Chiff and Fipple Forums

The Arran Boat
The Skye Boat Song

I love my Burkes. There are varying opinions on this, but I think it's a good idea for newbies to learn on a Burke or something similar. It eliminates most of the squawking that is so frustrating and allows you to actually get somewhere with your whistle playing. Then later, when you've learned bett...

I'm trying to ease back into C&F a little bit. There's a good reason I've been absent, and her name is Anna: http://jennifer.felio.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/anna4months3.JPG What's a good, easy tune to start her off on? Maybe Road to Lisdoonvarna? http://jennifer.felio.org/wp-content/upload...

I've been mostly absent from C&F for a while; I've been busy growing a <a href="http://jennifer.felio.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/anna4months3.JPG">little person</a> inside me and then caring for that little person 24/7 for a few months now. :-) But I'm ready to think about whistlin...

We play mostly contemporary praise/worship music, and it seems like a lot of the songs are in A or E. I think maybe those keys are easier for the guitar players? I'm not sure. I play my A whistle more than anything.

Jennifer

I play this in church as well. We start in G and modulate up to A. I use a G whistle and then an A whistle, and just play in the upper octave. (I could use a D whistle, but I just prefer the others.) It's not too loud or shrill at all. It's amazing how a whistle that can pierce your eardrums in your...

My brass session-bore uses oxxooo and my narrow-bore uses oxxxox.

Jennifer

Time to get rid of unnecessary stuff in the house, including some whistles. These might be good for a beginner who wants to try out some different kinds. *SOLD* Dixon tuneable black polymer Low G -- $45 including US shipping. *SOLD* Collection of cheapies (some have poster putty tweak) -- $30 includ...

Thanks, James :-) I haven't compared the aluminum and brass much, but I will say the brass narrow-bore is still a very pure-sounding whistle. You might be happier with a different make altogether. As far as volume--I bring both my narrow-bore and session-bore to sessions. Which one I end up playing ...

Some whistles just have a pure piercing sound, and others have a little bit of roughness to them. I don't really like Feadogs, but it's just a matter of personal preference. I like pure-sounding whistles, and my favorite cheapie is the Oak, so you might give that a try and see if you like it. Some f...

29/30 and 30/30. But I think I would have scored lower on the second one if I hadn't first read Bretton's comment about what they were testing for.

Neutrogena Hand Cream. (For the chapping, anyway... don't know about the callouses.) It's kind of thick and greasy, so you rub it in at night before you go to sleep, and in the morning your hands are like new.

Check out the Comhaltas sets. Their blurb: "The Foinn Seisiún books and CDs were created in order to give players of Irish Traditional Music a good grounding in standard session sets. Though we’d never claim that this list of tunes and sets is authoritative, learning these will be enough for yo...

Wow, three months? I think you sound pretty good! I'll leave it to others to offer you some helpful suggestions, but I just wanted to say I think you're coming along nicely!

Jennifer

Go ahead and get all 3 (and throw in a Sweetone as well); you're probably going to eventually anyway! They're cheap, and that way you can see what YOU like best. And you save on shipping if you buy several at once instead of one at a time. My personal favorite of those is the Oak. It's a very pure, ...