This board has an understandable predominance of Irish traditional music – which I personally love, and I am enjoying reading all of the discussions. But, the word ‘pure’ has never been applied to me, and I am a bit of a musical tart, so what else are you guys playing? Anyone experimenting with C20/21 classical, anybody using the whistle as a chromatic instrument? What other folk/world genres are you into? I’d love to hear what else you are up to.
Fatveg.
I am very open-minded, too. Besides Irish jigs and reels, I also play Irish hornpipes, and even Irish polkas. People claim to have heard me play O’Carolan tunes, but I deny it outright. 
I do a lot of Scottish tunes, too, as well as bluegrass, a bit of jazz, and occasionally, when the mood hits me just right and there’s enough caffiene in my system, rock and roll.
I usually play anything Celtic… Irish, Scottish, Hebrides Islands, Brittany… whatever works on the whistle.
On my other instruments, I like Jazz and Classical.
I’m probably weird but lots of Handel works pretty well on whistle.
Anybody else ever play with “classical whistle?”
–James
http://www.flutesite.com
I spent 4 months in Ghana, West Africa studying the Ghanaian traditional whistles, the atenteben and odrugya. I also dabble in Indian flute music.
I am quite an omnivore both in food and music (sorry, Fatveg). Strangely, I usually play IrTrad on the guitar instead of the whistle, except for slow airs (I’m a relative whistle newbie). Besides trad, I like to play church praise songs, Christmas carols, and my all-time favorites, classic rock & roll instrumentals (like the Ventures). “Sleepwalk” is an AWESOME tune for the whistle!
A few days ago, I heard a tune on LiveIreland that really blurs the line between trad and classic rock instrumental. It is “The Boatman” by the Furies (Fureys?). Do any of you know where I can get/download a copy of this tune?
On 2002-05-29 17:49, BrassBlower wrote:
A few days ago, I heard a tune on LiveIreland that really blurs the line between trad and classic rock instrumental. It is “The Boatman” by the Furies (Fureys?). Do any of you know where I can get/download a copy of this tune?
It’s actually called, “The Lonesome Boatman” and was written by Finbar Furey. It was a bit of a party piece for him and one of his most popular tunes. He originally played on an Indian reed low A, which he sat on at some point. This, as legend had it, led Finbar & Bernard Overton to develop the low whistle, when Finbar comissioned the first Overton low whistle to replace his broken whistle. You can get a transcription of the tune on JC’s Tunefinder, but it doesn’t help much imho. Better to get an A and a recording and learn it that way.
Mostly the blues and old TV show and movie themes tend to creep in along with the Irish traditional tunes I am learning.
I love jazz, especially on the piano. I listen to Ray Charles a lot. I’m really bad at the piano, though. I practiced daily and took lessons for about 5 years but never caught on. Louis Armstrong is another one of my favorites too.
Hi Excessive Soylover:
I continue to perform as a classical guitarist at casuals as soloist and with flute player and I am still the head honcho (Performance Director, sounds silly) of a California historical folk music group. We do a variety of tunes from native California tribal, through Rancho period, minstrel, sea chantey and International (French, German, Russian, Italian, Chinese) songs from Gold Rush period mostly. no cowboy cause it came later.
Not lately, but have been deep in Brazilian music, where I accompany myself on fancy-pants chords and sing in Portuguese on bossa nova songs and play choro (Brazilian ragtime) music. I still play the songs especially when the weather warms up 'cause there is nothing like that style of guitar playing when you can do it (Joao Gilberto-style). Great language too for singing.
Musically yours,
the fat meat-eater
Our motto: if it was good enough for the Son of God, I’ll eat lamb too.
In addition to the Irish tunes, - Scottish pipe tunes, hymns, old time mountain tunes and christmas carols.
[ This Message was edited by: cowtime on 2002-05-29 22:19 ]
I mostly play mandolin with various bluegrass groups. I live in a cultural wasteland where nobody knows how or wants to play traditional Irish music, which is ironic since most of the music they consider to be their “traditional” music actually evolved from trad. Irish.
I attend a weekly group that plays fiddle tunes. We do Irish but also lots of American trad. My folksong group does Canadian, American and British Isles, traditional and contemporary. I play a little whistle on some of those. Learned some swing guitar and Jazz piano last year, but haven’t had much time for it this year. But I sing Jazz, kid’s songs, Leonard Cohen, folk… you name it.
I’m new at this so there isn’t much I can play, but I’ve found quite a few hymns in my Baptist Hymnal that I can manage…hymns I’ve grown up with. The great thing is, they have a list in the back of the “first lines” of the songs and then the key they are played in! So anything in the key of D is pretty good for me to try!
My favorite? Be Thou My Vision. One of the few I have memorized…mostly!
Kim
- Besides Irish music, playing “Carmen”
pieces and picking slowly through some Nanci Griffith, and if things get dull, “Sign My Snarling Doggie”-the great doo-wop/reggae hit from the “Bobs”. -Maybe
“Moonlight Sonata” if I can improve my timing.
-BTW, if anybody wants to know how perfect timing can improve music,
listen to the Vladimir Horowitz “Mondschein” version vs.
anybody else’s. Superb! (and so good its spooky)
Brian
Yes, James, my band does many medleys which rove from British Isles music to Bach, Faure, Mozart, et.al. The juxtapositions are fun and keep our audiences wondering what is going to happen next…
Cheers
On 2002-05-29 16:45, fatveg wrote:
What other folk/world genres are you into?
- Hymns (see my web site http://free.gentle.org/users/gospelhymns/page5.html ).
- Old-time.
- Bluegrass (maybe not on whistle --well, I’ve played bluegrass tunes on whistle).
military music (the kind of pipes/whistles and drums)
(next to scot. + irish)
the Tin Whistle is perfect for this
“elen sila lumenn omentielvo” is Sindarin
and means “a star shines above the hour of our meeting” (if anybody wants to know)
nai tiruvantel ar variuvantel i valar tielyanna nu vilya.
iluvatar ana hwaet hwa taere wealstowe wealdan mote -
a tribute to military music 
I have been known to play arrangements of baroque oboe concerti on the whistle - this works really well, especially the double concertos of Albinoni!
2 whistles 
!