Still very much a beginner, both to reading music and the whistle (Although I played trumpet in the school band for a year or so, 40 years ago).
I seem to be getting on OK at the moment with reading music notation and fingering the whistle. There’s much to pick up (and I guess that the learning will never end, that’s fine), not just getting the right holes covered for each note, but in the way that fingers are placed on the holes to avoid inter-note squeals and screeches. (I hope that this will progress with practice, but if anyone has any tips, they would be very welcome)
I wondered if I should try to work in some element of timing or pace into my tunes as I am learning. There are lots of online metronomes to try out, but I find that I cannot fit the music to the “beat”. I’m still on Ryan’s beginner lessons at the moment. Should I continue to try to gain some synchronisation with the metronome or could I leave it for a few months before trying this? Everything else is difficult enough already.
I was concerned that if I left it until later, it might be even more difficult for me to deal with.
Take it nice and slow.
Don’t worry too much about the speed, but go for accuracy (and absence of squeaks).
When you are comfortable with that - and it will happen sooner than you imagine - start picking up speed.
The funny thing about picking up speed is that once you forego trying to tongue every note, the breathing becomes easier. (In general. There are exceptions.)
One day someone will listen to you and say “I remember when you used to play that a lot more slowly.”
And you will be surprised.
Thanks for that. I think that I must not have phrased it properly, I mean when to introduce timing, as in a metronome or my own time-keeping, into my learning.
I wrote “pace” (bad choice, I know), meaning keeping in the timing of the piece, rather than trying to maintain a higher pace or learn to play faster, now that would spoil it for my neighbour (incidentally, who has already made a request for a new tune. Anyone know “Far away”??)
Agree with Bystander but I’d add that it’s never too early to learn to introduce the concept of playing at a consistent pace, no matter how slow that is. Take the tune you play the best, set a metronome speed to a comfortably slow pace (which will seem too slow but will be just right for learning), and work on staying on beat. You’ll learn to play through mistakes to keep up, which is a good skill. And you’ll learn to feel the tune played as a continuous entity. Do it over and over until you’re pretty good (and sick to death of it) and then ratchet up the metronome 10 beats a minute and start again. Resist the urge to crank it up to session speed too quickly–it’s like going from the bunny hill to the black diamond course.
Too many people aren’t good at keeping a beat and it’s a crucial skill to have.
No seriously rhythm is very important and should be worked on right from the start, if you can’t do both try the rhythm by it self - clap the rhythm. You may or may not need a metronome to help out, a second pair of (preferably trained) ears would help too. DO NOT aim for speed but for accuracy, speed will come.
If you are close to the beginning and playing slow tunes, as it seems you are,
I would wait a couple of months. Sounds like you have enough on your plate.
Metronomes can be immensely helpful, no question, but at the very beginning
just playing tunes is enough.
It sounds like you are having trouble
playing slow tunes with a ‘nome’ cause you aren’t yet sufficiently
in command of the whistle to use one effectively. Not cause
you are having some terrible problem with rhythm.
On the other hand, if you want to try it, go for it.
But if you’re having trouble with it, the problem
is likely to be much reduced just by learning
basics for awhile.
Without the correct timing/rhythm the notes mean nothing-they are just a bunch of notes one after the other, in a particular sequence and they do not make music, just noise.
Highwood’s already suggested, and I second this, CLAP out the rhythm, as fast or slow as you need to, but keep it even and your timing correct to the music. If you need to, break it down and write it out under the notes, -one,e,and,uh, or some such- Do it repeatedly until you have it in your head. (this is easier than playing because you are not having to think of anything else but counting out the timing. You will soon not have to be so basic in reading timing, but it is critical that you get it.
Also, as for timing and ITM- you may want to learn some tunes by ear and forget the music-often what’s written on paper is not how it goes…exactly…
Playing the scales will help with your fingering and reading notation without having to throw timing in the mix.
I agree-- right away. In Irish music in particular, the rhythm is such an integral part that you need to get a feel for it as soon as possible. As has been said already, not necessarily fast, but accurate.
One good way to “work” on it, if you are aiming to play Irish music, is just to listen to a lot of good music so you get a feel for it, so then as your playing begins to improve you’ll start mimicking that feel without even really thinking about it. I won’t argue for or against working on it in your playing now or later, but no matter how overwhelming everything else is, this is stress free and fun, and will really pay off when you get a handle on the basic mechanics of playing.
Metronomes and sheet music… There’s recipe for mechanical noise if I’ve ever seen one. Use them if you have to, but be wary!
How much music do you listen to? Do you listen to tunes you are trying to learn? Do you learn the melody to songs? Can you sing the songs?
My suggestion is to listen a ton to music. When you learn a tune, play it slowly and as cleanly and as close as you can to whatever recording you’re learning from. Record yourself playing, and then break out the metronome, if you want, to listen to how steady you are.
The goal of any dance music is to make it danceable, and good rhythm is very important for that, buy rhythm is more than just a steady beat. Phrasing is intricately tied to it, and pulse, lilt, lift, drive, all of these things are ways of describing how an otherwise steady beat can be completely different sounding and feeling.
Unless I’m misinterpreting the OP (which is possible), Fidget isn’t asking about playing faster or slower, but playing with any kind of steady rhythm at all, i.e. just fingering pitches with no particular timing.
If that’s the case, then I agree with highwood. Notes have pitch and duration, and you can’t ignore either, right from the very beginning.
Some people have a good internal clock, and that’s great. But if you’re a person who needs an external metronome to tap for you at first, that’s OK, too. As with sheet music itself, use a metronome as a tool, but not as a crutch.
Practice playing single notes in steady rhythm: G G G G etc. Then note patterns: G A B A G A B A etc. Then tunes and phrases with steady runs of eighth notes (quavers). Internalize the sense of note lengths and beat as soon as possible.
As Nico says, rhythm is critically important. And to get to the more advanced level he’s describing, you need to work on pitch and rhythm together right off the mark. Fidget’s concerns about waiting until later are well placed.