The Mary Bergin Whistle Tutor

[ytliek]

I still only saw Vols 1 and 2 the first comes with two CDs the second with three. They were selling at €50 and €65 respectively.

Well that's just a couple less whistles now isn't it.

[German Whistler]

I sure hope it's not the same old tunes.

LOL ! (all makes sense now! )

indeed

[Mr.Gumby]

Second, I'm wondering what she covers in each of the first two volumes. Would someone who's played for a year or two need to buy the first book? They're by no means inexpensive . . . even if it is Mary Bergin.

I can't answer that question for you. I don't know how you play or what you want to achieve. I CAN say that you will need ask yourself the question what it is you want. The MB tutorial will try teach you to play Irish Traditional Music on the whistle. It goes some length explaining the intricacies involved and does that with a degree of detail that may or may not be too much for someone who just likes the idea of playing the whistle but isn't too pushed about the level of detail required to play Irish (dance) music well.

[Infernaltootler]

So excited by thread title, only to find it isn't really available is it?

[Mr.Gumby]

So excited by thread title, only to find it isn't really available is it?

I don't get it.

Did I dream holding copies in my hand twice this week, leafing through the two volumes and looking at the price tags in a shop last night?

[Mikethebook]

So where is it going to be on sale, through Amazon or direct from Mary?

And yes, I do want to learn to play ITM to the best of my ability so if the books offer a far better more indepth experience than most book/CD tutors then I'm very interested.

[megapop]

Second, I'm wondering what she covers in each of the first two volumes. Would someone who's played for a year or two need to buy the first book? They're by no means inexpensive . . . even if it is Mary Bergin.

I think (re-)learning the basics - most of which you already may "know" - from such a great player (or just her tutor) is worth more than months, probably even years of aimless noodling around.

At least, this was what I experienced when I eventually got Conal Ó Gráda's flute tutor after quite a few months with the flute (and a couple of years with the whistle of course). From reading the contents, I didn't think I could learn much really *new*. I had no idea.

Of course, I don't know where and what you learned so far, and I haven't seen Mary's books yet. But I can't imagine you'll waste your money even "only" on the first volume.

For what it's worth.

Edit for typo

[Mikethebook]

My finances are tight but its a good thought . . . one I was wondering about myself!

[megapop]

Yeah, as you said, definitively not that inexpensive. Especially as you'll eventually want all three of them anyway...

[Infernaltootler]

So excited by thread title, only to find it isn't really available is it?

I don't get it.

Did I dream holding copies in my hand twice this week, leafing through the two volumes and looking at the price tags in a shop last night?

lol, of course not, but you did come by it in exceptional circumstances.

Us mere plebs may have a harder time getting one.

Even the page on Mary's site doesn't give you a chance to purchase. In addition, only 2 out of three are evident.

[Mr.Gumby]

but you did come by it in exceptional circumstances.

I don't know, it's Willie week, it's in the shop in town.

Seriously though, I imagine she rushed it through to get it printed and ready for the summer. The launch wasn't announced or at least not listed on the invitation for the event (unlike a bunch of other stuff that was being launched) which is perhaps an indication of a hot of the press/last minute situation.

Summer is busy, she's teaching at the Willie week at the moment and I imagine by Saturday the whole circus will get on a plane to fly to the Catskills and whatever is next. But with printed copies on the shelves, I imagine the whole distribution issue will be sorted soon enough.

[pancelticpiper]

I'll be interested to see how the tunes are notated.

It's a strange thing in the ITM world- perhaps not strange to those within that world but strange to those with musical experience outside of it- that, practically without exception, books about ITM written by actual ITM players never notate anything the way it's actually played.

Rather, in the style of Ceol Rince na hEireann, they give a generic bare-bones version regardless of the stated purpose of the book.

For example I have sitting here Timber: The Flute Tutor by Fintan Vallely. Yes the tutor talks about breathing, when to take breaths, ornamentation, and so forth, but none of the tunes are written with any of these flute-specific things indicated, and in fact are barebones versions much like a piano accordionist might play. Ditto for fiddle books, uilleann pipe books, and so on, at least the ones I have. ITM players have an ingrained notion that one must not even attempt to capture how the music is played, in staff notation. However it is quite possible, and simple, for a musically literate person to write out an ITM piece in such a way as to capture many of the performance practices and style. For example, many years ago I attended a whistle workshop taught by a guy who had written out several Mary Bergin tunes, notated off the Feadoga Stain album, with ALL the ornaments and articulations notated. (It's not Black Magic... musically literate people are quite used to reading articulation and breathing indicators.) So, a musically literate person could sightread these tunes, and even if they had never heard or played ITM they would produce something that had all of Mary Bergin's tonguing, breathing, and ornaments. Would it sound like ITM? Of course not! But the point is that when ITM players write out their own music they nearly always leave out many things which could easily be included, which would be expected to be included in the musically literate world.

[Mikethebook]

I couldn't agree more and this bugs me. Since how a piece is ornamented by a particular player will shape that piece, it stands to reason that, if we want to learn how he/she plays it, we need to be able to read the ornamentation within the music. ITM players are much divided on this. I've experienced that divide when posting fully ornamented tunes to Session.org. Some love the ornamentation shown, others don't.

Until fairly recently a comprehensive, clean and tidy way of showing ornaments hasn't really been available so you end up with tunes covered in grace notes but Grey Larsen's notation system is great, producing uncluttered sheet music that is fully ornamented. Happily in his books/tutors, he fully notate the tunes. And Blayne Chastain, in his on-line lessons, uses Grey's system too. But, as you say, these are exceptions. Last year Grey approached the man behind ABC Notation to see if his system of symbols could be incorporated in the next version and there was some suggestion that might be possible . . . which would be great.

But I'm getting off the subject here. What I note from Mary's web-site is that "the music is written both in staff notation and in a form of ABC notation devised by me to illustrate the ‘internal’ rhythm and the ornamentation." What this looks like, only Mr Gumby can tell us right now. Perhaps we'll have to wait and see.

[Thomaston]

I, for one, would rather have the bare-bones notation and have the freedom to place ornamentation where it feels right right for me.
Having said that, it seems simple enough to place symbols above the notation to indicate an ornament should go there. For example, a ~ above where a roll could go would be fairly easy to do with the right software. Maybe / and \ to indicate cuts and taps...

[Mikethebook]

Agreed. You're free to do what you want. But having uncluttering symbols above the music also gives you the option of following the ornamentation of the transcriber. That's what's so good about it. You've given a couple of examples but check out the full list of Grey's symbols http://www.blaynechastain.com/legend.pdf.