Whistle Regimen and Songs for a Beginner

Ann M. · **Joined:** Tue May 08, 2012 8:05 pm **Posts:** 1

Hi, a couple of tunes I enjoyed learning are Swallowtail, Kesh, and Over the Ocean (all jigs). Someone above said "learn what you like" and that's good advice also. Lucy Farr (barn dance) and Hector the Hero (waltz) are also easy to learn. All lend themselves to ornamentation.

My opinion--don't play scales, just play the tunes.

I've only been playing whistle a couple of years, so am still a beginner. Good luck with it, it's a fun instrument.

christelrice · **Posted:** Fri May 11, 2012 5:53 am

KCarl12 wrote:

Hey, everyone!

I'm a beginnig whislter--I recently got mine over a birthday after searching years and years for what the beautiful instrument I loved so much in Irish music was. Anyway, I've been looking at tin whistle tutorials, and have the very basics down. i can produce a good tone, and understand basic ornamentation. But I don't have anyone who can teach me, and there isn't anyone who plays around where I live at college. I'm wondering a couple of things. Are there any exercises I can do on the whistle regularly that will increase my proficiency in practice and performance (scales, ornament exercises, etc)? And what songs are good for a beginner like me to learn? How should I go about learning songs? (I should add that I am blind and cannot read print music, so I will need to learn songs by ear.)

THanks for any help anyone here can give!

Hello KCarl12,

I would be glad to help if you are interested in Skype lessons. You can also check out my blog that is posted here under my signature. There are several tunes in the library that are easy to play along with, like Morrison's jig for example. I teach tin whistle classes and private lessons at the New York Irish Center here in NYC.
As far as exercises, scales are useful to practice, but I would incorporate some ornamentation into them to make them more interesting!
Ear training skills are a must in Irish music, as that is truly the way to nail down the tunes. I suggest singing the tune as you are learning it.

So, please feel free to get in touch, and the best of luck to you and your new endeavor!

hoopy mike · **Posted:** Fri May 11, 2012 9:05 am

christelrice wrote:

I suggest singing the tune as you are learning it.

That's really hard to do with a whistle in one's mouth.

srleslie · **Posted:** Sat May 12, 2012 4:33 pm

The best text/tutorial, IMHO, is Grey Larsen's The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle, though it's really more of a career (or at least a college major) than just a book. Find it here.

It gives a bunch of information on music theory—a boon to those, like me, who missed that day of school—especially how it relates to Irish music, then a ton of stuff on notes, embellishments and techniques; more, in fact, than I've ever been able to wade through. I've been whistling for several years and I use it as a reference work, always there when I get stuck.

For learning tunes, a good (relatively) ABC program is ABCexplorer(even though it's French). Documentation is a little sparse, but the program is free and it readily translates what you find on JC's Tune Finder or The Session. You can control speed of playback to a fare-thee-well, select one sequence of notes to play over and over, play around with grace notes if you wish.

cboody · **Joined:** Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm **Posts:** 473

Good advice here. I'd suggest EasyABC as the ABC program. Works on most any computer (Mac, PC, Linux) and does everything you probably need at the start.

srleslie · **Posted:** Sun May 13, 2012 2:04 pm

EasyABC is a nice little program, indeed. Doesn't do as much as ABCexplorer, but it's probably more reliable (ABCexplorer often can't decide whether to play midis as clarinet or piano, for example).

trill · **Joined:** Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:44 pm **Posts:** 259

As an add-on to scales, how about chord arpeggios ?

When I get a new whistle, I start with scales just to practice closing the holes reliably. After that, I use I, ii, iii, IV, and V, up and down, and all-around.

Whistle Regimen and Songs for a Beginner

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