I just started playing the whistle about a month ago. I originally got it to tide me over until I’m able to get a Native American flute, but I’m beginning to like the whistle quite a bit. Still getting an NA flute though!
Anyway, who should I listen to for a dose of good ITM? So far I’ve mainly been listening to tunes online by whistle players at Clips n Snips and other sites.
I have NO idea who might be traditional, but assume it’s not Enya and the like. My only other exposure is The Best of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem (which I like), a few songs by Planxty (?) which I just heard today for the first time, and one CD by the Chieftans (Black Veil or something), which I didn’t much care for.
So, for a brand-newbie looking for a bit of ITM to begin getting the feel for this type of music, who would you recommend? I’d like to be able to hear a few popular session tunes - not that I’m going to be playing in a session. Of course, a decent amount of whistle would be good, since that’s what I’m trying to play.
By the way, I’m taking a liking to slow airs, but would still like to get the feel of good jigs and reels. And I’m not sure I know the difference between a reel and a hornpipe. A hornpipe isn’t just a slow reel is it?
Step Three.
Download Mary Bergin, Feadoga Stain (Both volumes)
Step four.
Download the following:
Paddy Carty
Laurence Nugent
Matt Molloy
Leo Rowsome
Tannahill Weavers
Step five
DOwnload any or all of the following:
Danu/Solas/Lunasa/Altan/Grada/Teada/Deanta/Planxty/De Danaan/Paddy Keenan/Jerry O’Sullivan/Cherish the Ladies/Boys of the Lough/Cathal McConnell.
FOr starters
Granted, the list above is weighted towards newer “rock star” Irish groups, but there’s plenty of great music there. Enjoy!
Mary Bergin will probably depress you because she plays so fast that you’ll think “I could never play like that”, and you’ll probably be right.
For the purest traditional whistling, and playing that you can at least aspire to imitate, you cannot get better than Bríd O’Donogue http://www.bridodonohue.com/. Buy just that record and listen to it over and over. In addition to a lovely style, you’ll pick up plenty of tunes that are played in sessions, and the way that they are played in sessions.
If you want to learn the slower Clare style, the only whistle proponent to listen to is Micho Russell. He is whistle perfection.
Jason, if you haven’t twigged to it yet, there are hundreds of artists and thousands of albums. Your question is like saying, “Gee, I’ve just learned of rock music. Who should I listen to?”. There are many styles, many old revered artisits, many brilliant new up-and-comers.
If you want to learn whistle from listening, you might be better to start off with solo albums. Group albums tend to have less whistle, or whistle mixed in for only parts of the tunes. Groups are great for listening enjoyment, of course, but for learning purposes, it is easier to hear the focus instrument on solo albums. You can then use slow-down software to learn the tunes.
I second the suggestion of Brid O’Donoghue - absolutely wonderful stuff yet somehow feels as if you could play along with her, whereas Mary Bergin just make me want to throw my whistles out the window.
IMHO you should get music you like. If you like Planxty, your taste can’t be all bad, and it’s more important to get music that you want to listen to over and over again until it’s burned into your brain than to get “the right” three albums.
So how do you discover what you like without going broke? The public library has been working well for me. They have a decent selection of trad music, and I can listen to lots and lots of CDs until I find stuff which catches me. Then I can buy the CDs I want to keep.
Absolutely listen to what you like. Heck, the Pogues have some great whistling on some tracks.
Of course, Micho Russell, as mentioned is always a good start. I don’t think there was a better player alive (and there are some AMAZING players). It’s mostly that at first listen, you don’t think he’s actually doing any ornaments…then something clicks and you are stunned. Mary McNamara is the same with the Concertina…it’s all about Clare I think.
Welcome! You have a whole wonderful world of sounds to explore. Try them all.
I guess my point was that this style of music is so new to me that I didn’t even know where to start. I figured I’d have better luck hearing good traditional tunes by asking here first.
I’ll be checking out those you’ve all listed so far.
And I did listen to some samples of Mary Bergin. Yikes. Unbelievably fast. The Yngwie Malmsteen of tinwhistle, as it were.
No dispute about the talents of folk like Mary Bergin…the 'unbelieveably fast 'commnet though needs a bit more care…Irish Trad is really a dance music…or at least much of it is…there is a tendency for the music to be played too fast to show off the talents of the players…dancing to some of these speeds would result in the legs falling off the dancers…so to speak…I actually have no problem with people displaying their talents…love it much of the time..it’s good fun…but the rythm, beat, swing…whatever you wish to call it is actually more important, alongside a correct speed for the dancers (correct speed being one that they can dance to) than a mad dash to the next tune…Les.
There’s lots to listen to besides whistle players, too. My whistle playing really started to take off when I started to listen to fiddlers I love. I’d recommend anything by Martin Hayes. Although definitely a virtuosic fiddler, his recordings really capture the soul of each tune. He doesn’t play so fast you can’t hear where he’s been.
I think hearing the music you want to learn in a different voice can help you notice qualities you might miss otherwise. Plus it gives you a break from the high excitement and piercing tone of whistles…
I agree wholeheartedly. I’d recommend Kevin Burke. His solo concert disc probably taught me more about playing Irish music than any other single disc. There’s a concert of his on the Millenium Stage section of the Kennedy Center site.
Another I’d recommend is the Jack and Charlie Coen album. Sadly out of print, at least for the moment. Jack (flute) plays in a comparatively unornamented style, and they play at a dancing pace rather than a racing pace. The album also has some mistakes in it. But for phrasing and getting a feel for the music, this album really can’t be beat.
Some good points raised here…I have learnt more about playing Irish trad on the whistle since I took up the Karen Tweed Accordion Course than I have learnt from the various whistle courses I have done…learning to play the whistle is easy…learning to play IT on a whistle is a quite different matter…although I don’t think anyone is suggesting you take up a lot of different instruments to learn the whistle…To follow the point I made earlier about the dancers legs falling off if the music gets too fast…someone told me thats why the ladies have their hands by their sides when they dance to I T …to hold their legs on…I didn’t believe a word of it though …Les.
For general listening I would recommend this CD set. If you click on the picture you will get to a description. I have found it to be a really worthwhile investment. Slow airs sung by some of the greatest singers alternate with instrumentals by great musicians. Recordings from 1957 -61.
You don’t only learn about your instrument when you listen to different albums, you learn how to listen. As you pick up more and more cds (and there are trillions of them, just search the forums) you’ll go back and listen to some of your firsts and hear things you never heard before, maybe you’ll end up liking that Chieftans album afterall. And then when you go back to Planxty you’ll pick up on intricacies you never noticed before. Discovering new elements of a track can be just as satisfying as progressing on your instrument. So get buying or borrowing or whatever and don’t be discouraged by the duds.
Thats funny, Im in the same fancy! I was at a small fair last weekend downtown in my inlaws area and came across a Native Amarican tent. THere was alot of leather and head dresses etc, you know all that jazz. The one thing that caught my eye was their flutes. There was great pain to walk out of that tent with out one..Unfortently I didnt have the find of money on me…SO I grabed up a five dollar whistle (I thought it was just a diffrent kind of flute..heh). Anyway, now that a week has gone by I am in love with my whistle. Instead of buying a flute, however, I am in the prosses of making my own out of mahlgony.
