Beginner problem with fast paced tunes and reading notes

[Slytherin]

I started playing the tin whistle 3 weeks ago .... I am learning from " The Tin Whistle Book " By Tom Maguire ... I perform most of the first tunes very well until the fast paced tunes like the irish washerwoman .. my tin whistle is Clarke Sweetone D ... I keep practicing it .. but just can't do it fast enough like the other players on the internet... and the other problem that i understand most of the symbols in the music note ( as i learned it from the book ) but if it's a new note .. i dun knw the speed of it or where to stop between bars ... sorry for my bad english , I am nt a native speaker

[MBalance]

Even though it's a fast song- play it really slowly.

Once you get the hang of it slowly then increase the pace. If the notes are programmed in your brain, your fingers can do the talking without you even thinking about it.

I'm currently going through -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Xf1Ume0zA

Check him out, he plays really really well and explains easy.

[Slytherin]

Thank you yea I've passed by his videos few times .. but i will start to watch them !

[kaizersoza]

hi guys, i too am 3 weeks in how do you guys get around the notes that are lower than the key note of D on 'irish washer woman, i asked the question on here a week or two ago but the answers were way over my head

[mwilson]

hi guys, i too am 3 weeks in how do you guys get around the notes that are lower than the key note of D on 'irish washer woman, i asked the question on here a week or two ago but the answers were way over my head

Maybe just because I'm a craven ex-jazz guy, but -- change the tune? Like

A G | F# G F# D E D | F# D F# A G F# ...

I admit this is dangerous if you're sharing the lead with other people, could cause confusion and all, but for solo playing for your friends it should work OK. Just my luck to find out that the amended melody is *already* a completely different folk tune, and can't be "The Irish Washer Woman".

[Katharine]

If the notes are programmed in your brain, your fingers can do the talking without you even thinking about it.

And if you think about it, it may go worse than just relying on muscle memory!

hi guys, i too am 3 weeks in how do you guys get around the notes that are lower than the key note of D on 'irish washer woman, i asked the question on here a week or two ago but the answers were way over my head

I tend to just substitute a note my whistle DOES have, that makes sense with the tune and fits with the chord of the note I'm omitting (for example, when playing My Lagan Love on my D whistle in G, it wants a low C at the end of the first phrase. I substitute going up to an E instead). (I choose a note within the chord so in case I AM playing with someone else who can reach that note-- like if I'm recording my whistle with my violin-- it doesn't clash.) Or some people will play the required note, but play it an octave up. It depends on which sounds better with the song, I suppose, and is, of course subjective (first example that comes to my head is The Gael-- which some know better as the Last of the Mohicans theme-- played on highland bagpipes. The pipes don't have the required range, and if you listen to different pipers' versions, you can hear many different ways of dealing with this).

[JackCampin]

The Irish Washerwoman (played in G, the usual key) doesn't go below the low D on the whistle, so no alternative is needed. What version are you learning?

It isn't a very easy tune to play fluidly on the whistle (no easier on the fiddle for that matter). It's a bit easier on the recorder because you can use the alternate B (0-23 ---) to reduce finger-flapping.

[brewerpaul]

At three weeks, it's not surprising that you can't play as fast as people you see and hear online or on recordings! Patience, patience, patience. You have the whole rest of your life to learn this, and it WILL happen if you keep at it.

[maki]

Welcome to the Forum Slytherin.
I'm almost a year into the whistle and I can't play fast either.
I try to focus on first memorizings the tune, then playing slowly and ACCURATELY.
Once I can play it without missing a note, I put the sheet music away, and I try and make it sound fluid, and musical. For me this is the hardest part.
Even though I 'know' dozens of tunes, I only have ONE that sounds half way decent.
That is to say, only one sounds remotely like Irish Traditional the way it should sound.
It could be that I'm a slower learner than most, but I was not raised on ITM.


BTW, I wouldn't have known you weren't an native English speaker if you hadn't mentioned it.

[Slytherin]

Thank u for ur compliment

[mutepointe]

Someone who is really good at Photoshop should make a picture of a whistle with an additional dial on the side with settings like "reel", "jig", "air" and "custom". Do you think we could trick the newbies?

[ggiles]

I'm going to breath some life back into this thread ... I think there are some important topics to cover for newbies (me included) here.

I teach my sons guitar and I don't expect them to bang off classical gas in 3 weeks ... so I don't expect myself to kill a fast jig or reel in 3 weeks.

I also highly recommend Ryan Dunn's online lessons for newbies!!!

- tin whistle music notation isn't complicated ... now is a good time to learn how to read music, you don't have to be a sight reader, just a slow reader
- don't be surprised to find that the musical notation isn't note for note perfect for what you see and hear online
- given the above 2 items ... start using your ears and eyes to pick out the notes being played ... again Ryan slows things down to make it easy
- break the music down into manageable sections ... I'm working on the Silver Spear it has a number of runs up into the higher octave in bursts of 6-8 notes ... I've had to isolate just those runs over and over to get it at a slow pace. You have to train your fingers how to do it
- why not tab? It's okay if you already know the melody of a tune but if you do not you only have the notes and none of the feel
- at the end of the day I find myself listening more and throwing the tab and notes over my shoulder ... then coming back to it as an aid to pick up what I'm missing

[JackCampin]

Again.

The Irish Washerwoman begins d/c/|BGG DGG|BGB dcB|... And that's as low as it goes.

I've never heard anybody play it in a different key.

Where are you getting this below-low-D thing from?

[Nanohedron]

Again.

The Irish Washerwoman begins d/c/|BGG DGG|BGB dcB|... And that's as low as it goes.

I've never heard anybody play it in a different key.

Where are you getting this below-low-D thing from?

A good question. But we may have to be patient waiting for the answer; kaizersoza's last post on the Boards was almost a month ago.

[hoopy mike]

Again.

The Irish Washerwoman begins d/c/|BGG DGG|BGB dcB|... And that's as low as it goes.

I've never heard anybody play it in a different key.

Where are you getting this below-low-D thing from?

Looking at the earlier posts, it seems like some people are trying to play it in D:
A/G|F#DD A,DD|...