Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

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Matt NQ
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Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by Matt NQ »

In my beginning with low whistles adventure, a few turns of events have left me with two lovely whistles - in E and Eb. They are part of the Chieftain Thunderbird 3 body set with the low D. Hole 5 on the low D body is too big for my skinny fingers. I tried to return them, but British customs tried to charge a fortune, and I really like the sound of the Thunderbird so I decided to keep it, and perhaps I'll make a more user-friendly low D body for it myself at some point, as I'm a bit of a woodworker. Was intending also to buy an MK low D, but I've had a bit of a financial setback which has put that on hold.

So at the moment I have the E and Eb. I love playing the E in particular, as it's the easiest for my fingers, but I'm doing it transposing tunes in other keys (mostly of course D and G). It would be interesting to have some simple tunes actually written in E, and also Eb which I'll get to when I feel I can make the right hand stretch more easily.

Best would be if there is some kind of online resource where I can search trad tunes by key, but any ideas are welcome.

Thanks in advance for any help :)
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an seanduine
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by an seanduine »

First, let me point out that the 'other' key available to you with the E key tube is the key of A, a favorite of many fiddlers.
Second, The Session has a search function in its tune section that will allow you to search by key. :)

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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by pancelticpiper »

Matt NQ wrote: Hole 5 on the low D body is too big for my skinny fingers.
Using the flat of the underside of the middle joint of the lower-hand index finger?

What is the diameter of that hole?
Matt NQ wrote: tunes actually written in E, and also Eb
I've used my E and Eb Low Whistles quite a bit over the years, but not often at Irish sessions.

As was pointed out above, the E is great for rendering tunes in A Major. There are a number of tunes in that key that are much easier to play on an E whistle than on a D whistle.

Generally I've used those whistles for "legit" gigs, gigs where I'm sightreading non-Irish trad music, such as hymns for church gigs, and studio gigs. Indeed there have been gigs where I have only used a Low E and Low Eb whistle. (Which is odd, because most of the church gigs I've done are mainly played on D, C, and Bb whistles.)

An E whistle also renders A Major, an Eb whistle also renders Ab Major. Those allow you to go from four sharps to four flats (with D, C, and F or Bb whistles filling in the middle) which is as far on either side as you usually encounter in many gigs.

Four sharps: E whistle
Three sharps: E whistle
Two sharps: D whistle
One sharp: D whistle
C: C whistle
One flat: C whistle
Two flats: Bb or F whistle
Three flats: Bb or Eb whistle
Four flats: Eb whistle
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Matt NQ
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by Matt NQ »

Thanks so much for the helpful replies, guys.

I checked out The Session website (thanks Bob) and found the tune search feature - fantastic, often with the same tune in several different keys! Lots of tunes in A, so I'm all set to really enjoy exploring my E whistle with those.

Richard, hole 5 on the Thunderbird D is by my measurement a hair under 13mm - say about 12.9mm. Yes, I use pipers grip - but you mean the middle pad on my middle finger for hole 5, right? The problem is twofold: Firstly, the middle pad of the finger tapers quite a lot toward the tip and gets too narrow. Secondly if I shift to placing the wider part of the finger on hole 5, I'm placing the joint between the first and second pads on the hole, and the first section of my finger is much higher vertically, so again a leakage... I do really feel interested in making a new D body for it though, with more manageable holes. I found Hans Bracker's wonderful calculator to work it out, and I have my eye on a small lathe to do it with - which would also allow me to make a couple more whistles if the inspiration stays with me. Perhaps the lathe could pay for itself in terms of being cheaper than buying lots of whistles, and maybe give me a new hobby. I live in North Queensland and there's some amazing timber here to do it with. Pipe dreams at the moment... but nice ones.

And thanks Richard for the interesting table of whistles laid out according to numbers of sharps and flats - I've seen a few ways of sorting whistles, but that way makes it so easy to go straight from the sheet music to the whistle.

Now for some playing...
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by pancelticpiper »

You're welcome.

As you probably well know it's SOP that making a hole smaller means moving it further up the tube.

So you'll end up with a higher, smaller Hole 5, close by Hole 4, with a wide gap between Hole 5 and Hole 6. (My Alba Low Whistles are like that.)

It's one of those things that makers tinker with. Some makers feel it's ideal to have the holes as evenly-spaced as possible, which usually involves moving Holes 4 and 5 further apart, usually meaning a huge, lower Hole 5 and also sometimes making a tiny high Hole 4.

Myself, I'm not bothered either way.

BTW the biggest Hole 5 I've ever seen is on some Susatos, where's its a huge oval, here, at top

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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by Chifmunk »

Matt NQ wrote: And thanks Richard for the interesting table of whistles laid out according to numbers of sharps and flats - I've seen a few ways of sorting whistles, but that way makes it so easy to go straight from the sheet music to the whistle.
Yes thank you from me as well- I printed that little chart out, it's handy!

BTW the lower/bigger Susato Kildares are available with keys if you want. I was thinking of that eventually since I have pretty short fingers and the low G is (currently) my stretch limit.
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by Matt NQ »

Looking at the size of that hole in that Susato very low whistle makes me realise a low D is the very limit of my ambitions.

I understand what you're saying Richard about hole 5 needing to shift upward if it's smaller. I think I should be okay though, based on my experience with the Thunderbird Eb, which strangely has a bigger stretch than the low D. I can make the stretch on the Eb, so as long as it's no wider I'll manage. Of course I could make hole 6 smaller and move it up as well, but I imagine I'm seriously messing with the design then, and given hole 6 is usually open, probably dampening the sound of many notes.

The bigger challenge will be the actual making of the low D body, once I've got the lathe. There are some very dense timbers in these parts - both acacias like gidgee and very hard eucalypts like the ironbarks. I'm hoping I can turn something like that with thin enough walls for it to work. Anyway, I haven't even got the money for the lathe yet, so I'll return here and seek some advice on how to go about that when I'm properly equipped.
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by nicx66 »

Mary Bergin's first record has a bunch of tunes on an Eb whistle. Playing them may prove ambitious, but I say go for it!
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by walrii »

Matt NQ wrote:It would be interesting to have some simple tunes actually written in E, and also Eb which I'll get to when I feel I can make the right hand stretch more easily.
Maybe I don't understand the question. If you want lots of tunes to play on your E whistle, pull out any tune in D or G and finger your E whistle as if you are playing a D whistle. The D tunes will sound in E and the G tunes will sound in A. You can do the same with the Eb whistle. The tunes will sound in Eb and F, respectively.
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Re: Whistle tunes in E and Eb?

Post by awildman »

Lots of A tunes work great. Start with something like Foxhunter's reel. There are a few E tunes floating about, but mostly non-Irish stuff. Calliope House is the only one I know of that is remotely Irish (actually Scottish-ish, but played in some Irish circles). But I really think the A major fiddle tunes are going to be your best bet. As for the Eb, I think just playing your D tunes is your best bet, especially if you're good enough to get into an E flat session. :wink:
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