first tune?

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 12:44 pm

First from sheet music (on whistle) was "Whiskey In the Jar" - though since I've loved the song since I first encountered it on a Limelighters LP many years ago, all I really needed was a reminder.

First by ear - "The Men of the West" picked up from a Clancy Brothers CD - I still don't have sheet music for that. Didn't really try to learn it, but tried playing it on a whim and found I could play it to the end without problems. I wish I could say that was the normal case - so far, it's the only one I could pick up that fast.

For now, I try to do a combination of ear/sheet music - listen to the music a few times, use the sheet music to get up to speed, listen again for details of phrasing, etc.

This works really well for the tunes in the Clarke Tin Whistle book, _A Dossan of Heather_ (Thanks for bringing it together, Brother Steve!), and Tommy Makem's whistling on the various Clancy Brother's CDs - the pace and level of ornamentation should be in reach of most intermediate whistlers (after all, I can do it - and I've been accused of having no sense of rhythm and five thumbs per hand!). I'll think I'm getting good when I can play along with the likes of Mary Bergin or Paddy Maloney.

Switchfoot · Post by **Switchfoot** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 2:30 pm

First Song ever played (as a bonus it was by ear): Concerning Hobbits

First Trad: Um,

I still working on Another Jig Will Do... I dont play trad very often as you can tell

madfifer9 · Post by **madfifer9** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 7:56 pm

hey, reading everyone's answers reminded me of some tunes I haven't played in a while! I need to go back and try to play those again! I liked "Maid Behind the Bar" too, I can probably play it a little better now. Another one I tried but couldn't quite get was "Salamanca".

Cheers,
madfifer9

paulsdad · Post by **paulsdad** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 8:17 pm

Although some people may emerge from the womb quoting Shakespeare, (with proper pronunciation and accent), I wager that for many others, their first tune was "Hot Cross Buns", "Mary had a Little Lamb", or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Soineanta · Post by **Soineanta** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 9:38 pm

Well, besides those lovely childhood tunes Paulsdad mentioned..

My first was a jig whose name I STILL don't know--I downloaded it on Audiogalaxy, but since you have to pay to use that now, I no longer have access to all my DLed songs, and I forgot the name.
After that was Si Beag Si Mor and Inisheer, at about the same time. Looks like Inisheer is a common first--and its a tune I still love!

madfifer9 · Post by **madfifer9** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 11:04 pm

I think my first tune on recorder was something like "Row Row Row yer Boat". I came to whistle and Irish flute rather late in life, and well after I learned to read music.

madfifer9

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Wed Feb 19, 2003 11:47 pm

I wanted my first whistle tune to be something really pretty, so I learned Scarborough Fair. I was so proud of myself that I called a friend and played it over the phone and ..... totally screwed it up.

Turner · Post by **Turner** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:12 am

I am still a beginner, so my first tune was only a few weeks ago, it was Sweet Bettsy from pike.

Where could i get sheet music for over the hills and far away, I love that tune!

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:23 am

On 2003-02-19 07:03, rbm wrote:
Arh, hello and welcome ....etc.

(hey Paul, how's the new digital..and how's my cocobolo coming along )

Richard.

The digital is just fine, and your cocobolo is in it's month long resting phase. I'll be waking it up sometime in early to mid March...

rbm · Post by **rbm** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:28 am

On 2003-02-20 06:23, brewerpaul wrote:
....... and your cocobolo is in it's month long resting phase. I'll be waking it up sometime in early to mid March...

DCrom · Post by **DCrom** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 12:14 pm

On 2003-02-20 00:04, madfifer9 wrote:
I think my first tune on recorder was something like "Row Row Row yer Boat". I came to whistle and Irish flute rather late in life, and well after I learned to read music.

Pretty much the same for me - which is why I wrote about the first tune on *whistle* above. I think my first tune (on one of the miserable "song flutes", the poor stepchild of the fipple-flute world) was "Mary Had a Little Lamb". I think. Of course, that was over 35 years ago - it might have been "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" instead.

Though I haven't put much time into them since High School, I played Saxophone in the school band and recorder with my local SCA group. In the years since, though I haven't really worked at it much, I've played recorder enough to stay reasonably adept, so the real issue with tinwhistle was learning the fingering and style issues.

I think the real breakthrough for me came when I quit playing from sheet music - I use it (and recordings, when I can get them) to learn a song, then put away the sheet music and play by ear, listening to the recordings to help me improve. *Big* difference - except for a few favorites I never really memorized any of my recorder or sax pieces - and I was amazed to find how much regular practice and playing by ear have helped.

Not that I'm that *good* yet - but I'm improving steadily, and have more songs commited to memory (22 at present) after 3 months of whistling than I do for recorder after decades of intermittent practice.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DCrom on 2003-02-20 13:15 ]</font>

McHaffie · Post by **McHaffie** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 12:57 pm

BTW... I play almost completely by ear... on the very rare occasion (like 3 times) I used tablature, but still had to work at it due to figureing out tempo, what notes were at what speed, etc. In the end, I still ended up having to hear it to play it.

Anyone know of a good music tutor program or site that helps you learn to read music... you know, FASTER than "let's see... Every Good Boy Does... OK IT'S A D!!!"

I really should learn I guess since I make and play whistles! Kind of embarassing I guess

, but I've always picked up whatever instrument and just learned by ear only. Doesn't take that long, but it would still be nice to just look at the sheet music with others and play right along ya know??

Take care all,
John

Jo C · Post by **Jo C** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:02 pm

Hi Linda,
Which Danu cd did you get? They're all pretty good, but the first one is the most amazing.
Oh, my first tune was probably 'merrily we roll along', but I can't actually remember.
Jo.