Newbie trying hard and needs advice

[long_haired_david]

I picked up the whistle about 3 weeks ago, to go along with my learning the Concertina.

I have made some videos of where I am at the moment.

I know that there is not a lot of life in my playing at the moment and I need some help with getting the tone right. I am playing a Meg D so on the advice of this forum, I should be able to get a decent tone out of it.

Well here they are - please be as kind as you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_XjY6uQ ... e=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCT_HiPPBN0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvxSO3rkLAQ

There are some videos of my attempts at the Anglo concertina (after 7 weeks learning) on my You Tube account as well if you care to look at http://www.youtube.com/user/longhairedd ... ature=mhum

David

[StevieJ]

Hi David,

You're doing fine after just two weeks. You seem to be articulating every note by "huffing" - that is, stopping and starting your breath between each note. If I were teaching you I'd ask you to change that, and pronto.

Your articulation will sound much cleaner if you learn to "tongue" - that is, begin a note by saying "ta" or "tuh", with the tongue lightly touching your upper palate just behind your top teeth.

Once you've learned to do that, yes your articulation will sound cleaner and better to most people's ears.

Then the next thing to do is to stop articulating every note - either by tonguing or huffing - and learn to let some of the notes flow together. Tunes in march tempo like Leaving of Liverpool can take a fair bit of tonguing, but you'll make them sound less monotonous if you don't tongue every note. Knowing when to tongue and when to slur is a huge subject but largely a matter of personal taste.

For playing traditional dance tunes - jigs and reels, etc. - the majority of people favour quite a bit less tonguing.

As for tone - I'm sure it will improve with playing. I don't care much for sound of the Clarke plastic-topped whistles. But you need to learn to control how hard you blow in the upper octave in order to keep the notes in tune. The high part of Leaving of Liverpool was a bit dodgy in that respect.

Hope this helps and keep it up.
Steve

[mutepointe]

Blood squirted out my ears and the police stopped by home to ask that I quit disturbing the peace. They ran away in terror. I liked your songs and I think you've made great progress in two weeks. You didn't say if you already had a musical background. Your style of playing would work well for other genres of music. You sound peppy.

I do like giving people a good natured teasing about their videos. Something tells me the person who bought and is wearing your T-shirt is not the same person who decorated your home. Your home looks very warm and comfortable.

[Denny]

I thought that the colors in the shirt went well with the room.... what is your problem Mute?

[Whistle Free or Die]

Hang in there LH David.
Your doing just fine.
What is that clock in the background anyway?

Susan

[osage59]

Doing better than I am pal.
I'm still struggling with "Dawning of the Day"

[Whistle Free or Die]

Dawning of the Day is just the beginning.
Roddy McCorely awaits you.

Newbies Unite
Susan

[maki]

Hello long_haired_david.
Welcome to the forum.

Newbies Unite

Susan

Unite and keep whistling!

[AnthonyBeers]

I think the best thing to do is:

1. Keep practicing
2. Listen to other Musicians who you enjoy and would like to emulate


If you want a really good book to help you get started I would suggest The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox

[Kypfer]

Only two weeks and playing in the second octave already took me a couple of months to get there ... seriously though, from another relative newbie, you're going well

Tip to try that I find useful ... try playing whole sections of a tune, maybe four or eight bars, in just one breath, with no pauses or tonguing ... then see which parts of that sound "right" when played like that, then you can keep those bits like that and tongue the rest ... works for me, on occaision. Make pencil marks so's you don't forget

[osage59]

Newbies Unite

Now there's a trade union worth joining!

[talasiga]

Join The Newbie Whistle Players' Union!
the union specialising in go slow campaigns and regular strike action in the interests of good music .......

[StevieJ]

I think that should be in the interests of respect for the elderly - being a long-haired greybeard myself. I hope the new union offers its members good retirement benefits.

David, something I forgot to mention. Articulating every note is very useful for covering up sloppy fingering - in other words, you may not be getting all your fingers down or up at exactly the same time, but because you are separating each note, this doesn't show. This is why it's a good idea to practise playing without any articulation - it will force you to clean up your act! You can then go back to tonguing (or huffing) where you think the tune requires it.

BTW lots of Irish traditional flute players don't tongue, but huff instead, and carry this over to whistle playing. Also you may hear people saying that tonguing has no place in trad music. You can safely ignore them... or ask them whether they think Mary Bergin or Paddy Moloney aren't playing traditionally.

[maki]

I finally got home where I can watch You Tube.
David I think you play better than I do, so keep it up.

Just one thing I noticed.
Is your whistle playing posture what it should be?
http://www.chiffandfipple.com/posture.htm

[crookedtune]

Your articulation will sound much cleaner if you learn to "tongue" - that is, begin a note by saying "ta" or "tuh", with the tongue lightly touching your upper palate just behind your top teeth.

Once you've learned to do that, yes your articulation will sound cleaner and better to most people's ears.

Steve

Yes, it gets you to a cleaner sound quickly. But there's a price to pay, if your goal is a traditional 'Irish' sound.

I started out tonguing, and it took about a year to finally break the habit, and learn the proper finger-based articulations. I'd think long and hard on that advice.