Just started playing the Tin Whistle
Just started playing the Tin Whistle
I've always been a fan of Irish Pub Rock, and I was listening to sh*t N' Onions Volume 1 last week.(anyone know of it?), and I couldn't help noticing the fantastic tin whistles. I remembered my older brother used to be big into Ireland when he was my age, and he had some whistles, along with a few begginer books in his room. I found them(along with a Bodhran; my progress on it's been rather slow), and I started up. I think it's absolutly fantastic. I'm not very good yet, being utterly befuddled by high notes, but after a week of playing, I'm not exactly going to be an expert, ya know? I found this site, and it's really cool. I decided to be a basmati and post something like this.
Cheeky cheeky non?
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...about getting them high notes right. It just takes some practice to become familiar with how hard you've got to blow to get the higher notes to sound right.
When you're playing the lower/regular notes, you'll notice that you don't need to blow too hard. You will, however, have to blow quite a bit harder to get those high notes. There really is no big secret out there about this subject. It's just a matter of practicing and getting familiar with your breathing.
Hope this helped...
When you're playing the lower/regular notes, you'll notice that you don't need to blow too hard. You will, however, have to blow quite a bit harder to get those high notes. There really is no big secret out there about this subject. It's just a matter of practicing and getting familiar with your breathing.
Hope this helped...
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It really is about practicing. The more you play, the more of a feel you will get for your whistle, and how much (or how little) air you are going to need to hit the higher octave. Also, this differs from whistle to whistle. So just keep plugging away at it, and you will eventually get nice sound in the upper octave. So play until someone threatens you with bodily harm unless you stop! Hope that helps, at least a bit!
Someday, everything is gonna be diff'rent
When I paint my masterpiece.
When I paint my masterpiece.
And don't get discouraged. When I started I found the high notes almost impossible, too - now, I don't even think about them, just adjust automatically.
Now, the 3rd octave's a bit different - but except for (maybe) 3rd octave D, which is still pretty easy, it's very little used. The second octave doesn't really take much more air than the first - it just needs solid support. Don't be afraid of keeping the air pressure up, and (maybe) tongue the first note when you go from the 1st to the 2nd octave.
A decent tutorial (Like the Bill Ochs "Clarke Tinwhistle Tutor" book+CD) is a big help, too. And give yourself some time - I've still got a long ways to go, but whenever I get discouraged I just measure my progress compared to, say, six months back. Sometimes you don't notice the slow and steady gains, but over time they add up.
Now, the 3rd octave's a bit different - but except for (maybe) 3rd octave D, which is still pretty easy, it's very little used. The second octave doesn't really take much more air than the first - it just needs solid support. Don't be afraid of keeping the air pressure up, and (maybe) tongue the first note when you go from the 1st to the 2nd octave.
A decent tutorial (Like the Bill Ochs "Clarke Tinwhistle Tutor" book+CD) is a big help, too. And give yourself some time - I've still got a long ways to go, but whenever I get discouraged I just measure my progress compared to, say, six months back. Sometimes you don't notice the slow and steady gains, but over time they add up.
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It's also a matter of not being afraid of them. When I started playing, I'd go up above High D and think "yow...that's so loud...that's so shrill...that can't be good!" and I'd shy away from any tune that went above the first octave. Well, loud is as loud does, the "shrill" part goes away with practice, and the repetoire is decidedly limited if all you can play is a single scale in D, so I eventually just started "doing it." Once you're used to playing high, you won't be so reluctant to give those notes the push they need.lonewhistler wrote:...about getting them high notes right. It just takes some practice to become familiar with how hard you've got to blow to get the higher notes to sound right.
When you're playing the lower/regular notes, you'll notice that you don't need to blow too hard. You will, however, have to blow quite a bit harder to get those high notes. There really is no big secret out there about this subject. It's just a matter of practicing and getting familiar with your breathing.
Hope this helped...
Redwolf
...agus déanfaidh mé do mholadh ar an gcruit a Dhia, a Dhia liom!
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