The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle

mcfeeley · Post by **mcfeeley** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 1:53 am

This is from Grey's web site -- gives a description of
the book and what it covers. Looks like a good one!

-- Dan M.

The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox $29.95
By: Grey Larsen
Release Date: 2003
Publisher: Mel Bay Publications
To be released in March/April 2004. Approximately 160 pages, with one CD.

All the tools the beginner, novice, and intermediate tin whistle player needs in order to progress to a high level of competence in Irish music. Includes an "Orientation to Traditional Irish Music" which puts the music in context, with information on scales and modes, dance tune types, the historical roots of whistle playing, and advice for learning by ear. The book is full of thorough instruction, exercises, and musical examples: from holding, fingering, breathing, and blowing, on up to advanced ornamentation, phrasing, and variations. Features a simple and penetrating new approach to understanding and notating ornamentation that goes beyond any previous method. Also includes over 30 tune transcriptions, and history and theory of traditional Irish tin whistle music. For those who don't read music, almost all the exercises and examples appear on the companion CD

Post by **Dale** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 6:53 am

I've looked at it in a bit more detail. It's not really for the musical beginner. If someone who already has a pretty good command of music, theory, notation, etc., wanted to take up the whistle or flute, it would be great. And, for people who are already intermediate or advanced players, it would be great. But, as is true of lots of tutorials, it can be fairly tough for a total beginner.

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 9:41 am

Grey has a theory about ornamentation that
underlies what he says about it. He is a deep
thinker, really. But a theory is a theory (see,
I'm also deep), and at some point, when we've
engaged this new work, we may
want to discuss it here.

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 11:46 am

Mel Bay already has "Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor" out for less than $18 at The Whistle Shop. How is Grey's book going to be different/better than this one?

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 12:39 pm

NorCalMusician wrote:Mel Bay already has "Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor" out for less than $18 at The Whistle Shop. How is Grey's book going to be different/better than this one?

I don't have the book you refer to, but I once leafed through it in a store. I got the distinct impression that the authors are not what you might call bona-fide players of Irish traditional music. Their biographies on the Mel Bay site would seem to confirm this. So I would regard their book as highly suspect until proven otherwise. (Maybe I would change my mind if I heard the accompanying CD, but I think it's more likely that I wouldn't!)

On the other hand, from my exposure to Grey Larsen, I'd be tempted to regard his book as useful until proven otherwise.

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 1:09 pm

Yeah, I had that old Mel Bay book once (not the new Grey Larsen one). I gave it away to someone who I didn't want to learn Irish music. Even worse is the old Mel Bay flute book, which, as I discovered upon receiving it as a gift, is aimed at silver-flute players (though it doesn't mention it on the cover). Buy Grey's book.
Chris

IDAwHOa · Post by **IDAwHOa** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 1:31 pm

NorCalMusician wrote:Mel Bay already has "Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor" out for less than $18 at The Whistle Shop. How is Grey's book going to be different/better than this one?

The one I refer to above http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/t ... ecompl.htm is by L.E. McCullough. I thought he was a respected person in Whistle circles?

There is another book there called The complete Tin Whistle Book by Mizzy McCaskill & Dona Gilliam http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/t ... mplete.htm.

Which one are you referring to StevieJ and Chris?

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 1:37 pm

Oh. LE's book is quite good. McCaskill's is not as good (the one I thought you were referring to).
Chris

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 2:35 pm

NorCalMusician wrote:
NorCalMusician wrote:Mel Bay already has "Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor" out for less than $18 at The Whistle Shop. How is Grey's book going to be different/better than this one?
The one I refer to above http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/t ... ecompl.htm is by L.E. McCullough. I thought he was a respected person in Whistle circles?

There is another book there called The complete Tin Whistle Book by Mizzy McCaskill & Dona Gilliam http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/t ... mplete.htm.

Which one are you referring to StevieJ and Chris?

Aha! But you said "Mel Bay already has..." so I thought you must have meant the McCaskill & Gillam yoke. I haven't given the LE book more than a passing glance either so I can't help you on that one. About all I know about LE is that he is given to writing purple prose about himself and that people who have his book seem to become obsessed with executing rolls on C-natural.

Mind you Grey Larsen's bio of himself on his website is mauve around the edges too, hehe.

Steve

clark · Post by **clark** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:09 pm

I beg to differ on the McCaskill tin whistle tutor. I found this a good book to begin learning ornamentation. There are also a bunch of tunes that are transcribed straight and then again with variation. Now I would say that some of these other, ornamented versions are a bit odd, but a good number are very instructive. When I was starting out I used this book as well as McCullough's. I think McCullough has much better and more common versions of tunes (his C#/Cnat pecularities aside); but isn't very helpful learning ornamentation. As always you can't treat any one source as gospel and must supliment with lots of listening.

Clark

Bretton · Post by **Bretton** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:52 pm

If you have not yet gotten to the point where you know and understand ornamentation, or if you think you may have but aren't sure, then Grey's book (either of them...he has two coming out) will definitely help with getting cuts, strikes, and rolls down pat. Grey's method of explaining and teaching ornamentation is very logical and clear. This might not be as good for right-brained people, but works great for my left-brainish slant.

In fact, I would say that if you "get" Grey's explanation, you'll probably look back at the instructions in most whistle tutor books and think they are being purposely vague and/or misleading (I'm sure they're not, but it seems that way sometimes).

However, I've heard well know whistle players play their ornaments (especially rolls) in different ways, so there are certainly different opinions on the matter.

-Brett

Tak_the_whistler · Post by **Tak_the_whistler** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:56 pm

Hmmm.....transcription of great whistle players...
Anyway, what does the accompanyin CDs have? Mr. Larson's word-perfect reproduction of, say, a tune originally played by Breda Smyth ?

bearbro · Post by **bearbro** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 9:40 pm

Just a few words from a totaly new begginer. I have been searching the web trying to learn about these fantabulous inexpensive instruments. And I have yet to find a tut for begginers. Oh do not get me wrong. I have found dozens that say they are for begginers and then start talking like us beggingers already know what everything is all about.

If any of you are writers, try doing a book for begginers without all the tech. talk. I bought a book on eBay about making tin whistles for begginers, (figuring the best way to learn is to find out how and why whistles are made) and what do I find. It says "if K equals Y and the speed of sound is 700mph and you have a bore ratio of 24 to 26 then your first tone hole will be 33% of the total sum". Or some garbage like that.

I had the same problem trying to learn HTML. I must have went through 1000s of tuts picking pieces up here and there. What we need is a "Tin Whistles For Dummies" book................

Monster · Post by **Monster** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 9:59 pm

The McCullough Tin Whistle Tutor is pretty good at some things, not so good at others. It explains what the ornaments are in a pretty straight forward manner, but it sounds as if the recording were made on budget quality Memorex tape, with a Radio Shack microphone in a totally accoustically dead room, that and the quacky sounding whistle he's playing on make for some fairly annoying listening. Still the man is obviously master of the instrument.

One other interesting bit, he admonishes critics of the "over ornamenting whistle player" as probably not being able to keep up, and indeed he goes on to play some truly incredibly ornamented tunes, so incredibly ornamented that it's nearly impossible for me to tell what's going on. I would personally like to hear less complicated examples, giving my ears a chance to catch on. Combine that with the above mentioned tonal characteristics and I am inclined to not listen very far into his example tunes, stop L.E. you're giving me a headache!

Sorry for hijacking the thread to McCullogh bashing, I probably need more intermediate type material like the new Grey Larsen book is said to provide, yes another book! Hopefully this one won't have to spend most of it's life stashed away in a closet, banished as 75% useless 25% ok.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 6:14 am

For anyone who has seen Grey's book already: Gary told me he thinks that one of my wooden whistles may be on the cover. Can anyone verify this? I have never sold one to Grey, but whistles do tend to make the rounds, and you never know... thanks. This is not a sales pitch, but you can see details of the whistle heads at my web site. Note the double raised ring on the head ferrule, which I don't think any other maker has.