Inquisitive idiot (not ot)

Dalberon · Post by **Dalberon** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:26 am

I'm new to the whistle and have been mastering a few christmas songs for the holiday season. I went to start on my next song last night and found that it called for four low C's to be played and Im playing a D whistle. I'm figuring I'll just have to wait until I master D and start learning C, but I just had to ask.....is there any trick I can pull off to play this song on my D whistle(s)? :roll:

Thanks

skh · Post by **skh** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:31 am

Just assume your whistle was a C whistle. You'll play everything a note higher than written, but who cares? Written C is then fingered D, written D is fingered E, written E becomes F# etc.

Sonja

Dalberon · Post by **Dalberon** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:33 am

skh wrote:Just assume your whistle was a C whistle. You'll play everything a note higher than written, but who cares? Written C is then fingered D, written D is fingered E, written E becomes F# etc.

Sonja

Thanks Sonja. Its always the way with me to miss the obvious solutions.

Christmas in Killarney here I come.

skh · Post by **skh** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:46 am

Dalberon wrote:Thanks Sonja. Its always the way with me to miss the obvious solutions.

Pitch and key are the least important concepts in music. Everything is relative. Free your mind.

(Bold statement time today, I know, but is it really not true?)

Sonja

Easily_Deluded_Fool · Post by **Easily_Deluded_Fool** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 7:55 am

skh wrote:Pitch and key are the least important concepts in music. Everything is relative. Free your mind.
Sonja

My mind is free.
In fact I haven't seen for some time now!

Could try playing the C as a D anyway,
and see how it sounds. Sometimes it works.
Or, play an octave higher, if there are enough
notes left in the second octave.

HTH

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 8:26 am

There are a few songs, eg, a version of Christmas in Killarney I downloaded in D, where I just throw the last 2 notes up an octave. Sometimes that sounds ok.

trisha · Post by **trisha** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 8:27 am

Or even the C as an E as there's a row of D's in this particular jig

Trisha

Dalberon · Post by **Dalberon** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 2:37 pm

skh wrote:Pitch and key are the least important concepts in music. Everything is relative. Free your mind.

I feel like someone is going to call me grasshopper or offer me a red pill. You guys are great.

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 2:41 pm

Dalberon wrote:
skh wrote:Pitch and key are the least important concepts in music. Everything is relative. Free your mind.
I feel like someone is going to call me grasshopper or offer me a red pill. You guys are great.

you should see us when we really get rolling!

BoneQuint · Post by **BoneQuint** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 12:29 am

skh wrote:Just assume your whistle was a C whistle. You'll play everything a note higher than written, but who cares? Written C is then fingered D, written D is fingered E, written E becomes F# etc.

Sonja

Yeah, but you'll have to finger D as D#, and G as G# (half-holing, presumably) to keep the intervals correct, essentially transposing it up a step to E Major. Or is the original written in the key of C? Or am I missing something (not unlikely)?

dfoster · Post by **dfoster** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 6:14 am

Just curious, but what is the song? If you are playing in a group, you can also play a harmonizing note instead of the C. I play in a couple of groups and rather than play in the second octave on those songs which have notes below the D in the first octave, I play in the first and just harmonize. Someone on the board suggested it and it has worked well for me.

Along this same line, I was wondering if it is possible to make a whistle in the key of D that included a C and a B below the D. That is, instead of the notes being (from the bottom to the top of the whistle) D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, the notes would be B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A.

I know nothing about whistle construction and not much about music theory, so if this is a dumb question, forgive my ignorance.

Dayna

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:08 am

dfoster wrote:Along this same line, I was wondering if it is possible to make a whistle in the key of D that included a C and a B below the D. That is, instead of the notes being (from the bottom to the top of the whistle) D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, the notes would be B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A.

I know nothing about whistle construction and not much about music theory, so if this is a dumb question, forgive my ignorance.

Dayna

Yes, that would be very possible. Nothing but (admittedly very deep) tradition requires that a whistle's bell note be the same as the root of the key it is tuned in. However, I don't think you're going to see any of the commercial makers jumping on this band wagon as it would mean a whole new set of fingerings for people to learn. Kind of like switching back and forth between a Bb and a C instrument in an orchestra or between a guitar tuned in concert pitch and a guitar tuned DADGAD. Neither of those is impossible, and many professionals do that sort of thing all the time, but it does complicate playing somewhat.

I think if you were to see anything commercial it would more likely be a whistle with one or two keys to play notes below D. I.e. the whistle body would be longer and you would have a "low C#" hole that is normally open and fingering a key with your pinky closes it (I guess if you had really big hands you wouldn't even need the key). I think someone actually has built some of these.

You can also make a whistle in minor tunings, for example. It's all in where you place the holes...

Dalberon · Post by **Dalberon** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 9:59 am

dfoster wrote:Just curious, but what is the song?

The song is Christmas In Killarney, and you ingenious folk have gone well beyond my musical knowledge in this discussion. My fiancee was speaking a very similar version of Greek when I mentioned this solution to her. She told me something about three sharps and I gave her my best dumb look.

I have begun learning the song as Sonja recommended, and to my untrained and inexperienced ear it sounds just fine.

If anyone is interested I can post the abc for this song.

BoneQuint · Post by **BoneQuint** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 3:34 am

Dalberon wrote: If anyone is interested I can post the abc for this song.

I'd like to see it...

skh · Post by **skh** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 4:07 am

BoneQuint wrote:Yeah, but you'll have to finger D as D#, and G as G# (half-holing, presumably) to keep the intervals correct, essentially transposing it up a step to E Major. Or is the original written in the key of C? Or am I missing something (not unlikely)?

If the tune in question is indeed http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/434 you are absolutely right. I'd recommend playing it in G then instead - three notes higher than written, start with second ovtave E, use Cnat.

I didn't look at the tune and assumed the "C"s mentioned were C naturals, and the tune probably in C major anyway.

Sorry for giving misleading tips,

Sonja