Hello, I am new to the forum and honestly also new to the whistle (just started playing this past September.) That said I feel quite passionate about learning this instrument and while I am interested in a wide range of Irish and Scottish traditional music, what particularly attracted me to this instrument was the haunting slow airs I’ve heard (say like John McSherry playing The May Morning Dew on youtube or Patrick D’Arcy playing an Raibh Tú Ag an Gcarraig) and my love of Sean Nos singing but lack of a very good singing voice or Gaelic language skills (want to learn though.)
In any case, for my first question I was wondering how possible is it to adapt music to the tin whistle and low whistle that might not traditionally be played on it? In particular say various Welsh tunes for pibgorn/pipes, Breton gwerz, or perhaps even piobaireachd? Any known examples of others having done so I could check out? I apologize if this is an ignorant question but I honestly have no idea.
As a second but related question, does anyone have any good resources for say Welsh or Breton tunes in ABC notation or some good recommendations that could be played well on the whistle?
Welcome, and no, I don’t think this is an ignorant question at all.
When you get down to it, a whistle, a bagpipe and a pibgorn are all basically the same thing — a little pipe with holes you blow through to make musical noise. In that sense, they are interchangeable. As for can it be done, well, that’s just a matter of giving it a go!
If someone can do this, then I see no reason why you can’t play Welsh pibgorn music or Scottish ceol mor on a whistle!
You can play any kind of music on a whistle that you want. Try something by Mozart or a Gypsy piece like Csardas. A good player (don’t look at me) can make things like these sound great.
There is NO law that says you must only play Celtic music on a whistle!
Being diatonic makes it very adaptable. In other words, its easy to play melodies from your favorite sing songs on the whistle, even if only for your own bemusement. I went to see Ryan Adams and a singer named Amanda Shires opened for him and while I wasn’t familiar with her work a couple of the catchier numbers (Bulletproof & Swimmer) stuck in my head and I found myself working them out a couple of weeks later. Good luck, practice lots, and learn to half hole early on, no matter what anyone else tells you haha
Thanks for the replies. I asked regarding ceol mor because I’ve heard some people say it can only properly be played with the great highland bagpipes, but then I was aware of (and greatly enjoy) Bonnie Rideout’s pibroch on fiddle, so I wondered whether it would work on whistle, specifically low whistle which I am a bit more interested in (just got my first one, an MK Kelpie, in the mail today actually.)
I suppose since based on the replies it seems that nearly any music can be played on the whistle the answer should remain the same, but how do you think the playing of Fuke-shu shakuhachi/suizen/honkyoku would go on the low whistle? Or perhaps Chinese dizi/xiao music?
Though i think traditional Irish music is very pretty, personally I’m working towards playing simple medieval, Renaissance, and early European dance and folk tunes on the pennywhistle. Eventually I’d like to explore playing early American/Civil War repertoire as well.
If you can read very simple melody lines in standard notation, I’m finding it hasn’t take too long to begin mentally translating simple tunes and melodies to the whistle. The PW is very versatile!
Tony Hinnigan talks about playing Andean (South American) music on the whistle in this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ12HQ8RWXs (posted on the forum before, by @wizzywig). In that video there’s an interesting sound clip or two, but he also talks about playing anything on whistle.
I don’t think we can rightly speak of “music traditionally played on Low Whistle” since that instrument is a late-20th century invention.
I love the Breton Bagad bands and there’s nothing traditional about them, as they use Highland pipes, and oftentimes modern high-tech Scottish-style snare drums with Kevlar heads etc.
About Welsh pibcorn, isn’t that a recently devised thing? My understanding is that no such instruments survive, is that right? I’ve read (in Baines) about the Eastern European/Balkan/Mediterranean hornpipe in a Welsh museum that has been, apparently, mistaken for native Welsh thing. Perhaps more examples have been found in Wales, and the strong resemblance to the Balkan instrument is coincidence?
So much of the music we hear today that is thought of as “traditional” has only evolved into its present form recently. That’s the thing, traditions evolve. And we moderns go about reviving extinct instrument and making guesses as to how they were made, sounded, and were played. So I wouldn’t be too concerned about “tradition” and “authenticity” and just play the music you want to play on the instruments you want to play that music on.
I’ve been involved in a thing not unlike the Welsh Pibcorn revival, becoming enthusiastic about the Cornish Doublepipes, none of which survive. That hasn’t stopped makers from making them and people like me from playing them. I’ve adapted quite a few Cornish folk-songs and dances for those pipes.
Here I am playing for a gathering of Cornish Bards
Some older pibgorn do exist and/or have been documented, see http://www.mochpryderi.com/Pibgorn.html . Much like the recorder before them, they effectively disappeared within documented memory and have been revived by a few enthusiasts, there’s even a (very well-made) plastic one http://www.pibgorn.co.uk/
What, apparently, there is less evidence for, as I understand it, is the use of a pibgorn as a bagpipe chanter.
Thanks for replies and the pibgorn resources, I appreciate it. Speaking of Welsh tunes, there’s a tune played by the band Carreg Lafar on their album “Hyn” entitled “Afon Yr Haf” that features a whistle and is very pleasant to me. Does anyone know if this is a traditional tune and if so what it’s name might be or where I can the ABC notation for it? Here it is on youtube:
Can’t find a reference to the actual music for “Afon Yr Haf”, though it would appear to be a traditional Welsh melody. I’ve had success in the past (though I’ve not tried Carreg Lafar) e-mailing an artist asking for a reference to where I might find a certain tune. I’ve always had a positive reply, even a mailed copy of a sheet of music on one occasion … worth a try!
Referring back to pibgorn music, John Tose http://johntose.blogspot.com/ also has sold a ring-bound booklet “Old Welsh Airs. 106 melodies from the Welsh tradition” but I can’t see reference to it at the moment.
