gonzo914 wrote:
Buachaill On Eirne
The Parting Glass
Spancil Hill
Raglan Road/Fainne Geal an Lae
South Wind
There are also a couple of Mel Bay books with decent beginner tunes that will provide the satisfaction of playing real music -- 110 Ireland's Best Slow Airs and 110 Ireland's Best Tin Whistle Tunes. they should be retty easy to find; I know the Whistle Shop has them.
Excellent tunes, three of them I've sung the words for too, though Spancil Hill has to be my least favourite song of all time after we thrashed it to death.
The Parting Glass is a lovely song, only 3 verses in the version I learnt, so well within my memory capabilities.
Buachaill on Eirne our singing class attempted in Gaelic - I'd never attempt to sing it in public, but it was an interesting exercise and lead me to learn the tune on the whistle.
The South Wind is also a great tune, well within a beginner's reach but not a throwaway tune like Hot X Buns! i.e. you can keep it in your repertoire for years to come.
Fainne Geal an Lae is very simple, but a lovely air.
I think all five appear in the 110 Ireland's Best Slow Airs collection, and if you get the accompanying CD, you'll know how they should sound from the go. Sheet notation of Airs is not always to be relied on as a guide, they are played very freely, so tempo is not strictly adhered to in many cases.
I've been slowly working on learning Kerrigans Jig in McCullough's tutor. It occurs to me that it may be advantageous to be simultaneously working on something entirely different based on the principle that sometimes a change is as good as a rest. Perhaps an air?
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