Key help again, please
- DrPhill
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Key help again, please
Hi there,
I experimenting learning a tune without dots and such. Its one of the tunes that I have on my phone to keep me amused while I work, so I hear it a lot. 'The Bantry Girls Lamment' from the Joanie Madden album. I started picking it out (D whistle) without playing along - I could hear it in my head. Or at least I could hear the pattern of the tune. I wound up playing starting on either D or G.
Then I played along with the CD, and found that I was starting on A.
Was I playing in a major key (D/G) from memory when it should have been a minor key (Am)? Or is this a pentatonic(?) tune that fits in three 'places' on the whistle? If the former then I need to work on my listening/remembering skills. If the latter, then maybe I did alright.
Or I could be wrong three ways......
Any help would be gratefully received (even if its option three - wrong thrice).
I experimenting learning a tune without dots and such. Its one of the tunes that I have on my phone to keep me amused while I work, so I hear it a lot. 'The Bantry Girls Lamment' from the Joanie Madden album. I started picking it out (D whistle) without playing along - I could hear it in my head. Or at least I could hear the pattern of the tune. I wound up playing starting on either D or G.
Then I played along with the CD, and found that I was starting on A.
Was I playing in a major key (D/G) from memory when it should have been a minor key (Am)? Or is this a pentatonic(?) tune that fits in three 'places' on the whistle? If the former then I need to work on my listening/remembering skills. If the latter, then maybe I did alright.
Or I could be wrong three ways......
Any help would be gratefully received (even if its option three - wrong thrice).
Phill
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
- Byll
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Re: Key help again, please
Good morning, DrPhill. The song is performed in the key of A Major.
Best to you.
Byll
Best to you.
Byll
'Everything Matters...'
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Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979
- benhall.1
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Re: Key help again, please
If it's the tune I'm thinking of (starts [Dmaj] DE | F2F2 F2ED | A3F A2B2 | AF3 E3D | E4 or something like that) it's in a major key. This means that it would fit on a D whistle played in D major, G major or A major. From memory, I didn't think it had the seventh degree of the scale, so there wouldn't be any G#s to get in the way if you played in A instead of either D or G.
Does that help?
Does that help?
- benhall.1
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Re: Key help again, please
I've thought about this again, and you are RIGHT, Phill. It is, indeed, pentatonic. Good ear you have there. Now all you've got to do is have the confidence that you are hearing things right.
- DrPhill
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Re: Key help again, please
Thank you both Ben and Byll, you have answered my question completely.
Seems that my ear and my memory for tune shapes are working better than my memory for music theory. (I thought an A would be a minor). Still the theory in the end should be the least important.
Maybe I will be able to wean myself off dots slowly..... but checking with the experts gives me more confidence.
A year and a half at CFU (Chiff & Fipple University) is paying off.
Phill
(Crossed with Ben: Pentatonic was easy - I counted the notes that I had.)
EDIT: Or is pentatonic more complicated than just five notes?
Seems that my ear and my memory for tune shapes are working better than my memory for music theory. (I thought an A would be a minor). Still the theory in the end should be the least important.
Maybe I will be able to wean myself off dots slowly..... but checking with the experts gives me more confidence.
A year and a half at CFU (Chiff & Fipple University) is paying off.
Phill
(Crossed with Ben: Pentatonic was easy - I counted the notes that I had.)
EDIT: Or is pentatonic more complicated than just five notes?
Phill
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
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Re: Key help again, please
Yeah, I tried counting the notes, too. But, being an accountant, I found that I could come up with any number from 4 to seven, depending on what was required.
- DrPhill
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Re: Key help again, please
Phill
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
- MTGuru
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Re: Key help again, please
From the sound of the track, it wouldn't surprise me if Joanie's performing on an E whistle in G fingering (for A major).
Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips
Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
- DrPhill
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Re: Key help again, please
Wow, you can hear it as an E as distinct from a D or an A whistle ? Puts my delight at getting the right key into perspective .MTGuru wrote:From the sound of the track, it wouldn't surprise me if Joanie's performing on an E whistle in G fingering (for A major).
Ah well, perhaps I am not really at the CFU yet.
Phill
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
- MTGuru
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Re: Key help again, please
Well, you can't be positive without visuals. But there are clues such as timbre and register crossings on ornaments that can give it away.
I'd say you're doing fine, Phill.
I'd say you're doing fine, Phill.
Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips
Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.
- DrPhill
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Re: Key help again, please
Ah, yes, I can see how that might work.MTGuru wrote:But there are clues such as timbre and register crossings on ornaments that can give it away.
I started late, and travel slow, but I am enjoying the journey and the people I meet.MTGuru wrote:I'd say you're doing fine, Phill.
Phill
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.
One does not equal two. Not even for very large values of one.