Hey all, been absent for a good while but this key question has been tormenting me so I thought I’d ask the mob given my severe lack or theory.
So I’m playing a tune in B minor on my D whistle. So if I maintain that fingering and shift to different key whistles, What will I be playing in? I have A, Bb, B, C, C#, Eb. I really like the sound in B.
Also, if this is a goofy question then I don’t mind getting berated. Haha
Here’'s my rough and ready understanding. Bmin will be based off the Sixth note of a D Scale. So, when you change to a whistle based on another Scale, you would then be playing a note based on the Sixth note of the whistle’s new Scale. So, on a C whistle, the tune in Bmin on the D whistle becomes an Amin tune.
Hope this helps.
Bob
Bob is correct. You can easily visualize this by looking at a key chart like this.
https://www.ezfolk.com/uke/Tutorials/1four5/music-theory/key-chord-chart/key-chord-chart.html
You can see how everything shifts as you go from key to key. If you look at the VI column you can see what each keys equivalent minor is.
Indeed.
My first exposure to this was “Aaran Boat”, a haunting tune. I was in my early D-whistle days and thought the key signature (c+f sharped) made it a “D” tune. A violinist set me straight.
Here’s a tidbit of terminology: every “major scale” has a “relative minor” scale.
The “relative minor” scale begins “a 6th up” (or “a 3rd down”) from the major scale tonic/root.
In the lexicon of “church modes”: “The scale we now know as major was originally called the Ionian mode and its relative minor was known as Aeolian”
see: https://online.berklee.edu/takenote/music-modes-major-and-minor/
Inquiring minds and all that . . .
trill
Wow, I feel like class is in session. It’s all very confusing to be honest, even with really good descriptions and charts. I’ll have another coffee and try to learn.
Read left to right.
Parentheses are the equivalent
of c natural relative to the whistle key.
D E F# G A B (C) C# D
Eb F G Ab Bb C (Db) D Eb
E F# G# A B C# (D) D# E
F G A Bb C D (Eb) E F
F# G# A# B C# D# (E) F F#
G A B C D E (F) F# G
A B C# D E F# (G) G# A
Bb C D Eb F G (Ab) A Bb
B C# D# E F# G# (A) A# B
C D E F G A (Bb) B C
C# D# F F# G# A# (B) C C#
That’s a handy chart to have at a glance. Would Bm just be B? I know…painful. hah
No. B is a major scale, Bm is, obviously: as the name tells you, a minor one.
All that stuff is explained well here
OK I need someone to confirm something for me. If I take the tune that I was playing in Bm on a D whistle and use the same fingering on an F whistle, will it now play in Dm?
Yup. Yes. Affirmative. Bingo. &cet. . .
Haha brilliant!! Thanks.
Now I have a solid excuse to buy a low F.
Any solid suggestions? I know there are many threads on this but let’s see what folks think.
My first thought is the Kerry Busker.
I have a MK Pro Low F that I bought last year from a C&F member and I really love it.
They come up for sale from time to time and you can get them used at a price much less than a new one. But it you don’t want to wait for a 2nd hand one you can always order a one new.
I really like the sound of it and it’s very easy to play both octaves. Finger spacing is great. I can even play it without using the pipers grip (but I wear a men’s size Large in gloves).
Funny, I hadn’t even thought about MK. Love to own one. I started a WTB thread in the used instruments section. Hopefully someone has something they can live without. I definitely can’t afford new at this point.
Side-question: what tune do you want play in Dm ?
ps: I have an MK LowD. Lovely instrument. Never tried his F (or any other F . . . Really, what is the Dm tune ? ! 
).
Tam Lin
I was looking at the MK site and drooling. If they sound half as good as they look…
Ah . . . here’s a rendition by a favorite dance-band of mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bz0sKzdMbE&t=209s
Diabolus venturus est . . .
[/quote]
Ah . . . here’s a rendition by a favorite dance-band of mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bz0sKzdMbE&t=209s
Diabolus venturus est . . .
[/quote]
Woah, KOTF into Tam Lin. I wouldn’t have thought of that. Seems to work, thanks.
It took me quite a while to get my Bm version of Tam Lin on my D but almost every other version seems to be in Dm. The F will take care of that. At some point in my playing I look forward to knowing several different keys of the same tune but I’m a ways from that level.