I want to play Blues

[Denny]

way too long...you'll never get your own CD bin at K-mart

[blackhawk]

And make sure to mention Mama, trains, prison, gettin drunk, and fishin' poles.

Mmmm, no, that's country music. No resemblance to the blues.

[Denny]

And make sure to mention Mama, trains, prison, gettin drunk, and fishin' poles.

Mmmm, no, that's country music. No resemblance to the blues.

well the first three...there's a bit of overlap on the last two.

[blackhawk]

And make sure to mention Mama, trains, prison, gettin drunk, and fishin' poles.

Mmmm, no, that's country music. No resemblance to the blues.

well the first three...there's a bit of overlap on the last two.

Yup.

[Rod Sprague]

way too long...you'll never get your own CD bin at K-mart

Dyslexic Rod Schizocarp Arthur?

[Denny]

way too long...you'll never get your own CD bin at K-mart

Dyslexic Rod Schizocarp Arthur?

Dr.SArt?

[falkbeer]

I have a blues fakebook, can I play straight from this book? Does anyone else play Blues on the whistle?

Thanks

You can choose the tonic at any of these
XOO OOO
or
XXO OOO
or
XXX XXO

Enjoy.

I play some popular music with a blusey feeling. One is Stormy Weather by Arlen/Koehler. I have found that this song and other of the same type, works very well on the whistle in D major, i.e. with the d note as tonic. Half holeing is essential when playng in this key and you´ll have to trust your ears to get the f natural just slightly higher than in the temperated scale.

[fel bautista]

HOW TO PLAY AND SING THE BLUES

1. Most Blues begin with: "Woke up this morning..."

.....

20. No matter how tragic your life, if you own a computer you cannot sing the blues

HOW TO PLAY AND SING THE BLUES.........
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Chokecherry Big Rod Fillmore?

Thanks to both of you. That's a hoot

[talasiga]

This link was posted on the board some time ago:

http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Blues-on-an-Irish-Whistle

It seems to be a dumbed down version of what Talasiga said so elegantly.

I wouldn't say it is dumbed down. Actually the part of my post that showed the specific whistle tablature could also be classed as "dumbed down" too because it says what your link is saying.

There is another tonic for the blues mode and that is
XXX XOO but I never use it for whsitle because it excludes the bell note.
I don't like excluding the bell note. I do use it on flutes with extra low vents but that is a different topic.

I am saddened that nothing in my post assisted mujo. I am somewhat mollified that you can see some merit in my post. Like Jim Stone I spent years just playing the blues without "knowing" how I did it. It is only in the last five years or so that I have got into understanding what I am doing and how to convey that to friends and people who want to learn from me that I have started analysing the staff. This coincides with my inroad into composing in recent years.

[C age ing]

The real question was asked by The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, "Can the Blue Man Sing the Whites?"

[arnie]

Listen to Thijs van Leer from the old Focus (feat. Jan Akkerman on the guitar). Dutch band, old guy now, above 60 but still playing and world-wide known. He plays the flute. I saw him last year playing with the Walter Trout Band. AMAZING!!! what this guy can do on his flute in a bluessetting. He plays the flute. I haven't heard blues on a whistle yet.

[jim stone]

Get yo'self a skanky old whistle.

It helps considerably if you are accompanied.

[Wombat]

Blues can sound great on whistle but is hard to play in a manner that sounds like more familiar instruments. Diatonic harmonica is the obvious intrument of comparison but it is easier to dramatically bend notes on harp than it is on whistle and chords on harmonica allow for chugging effects.

Blues texts tend to talk of blues players chopping and changing between the major and minor diatonic scales but, as this approach leaves out the very common flattened 5th I don't find it very helpful. A very common feature is that the fifth, third and seventh can all be played a little bit flat or a semi-tone flat depending on what seems right at the time.

I don't think it's totally unhelpful to think of particular phrases as being major pentatonic or minor pentatonic. But I think it's best to think of the scale options as involving a compromise between a range of simple modes and fully chromatic western musics. Blues guitarists often play quite harmonically sophisticated chords even on down-home tunes. Notes you will play a lot are (if we imagine ourselves playing in E on a D whistle) E, F# (often in passing, less often stressed), G, Ab, A, Bb, B, Db (mainly in passing) and D. Ab and Bb are going to be the toughies here. Ab in particular is often played bang in tune and clean (ie, not bent) and good blues playing employs lots of chromatic runs.

Another option is to play blues in A on a D whistle. Then your scale is A, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F#, G, A. Eb is the toughie here. Also getting really crisp chromatic runs like A, C, Db, D, Eb, E is a big challenge. It depends on the tune whether I prefer the two finger start or the five finger start. A tune that is heavily major pentatonic could even be played in D or G on a D whistle. Just experiment and enjoy yourself.

[MarcusR]

Blues can sound great on whistle but is hard to play in a manner that sounds like more familiar instruments. Diatonic harmonica is the obvious intrument of comparison but it is easier to dramatically bend notes on harp than it is on whistle and chords on harmonica allow for chugging effects.

Wombat, how about a Saz?
Blues On The Baglama Saz

Also a nice Swedish polska there by Fredrik on Saz

/MarcusR

[talasiga]

Blues can sound great on whistle but is hard to play in a manner that sounds like more familiar instruments. Diatonic harmonica is the obvious intrument of comparison but it is easier to dramatically bend notes on harp than it is on whistle and chords on harmonica allow for chugging effects.
.......

It is not very useful to discuss chordal articulation in a topic wanting to discuss a strictly melodic instrument like the whistle. Blues on a whistle will follow the path of blues as per the singer which is not chordal but melodic/vocal.

................
A tune that is heavily major pentatonic could even be played in D or G on a D whistle. Just experiment and enjoy yourself.

The Raag Dhani pentatonic scale I mentioned earlier is the 5th mode of the major pentatonic scale. I am using the raag name for convenience. You can call it call it "the maj.penta 5th mode" if you prefer to deculturate it. If you play G major notes, you use E note as tonic for the modal stem of blues. If you use your D maj.penta notes, use B note as tonic. inn all cases the mode is MINOR because the third interval of the maj.penta. 5th mode is minor.

Melodically, blues is always minor, albeit chordal accompaniment/support can be creative in exploring major and minor relatives.

For someone wishing to play the basics of blues on a whistle, a discussion of relative chordal effects is pretty academic.