A question for those who have or who have at one time had both D and E whistles – Which whistle would you suggest be used to play A tunes like “Devil’s Dream” and “Mason’s Apron”?
A D whistle and half-hole the G#?
Or an E whistle and half-hole or cross-finger the D natural?
Not that I’m good enough to tackle “Devil’s Dream” or “Mason’s Apron” at speed as of yet, but I could probably start muddling my way through them. I’ve encountered the odd jig in A, as well, and I do really try to learn tunes in the key they are written in on the off chance that I someday might actually get to play with someone.
Other things being equal, I’d prefer to half-hole or cross finger D natural on an E whistle. But you might get lucky and be able to cross finger the G# on the D whistle if you have one that allows for this. Half holing G# is more difficult but it’s by no means the worst case of half-holing you’ll encounter.
As a rule, I’d tend to choose the E whistle for tunes genuinely in A major and the D whistle for tunes in A mixolydian since the latter would employ G natural rather than G#. But other considerations might make me break this rule.
Funny I always dream of an A whistle with a seventh hole for the odd low G below the low A.
This dream of mine recurs in a sequel: the whistle also needs an extra, shorter, tube in Bb with a low Ab.
While waiting for a set of these “special” tubes to be made, I use my D/Eb low whistle set, where I’m lucky enough to get a clean G#/A with cross-fingering. Few low whistles don’t drop volume on this one, most tend to send a muffled sound, but I never had one from which I got a clear half-holed G# (or any lower half-holed note) in first register.
I’ve been rather ducking the issue of G#s for years now, finding I can get by using the second-octave cross fingering on quite a lot of tunes and basically avoiding tunes where I can’t.
I bought an E whistle recently in case I absolutely had to play an Amaj or Emaj tune in some situation (hasn’t happened yet).
But I have decided to grow up and tackle the half-holing issue seriously and am amazed and how easy it is becoming with, yes, practice. I find that because of the length or shape of my third finger I can’t slant it to get the half-hole (keep it straight) which is what I do for Fnats, but have to really put half my fingertip on the hole, and this is what has made it difficult, because I don’t play with the fingertips.
Regarding the two tunes you mentioned, Mason’s Apron is pretty easy to play in A fingering (i.e. on a D whistle) - there are only a couple of G#s, and in fact you can quite easily avoid them altogether. The Irish version of the tune recorded by Kevin Burke and Jackie Daly on “If the cap fits” which I believe came from Paddy Killoran has none. It uses an faa figure instead of fg#a. Other than that I find that the first part is easier using G fingering and the second using A fingering. So take your pick.
Devil’s Dream has lots of G#s but they don’t fall in particularly challenging sequences. The ag#a figure is relatively easy compared with some passages, especially if you cross-finger it but also with half-holing, and the final E2 G#2 A2 bit is easy because you have lots of time to get your half-hole in position.
On the other hand I find the second bar of the second part more of a finger-twister in G fingering than in A fingering.
So I’d say, bite the bullet and practice your A tunes on a D whistle, even if like me you keep an E whistle hidden in your case, just in case.
One of the hardest passages I’ve found so far is the opening bar of Rhil Bheara - having to hit the G# immediately after a B seemed like an insurmountable challenge. But it’s coming along nicely…
I asked about the g#. We play the Mason’s Apron and I play it on the Sindt D and after some help here I now play both xxoxxx and half hole the G hole. Basically because I forget what I am doing. I think personally it is easier to just slide the finger a little of the G hole at the speed at which we are playing this set. We have 8 tunes in the set and several have g# in them.
Thanks to everyone for your responses – excellent information from all. I think I’ll try to muddle my way through the A position on a D whistle first and will try to get that half-holed G# down. I’ve got set of jigs I’m trying to learn off a cheap CD with nameless tunes and musicians – keyed in G, A, D and Em – and this seems a good place to try to get that half-hole down before jumping to Devil’s Dream. I can half hole a C nat decently when I put my mind to it if I am not going too fast, so it’s time to tackle another one.
But I’ve got an E whistle in reserve. Just in case it gets too complex for me.
