Chiff and Fipple Forums

pancelticpiper wrote:I just looked at the sheet music, I would play it on a C whistle.

If writing it out I would move everything up one full step, in E minor instead of D minor.

All those G#'s are now Bb's, and many whistles will do

xox xxx

for Bb nicely.

Now, on uilleann pipes if you put it up in A minor you have the sharp 4th built in, because you have a tone-hole for D#.

Your replies have hinted to me that maybe I should shake the dust form the several music theory tutorials on my shelf. My first and only real endeavor in music were GHB. A lot of the music theory does not apply. I'm also a bit wary about much theory. Will it enhance my endeavor with the whistle or is it just a distraction?

Nanohedron wrote:

PB+J wrote:It should be "Luddism." "Luddites" were followers of the mythical "Ned Ludd:" Luddism, hostility to technology that took their jobs, is what they engaged in

Ah, but as you no doubt have surmised, these days the term has also shifted somewhat in meaning to imply that one is not tech-savvy. I don't embrace the change, myself, just to be clear. I just call myself lame.

My Mom has a working rotary phone. Some while ago I told this to a teen coworker. His response was, "What is a rotary phone?"

And yes, my use of, "Luddite" is the second sense, not tech savvy.

bwat wrote:

benhall.1 wrote:Modern usage, well I don't know what the kids would say about it, so a middle aged man's 'modern' usage is: I call them teuchters and thay call me a sassenach. I'm a lowland Scot. BTW I mean no offecnce and take none with regards to these words.

Historical usage, well I bow out there.

I'm also talking about modern usage. I have heard the term many times throughout the course of my life - middle aged man here, too. I have only ever heard it used pejoratively, and have never, until now, seen any suggestion of any other use for the term "Sassenach". It literally means "English" and always has, but always, in my experience, and in any dictionary definition too, used in a pejorative sense.

I have many highland Scots friends.

benhall.1 wrote:

bwat wrote:

benhall.1 wrote:Modern usage, well I don't know what the kids would say about it, so a middle aged man's 'modern' usage is: I call them teuchters and thay call me a sassenach. I'm a lowland Scot. BTW I mean no offecnce and take none with regards to these words.

Historical usage, well I bow out there.

I'm also talking about modern usage. I have heard the term many times throughout the course of my life - middle aged man here, too. I have only ever heard it used pejoratively, and have never, until now, seen any suggestion of any other use for the term "Sassenach". It literally means "English" and always has, but always, in my experience, and in any dictionary definition too, used in a pejorative sense.

I have many highland Scots friends.

You haven’t lived it though have you. You’re on the outside looking in, generalising from less and lesser experience. You just can’t escape that.

bwat wrote:You haven’t lived it though have you. You’re on the outside looking in, generalising from lesser experience. You just can’t escape that.

Fine. But I know what is meant by the word, and I know how people mean it. How's the view from Stockholm?

benhall.1 wrote:

bwat wrote:You haven’t lived it though have you. You’re on the outside looking in, generalising from lesser experience. You just can’t escape that.

Fine. But I know what is meant by the word, and I know how people mean it. How's the view from Stockholm?

You’ve made an incorrect generalisation about the use of a word. How does my current geographical location have any bearing on that?

Michael w6 wrote:I'm also a bit wary about much theory. Will it enhance my endeavor with the whistle or is it just a distraction?

I'm not sure that's the right question. If your interest is solely in playing whistle, then you can get by handsomely without theory. However, at least a bit of theory is going to be an aid in reading notation, for example. It helps loads to understand that key signature and key are not the same thing: In standard Trad notation, D Mixolydian is written out in the key signature of G, but the signature is not the key itself; it's simply the framework upon which the tune's actual key rests. I've had this happen a number of times, when someone will tell me that a forthcoming tune will be in G, and then they proceed to play in D mix. A brief lesson follows.

Mind you, I have very little theory myself - only enough as gets me by for my purposes - but then I don't really have an aptitude for the whole shebang. However, this sometimes puts me at a communication disadvantage with others who are well-grounded in theory but don't normally do Trad, nor are they familiar with Tradspeak, and this has led to crossed wires during performances. Not a good position to be in when you haven't ironed out the kinks beforehand. So theory gives you the ability to communicate better when it's needed, and that's were it really helps. And theory's going to give you some practical advantages in accompaniment: I'm an intuitive backer, but also somewhat limited compared to what I could be doing. There, I've always been painfully aware of my lack of theory. But in the matter of playing flute and whistle without any other considerations, pretty much not at all.