poll (or Polly) Ha’Penny. Same argument as to whether it’s in D with C#s or G (probably A dorian since the tonic is A) with Cnat). It was the piper who insisted on the Cnat. Some played Cnat all the way through, some C#, and some switched back and forth. Is that the same sort of “doesn’t fit with the drones” thingy? And is Cnat the same as “a flattened C” or is there some sort of piping middle ground?
Or is it me rather than the thread that is drifting?
Best wishes.
Steve
Most recordings I’ve heard of poll ha’penny use both c naturals and sharps.
I’d suggest Poll ha’penny has a mix of the two. But then again, thinking of the earliest recordings of the tune by Patsy Touhey et al, you have pipers who insist on playing their cs very tight/staccato, making them all effectively Csharps. Just to make clear there’s never the one answer to fit all situations and throw the whole thing into confusion again.