The Butterfly sounds too Staccato.

[Athenry]

I'm learning The Butterfly at the moment. The problem is it sounds very Staccato when I play it. Every time I've heard it played it flows so smoothly, when I play it it's very broken up. I have no idea why, am I doing the tounging wrong or something?

[Lars Larry Mór Mott]

Hard to tell without hearing.. Listen to, and try to mimic this maybe?
http://youtu.be/9KN36uj18eM

[Athenry]

Hard to tell without hearing.. Listen to, and try to mimic this maybe?
http://youtu.be/9KN36uj18eM

I figured as much, I'll upload something when I can play it a little better. Thanks.

I just automatically assumed the tounging was the same for every song, is that true? In some versions of the song it sounds like they're not doing it at all.

[BeansTasteFine]

Tonguing is used to achieve a staccato effect. Many players choose to use it very sparingly. Sounds like a good time to start breaking what might be a bad habit.

[Lars Larry Mór Mott]

This is the version i learned: http://grooveshark.com/s/The+Butterfly/3Nqlyv?src=5
Haven't played it for a donkey's age.. i do think i play it a bit slower, with a wee bit extra oomph on the first downbeats.. (not throughout the tune, mind, that turns old quickly.
Just play it, experiment! Play it slow at first, if you can't play it slow you sure can't play it fast

[Athenry]

Tonguing is used to achieve a staccato effect. Many players choose to use it very sparingly. Sounds like a good time to start breaking what might be a bad habit.

So you don't use it on every note? I don't know why I wasn't told that sooner haha. How do you know when to?

This is the version i learned: http://grooveshark.com/s/The+Butterfly/3Nqlyv?src=5
Haven't played it for a donkey's age.. i do think i play it a bit slower, with a wee bit extra oomph on the first downbeats.. (not throughout the tune, mind, that turns old quickly.
Just play it, experiment! Play it slow at first, if you can't play it slow you sure can't play it fast

I'm using Blayne Chastain's i-Teach lesson for it, it's a great resource. Haha yeah I play it fairly slow as it is, I doubt I'll be even thinking of speed until I get the ornamentation right. I have a lot of trouble telling one finger to do something while my other fingers are doing different things.

[gregwhistle]

Try not tonguing at all ... separate notes with bursts of air (or rather, the note is the burst of air and the separation is the drop between the burst).

[BeansTasteFine]

I have a lot of trouble telling one finger to do something while my other fingers are doing different things.

Sounds like those fingers might be getting the upper, uh, hand.

[BeansTasteFine]

So you don't use it on every note? I don't know why I wasn't told that sooner haha. How do you know when to?

You do it when it gives you the sound you're after. It's as simple as that.

[Steve Bliven]

Ryan Dunns does a YouTube performance at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKdWfq1 ... re=related and also does a lesson/tutorial on the tune at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te8YuAX05PQ

Worth listening to....

Best wishes.

Steve

[Feadoggie]

So you don't use it on every note? I don't know why I wasn't told that sooner haha. How do you know when to?

You're making progress then. I would suggest you listen to a good recording of the tune. Memorize the pulse of the rhythm and strive to emulate that.

Here are a couple videos by Ryan Duns. His online lessons have been a help to many beginning whistlers. The first video is him playing the tune in a flowing style. The second is a lesson on how you might approach the tune. See if they help at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKdWfq1fRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te8YuAX05PQ

OOOOHHHH! Steve beat me to it.

Feadoggie

[Steve Bliven]

OOOOHHHH! Steve beat me to it.

Feadoggie

Great minds, same circles??

[brewerpaul]

Tonguing is used to achieve a staccato effect. Many players choose to use it very sparingly. Sounds like a good time to start breaking what might be a bad habit.

Tonguing can indeed produce a staccato effect, but it can also be used less strongly to just articulate the notes, without the sharp staccato sound. A wee bit of tongue will coax hesitant higher notes A and above into speaking more easily. Tonguing the letter T produces a sharper sound than the letter D. For trad music you usually don't want it too sharp.
Tonguing is definitely not an all or nothing thing. Some people use it hardly at all, others use it for every note, but I think most people are somewhere in between. Experiment! Listen to lots of whistle playing with an ear on the player's tonguing and see what sounds good to you.

[cboody]

OOOOHHHH! Steve beat me to it.

Feadoggie

Great minds run in the same channel. Or is it fools think alike?

But in this case they definitely think right!

You might also try playing the tune without tonguing at all. Just "pop" the fingers onto and off the the holes and let the be the attack. Plan your breathing so when you must restart the air stream you do it at a good point in the tune. The first two sections of Butterfly, at least as I play it, can be played without any tonguing at all. In the third section you have repeated notes and have to do something to make them heard. Rather than tonguing you can get them to sound with pulses of air. Do this for a bit until you get control of not tonguing, and then you can figure out how to use the tongue in useful ways.

Please note I'm not suggesting "never tongue." I'm suggesting use the fingers and breath accents to replace the tongue until you have control of those techniques. Then one can add the tongue back into the equation (with all the variants of "tuh," "duh,' "loo" etc.).

[ChrisLaughlin]

If you want to learn whistle you should make a point of learning from the best. The Online Academy of Irish Music has, hands down, the best on-line tuition I've found for whistle and flute (and many other instruments). This is absolutely the place to start if you want to become a truly competent player in the Irish traditional style.

http://www.oaim.ie/