Arran Boat Tablature??

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BoscoBear
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Arran Boat Tablature??

Post by BoscoBear »

Hi all - I'm looking for tablature for the Arran Boat song - I cannot find it anywhere I've looked - If anyone has an easy to follow way for me to begin practicing this tune I'd greatly appreciate it - I'm working on "playing by ear" and have been using a combo of play-by-ear and tablature for reference -

Also - any slow airs which are good for beginners would be cool too - Thanks all!!!

I do believe I have gotten the basics of Amazing Grace down, and although will continue to practice this tune, err, hymn, I'd like to add onto that with other songs - I really enjoy the slower, more "haunting" songs -
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Charlene
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Kate Dowling
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Post by Kate Dowling »

Kind of an aside:

I think there is a misconception about Irish slow-airs made by beginner musicians. The vast majority of airs are complex pieces - you really have to know the song, have heard others play it or sing it - and you also really have to know your instrument. I recommend learning jigs or marches or the like prior to learning slow airs. I don't teach my students slow airs for at least a few years.
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BoscoBear
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Post by BoscoBear »

Charlene - Thank you!

Kate - Thank you very much for the insight! I must admit, I made the exact mistake you mention, about slow airs - Can you please suggest (or anyone who reads this actually) any jigs/marches which are well suited for the absolute beginner? Thank you!!!
Berti66
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Post by Berti66 »

I have to disagree on this.
I think it is more important that you start out with what you would LIKE to play as that is what would encourage you in many ways, by keep going, practice more because you like those tunes, than that you have to work on say, reels when you love slow airs........

Of course, you should know how it is supposed to sound but that is what cd's are for ....not all of them are instrumental, if you mention that you should have a listen to the singing of an air.

my opinion for what it is worth, now almost two years on the whistle and 6 months on the flute.

berti
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RonKiley
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Post by RonKiley »

I would suggest that if you need notation to help you out I would suggest you learn to read music for the whistle rather than tablature. It won't take you very long to learn it. You can play easier from notes than from Tab because Tab requires more decoding by the brain. There are many more tunes in standard notation than in Tablature. You will still need to listen to the tune to hear how it should sound. Listen to someone that you know plays well. I started on Tablature and after about 2 weeks said I need to learn to read the music and how to play by ear. Those tunes I have learned solely by ear sound better and stay with me much better.

Ron
I've never met a whistle I didn't want.
Kate Dowling
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Post by Kate Dowling »

Berti - I guess it all depends upon your reasons for playing. If you want to eventually play with other people, learning a ton of slow airs will not help, as, aside from being complex, slow airs are also played as solo pieces.

Some simple tunes I start my students out on include:
The Britches Full of Stitches and The Kerry Polka
Saddle the Pony and The Frost is All Over (jigs)
Kesh Jig, The Trip to Sligo, and The Legacy Jig

I try to teach a set of two or three tunes in a row so that the students have something presentable. I still learn the same way - when I want to learn a new tune, I rarely only learn one new one, rather, I seek other new tunes to go along together to create a set.
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Lambchop
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Post by Lambchop »

RonKiley wrote:I would suggest that if you need notation to help you out I would suggest you learn to read music for the whistle rather than tablature. It won't take you very long to learn it.
Ron

Right. Learning to read music sounds like it would be a big deal, but for what you need to read whistle music, it's not. In fact, the amount of knowledge you need is not much more than it takes to read tablature, and just reading the notes is less complicated.

Trust me on this. I've been thrown out of music lessons by four teachers on four different instruments--they all claimed I was too slow to ever keep up--but I've somehow managed to figure out where each of those notes goes on a whistle.

If you think about it, the notes on the staff ARE pretty darned close to tablature, in a way. There aren't that many notes you can play on a whistle. This note here corresponds to that fingering in tablature. The next corresponds to the next fingering. And so forth. There are only going to be 14 (is that right?) possible choices.

Have a go at it and let us know how you're doing. If you need suggestions for a way to get started, there are websites. Let us know.
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