Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hey folks, I just wanted say thanks for having me on your forum and thought I would do a little intro, if that is appropriate. My name is Pat and I live in Nelson B.C. Canada. Straight off I need to say that I have pretty much zero musical knowledge or skill but this year for my birthday my good pal Paddy bought me a Walton D whistle with the addendum that I needed to learn the Wild Rover for the next time we met. He may have thought that it was a bit of a gag gift since he also gave me a James Joyce novel and a bottle of Tullamore Dew. What Paddy doesn't know is that I Like to play the long game when it comes to a good punchline. So I've taken it upon myself to learn the tin whistle and although it has been a bit challenging without any sort of tutorial; I am really enjoying it and regardless of how busy I am in my daily activities, I always find time to practice scales and smash through the 20 or so traditional Irish tunes that I'm hoping to learn. I bought The Tin Whistle Song Book by Martin Dardis and copied off a bunch of other songs that aren't in his book. So far things are going pretty well but I'm keeping it pretty slow and simple in my selections. I've also ordered a Dixon Trad to try something different than the old Walton. I'm hoping to learn as much as I can from the archives of this forum and maybe not ask too many dumb questions. That being said, I would love to hear of any good book recommendations that would complement Martin's book and contains fingering charts (or whatever they are called) since I currently don't read music. Baby steps.

Cheers, Pat

You might try searching for "Ryan G. Duns" on YouTube... Lots of good stuff!

Good luck in your quest!

Pat

I recently started learning to play the whistle. I found this book helpful. It comes with four CDs of Irish tunes. These are tunes you would hear at an Irish music session. Each song is played at practice speed and then at performance speed. The songs are written in standard music notation.
https://www.halleonard.com/product/view ... ubsiteid=1

I'm using the Dixon Trad for my practice. I like it very well.

plunk111 wrote:You might try searching for "Ryan G. Duns" on YouTube... Lots of good stuff!

Good luck in your quest!

Pat

I did check out a couple of Mr. Dun's videos. I was a little unsure at first when I saw his collar but he seems to be a good instructor and doesn't seem to preach anything but whistle. I might check out a few more videos tonight.

vonallentx wrote:I recently started learning to play the whistle. I found this book helpful. It comes with four CDs of Irish tunes. These are tunes you would hear at an Irish music session. Each song is played at practice speed and then at performance speed. The songs are written in standard music notation.
https://www.halleonard.com/product/view ... ubsiteid=1

I'm using the Dixon Trad for my practice. I like it very well.

That does look like a descent book/cd combo. Reading music will come to me eventually but right now I'm still just trying co-ordinate my fingers while simultaneously not turning blue.

plunk111 wrote:You might try searching for "Ryan G. Duns" on YouTube... Lots of good stuff!

Good luck in your quest!

Pat

Agreed. I also started this way, albeit my gift was a cooperman, whereas my second whistle was a waltons little black whistle. I might also suggest Michael Eskin's youtube videos. What helped me out, as a beginner, was that his videos play the tunes at their normal tempo and then again slowed down. This helps you hear the tune/see the fingering at normal speed and then again (hear/see) at a slower speed with the same tempo. I found it very helpful. He is also a member on this forum. Good luck. More important than luck, practice every day, let yourself become obsessed, and if at all possible, form a band.

nicx66 wrote:

plunk111 wrote:You might try searching for "Ryan G. Duns" on YouTube... Lots of good stuff!

Good luck in your quest!

Pat

Agreed. I also started this way, albeit my gift was a cooperman, whereas my second whistle was a waltons little black whistle. I might also suggest Michael Eskin's youtube videos. What helped me out, as a beginner, was that his videos play the tunes at their normal tempo and then again slowed down. This helps you hear the tune/see the fingering at normal speed and then again (hear/see) at a slower speed with the same tempo. I found it very helpful. He is also a member on this forum. Good luck. More important than luck, practice every day, let yourself become obsessed, and if at all possible, form a band.

Haha, this is the advice that I crave. Obsessed=check, practice several times a day away from tender ears=check. So far I have only been trying to learn songs where I know the tune, otherwise it's just a jumble of random notes that don't make sense. The guy who gave me the whistle is also a wicked musician and wants me to jam with him. I'm not even close.

Minor point... We don't play "songs" (unless someone is actually singing) - we play "tunes". Just trying to help!

Pat

Or "choons"

plunk111 wrote:Minor point... We don't play "songs" (unless someone is actually singing) - we play "tunes". Just trying to help!

Pat

That's a good point. Look at me learning and stuff.

This might help,

http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/

DaveAuty wrote:This might help,

http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/

Thanks, that is a really useful page and he seems to really tell it like it is. I'm definitely struggling a bit with trying to teach myself and don't actually know anyone else in my town that plays tin whistle. Certain things like trying to explain rolls and cuts goes way over my head, some things just need to be shown. Anyways, this whistle isn't going to play itself, so it's back to the garage for me.

Here's a little thing I did on cuts, pats, and rolls. Like many music things they're tough to clearly put into words, but are extremely simple when demonstrated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfu_fDUyNHs

C naturals are important too, and you will see people play them two different ways: cross-fingering, where you cover holes 2 & 3 (down from the top) The other way is called half-hole, where you cover half of the top hole. I learned using the cross-finger technique, but now try to half-hole when I learn a new tune. Thats an area where some practice exercises and learning how to play it both ways can really improve your playing.

nicx66 wrote:C naturals are important too, and you will see people play them two different ways: cross-fingering, where you cover holes 2 & 3 (down from the top) The other way is called half-hole, where you cover half of the top hole. I learned using the cross-finger technique, but now try to half-hole when I learn a new tune. Thats an area where some practice exercises and learning how to play it both ways can really improve your playing.

Right, I read about that on Bro Steve's page. Currently I'm just using the cross fingering c natural but should probably try the half hole too. Keep in mind that I am way new to this.