Mr.Gumby wrote:
Out of those two Tomas O'Canainn's is the one I'd recommend, perhaps. As far as learning airs from a book goes anyway. The tunes will fit on the D whistle, mostly (there's the odd low note in tunes like Morgan Magan if I remember correctly).
Playing slow airs well is not an easy job.
I have the O Canainn book and as with any written versions of airs the dots don't capture the feel and phrasing, which has to be got from listening.
IMHO airs are much harder to play than the dance music.
I struggled for years with airs until finally having what I consider a break-through, after which they seemed to make far more musical sense.
How difficult airs are for people became most apparent when I was teaching an uilleann workshop and decided to do
Roisin Dubh rather than a piece of dance music. Nobody could make much sense of it. Perhaps it's the lack of bars and regular beats to latch on to; I was breaking it down into phrases, which is the only way that makes sense to me.