I have been making an effort to get Cuts & Taps/Strikes combined into the “Roll”. Today to make practice interesting for me and the eventual listener I made a recording with 3 whistles, a Susato Kildare, Tony Dixon Trad and a Clarke Sweet Tone. I’m working on the technique about a week now give or take a day. The video contains one phrase section per whistle and the recordings are made consecutively. The phrase is a simple exercise I created to focus on the “Roll” based on Ryan Duns tutorial lesson 7 (Check my signature for the link). I think my technique is kinda getting there but it’s difficult for me to be objective when it’s my own whistling that I listen to daily as I practice and play. So if someone could pass judgment/offer critique on my humble effort to let me know if I’m even “Rollin” in the right direction, I would appreciate the feedback
I’ve just a had a lesson from a pro whistler and he basically took my rolls apart and I had to start again, at least get the cuts and taps right. It’s a little hard to assess how you’re doing without seeing what you’re doing. I slowed down your recording so I could hear better and they sounded pretty good though they are not consistent yet - practice them separate from the music until they sound until they are - and the taps to my ears didn’t sound pronounced enough. After the cut you need to draw back the tapping finger and really throw it at the hole so it literally bounces off the hole, but keep it relaxed. With the cuts try to move the cutting finger as little as possible which i think you’re doing so you get a “chirp.” I’ve now been taught to give equal time to the intial note, the cut and the tap but it seems a matter of preference. I hear many people give the initial note as much time as the cut and tap together. I’m still working on them but they are so important a few weeks work is worth it in the long run.
Right direction, yes. Rolls … no. What you’re playing are classical 5-note turns, not rolls. Your timing is OK, but your fingers are simply moving too slowly. To turn them into rolls, your fingers need to move 3-4 times faster.
Mike’s description is about right. But remember that a cut is also a kind of tap, except that you have to lift your finger a fraction of a second before coming back down. Concentrate on the downward movement, right on the beats. And for both the cut and tap the downward movement needs to be percussive, almost violent. There’s nothing gentle about it. Slap the whistle with your fingers.
Thanks guys for the feedback much appreciated. I’ll keep your advice in mind as I continue to work on them. The slap on the strike I was getting better at just today. I’m going to do a similar recording in 2 weeks and see how I’m progressing. Thanks again for the input it’s been very helpful
I agree with MTGuru about the speed of the roll. But I assumed you were practising them slowly. It is important to get them right at a slow and controlled speed and once muscle memory has built up, playing them at the correct speed will be no problem. Out of curiosity MTGuru, do you play them with equal time given to the intial note, the cut and the tap or give emphasis to the initial note with the cut and tap only taking perhaps a quarter of the time each?
Jleo, have you tried contacting a local player for assistance? Don’t know where in Tyrone you are, but I can’t imagine there aren’t some around. Doesn’t have to be a lesson. Even a few minutes aside at a session or in private. Most players I’ve met are happy to help.
Don’t know how up-to-date this session list is, but ringing the venues might be a start:
Can also be contextually dependent (eg if you’re playing jigs with even eighths or more of a lilting rhythm).
But still with lightning cuts and strikes separating (or let’s say articulating when you’d be starting a short roll with the cut) your slower main notes… to which I might add that slow, rhythmic rolls paradoxically provide the ideal platform to concentrate on that aspect of the whole!
Well, that’s part of the trick. When you slow down a roll, your finger movements don’t really slow down. It’s the spacing between the finger movements that increases.
It’s like the difference between slowing down your speech by: pronouncing … each … word … with … a … long … pause … between … words
As opposed to: saaaayiiiing eeeeaaaach woooord sloooowlyyyyy.
Depends entirely on the melody and the effect you want, and the tempo you’re playing. But the starting point is to be able to make them exactly even, right on the beats. From there you can introduce timing variations. But first, the thing you’re varying needs to be solid and even.
My tendency is to want to delay the roll slightly on 3 beat full rolls (as you describe in your above quote), and anticipate it slightly on 2 beat full rolls. But that’s just a tendency or habit, not a rule by any means.
all I’d say, all I ever say, in fact, is practice - really concentrate on what you want to improve, break it down to it’s constituant parts and really drive it.
It can take longer or shorter than you think, depending upon how long you think it will take but you do get there.
Remember it’s not just learning to do it, it’s building the muscles in your fingers too. You wouldn’t expect to build muscles to ski brilliantly in a week, would you?
