Crap, did'nt expect that

[Madpiper]

So I get my traditional slow airs of Ireland book in the mail, I get gitty, go and grab my practice low-d. I sit down, flip open the book, and curse... because I cannot remember how to read notes!

I did not think this through... obviously, anyone know any good webpages that teach how to read music, or any books for whistles that do the same also?

[Clinket]

------------F-----
E
---------D---------
C
------B-----------
A
---G--------------
F
-E----------------

If you notice, on the lines it is Every Good Boy Does Fine
and between the lines is FACE
This is how I keep it straight, but I'm sure somone will have a link that has more details.

[Bothrops]

www.whistletutor.com

You can see the scales there and they are shown in the stave..

Also you can see it here: www.whistleaway.com on the tutorial

[mutepointe]

Thanks for bringing this subject up. I have a question. How did you and so many people go through life not learning to read music? Did you not go to grade school? I can understand not being able to read Bass Clef or know music theory but weren't we all taught how to read the Treble Clef in Grade School?

[Walden]

Thanks for bringing this subject up. I have a question. How did you and so many people go through life not learning to read music? Did you not go to grade school? I can understand not being able to read Bass Clef or know music theory but weren't we all taught how to read the Treble Clef in Grade School?

No, I don't think we were all taught to read the treble clef in grade school. I suspect that even among those who were exposed to such teaching in school there are a good many who didn't retain it, or really learn to apply it on a practical level.

[Aanvil]

Thanks for bringing this subject up. I have a question. How did you and so many people go through life not learning to read music? Did you not go to grade school? I can understand not being able to read Bass Clef or know music theory but weren't we all taught how to read the Treble Clef in Grade School?

I don't care for the way you worded that question... I'm sure it wasn't meant to sound like you are looking down your nose on those that can't read standard notation.


I know for a fact that in our area reading music only came in public grammar school if you were part of a special program.

I was lucky to have been selected.

In middle school it was music offered but only as an elective.

[fancypiper]

I remember being taught how to read music in grade school. In high school, we had a choir club that I joined. The clubs only met once a week for 20 minutes. I sang bass, so I learned the names of the notes, even though it never helped my singing. I ended up learning all the music we sang by ear.

Bass cleff is All Cows Eat Grass for the spaces and Good Boys Do Fine Always for the lines, IIRC.

I didn't retain much of what they taught me until I learned to read treble cleff with one, two, or three sharps in order to learn the basics of the whistle.

After I got the hang of ornaments, I finally started to understand Irish music and went back to learning stuff by ear.

I can read music, but it does slow me down considerably as I have to translate something I see into something I do with my fingers and breath in order to hear what I should play.

[talasiga]

------------F-----
E
---------D---------
C
------B-----------
A
---G--------------
F
-E----------------

........

There you go.
Now those lines are "programmed" by the key signature at the start of the score and mostly ITM will have D or G key signatures.
In D key signature all the Fs in the score become F# and all the Cs become C#
In G key signature only the Fs becomes F#.

On your D whistle all your Cs and Fs are already C# and F# respectivel and therefore fully suitable for any music (not only ITM) in D or Bmin Key sig. BY amending the C# on your whistle with cross fingering or half holing to make it C you render your D whistle into G or Emin key signature instrument.


BTW, what is the book you got?

[pao]

Thanks for bringing this subject up. I have a question. How did you and so many people go through life not learning to read music? Did you not go to grade school? I can understand not being able to read Bass Clef or know music theory but weren't we all taught how to read the Treble Clef in Grade School?

Nope. Not me, nor my schoolmates. It was only on my second year in high school when we were taught how to read notes, etc. but i didn't learn anything from that - i really wonder how i passed that subject.

I play the tin whistle, the violin, and guitar. On the whistle and violin, i just learned how to play 'em by ear and i'm really thankful that i was also blessed with a pair of good ears like some of the folks here, so i really don't have to be good in reading music 'coz like fancypiper it just slows me down, don't want that!

[mutepointe]

Thanks for bringing this subject up. I have a question. How did you and so many people go through life not learning to read music? Did you not go to grade school? I can understand not being able to read Bass Clef or know music theory but weren't we all taught how to read the Treble Clef in Grade School?

I don't care for the way you worded that question... I'm sure it wasn't meant to sound like you are looking down your nose on those that can't read standard notation.


I know for a fact that in our area reading music only came in public grammar school if you were part of a special program.

I was lucky to have been selected.

In middle school it was music offered but only as an elective.

I wasn't intending to be snooty at all. I just always thought it was a basic skill that everyone was taught. And reading a treble clef, you only need to know 8 letters and 2 symbols. I could understand that those folks who didn't have an affinity for making music might lose this skill from lack of interest. It never crossed my mind that folks weren't even taught this.

[Ceili_whistle_man]

mutepointe wrote;

It never crossed my mind that folks weren't even taught this.

I take it you mean 'some folks weren't even taught this?'
I was taught to read music in primary school, used it through part of my secondary education, and eventually drifted away from it because I learned to play the flute by the traditional method, by ear.
I found that even though I could play by reading the music, I picked up tunes much more quickly by listening and learning and playing phrases and building around them until the whole tune was there.
So yes, there are folk out there who did learn to read music and chose not to use it later. Not through any lack of interest though, just that it was easier to learn by ear and bypass the written form.
I cannot read music anymore, I don't need to, playing by ear opened up a whole new world for me, so I do not miss the reading part at all.

[brewerpaul]

Bill Ochs' The Clarke Tinwhistle teaches music reading, and the whole thing is well worth going through even if you already play pretty well for his introduction to ornamentation.

[okewhistle]

I would say that with slow airs more than anything you need to hear them. If you read the music you will only get a vague approximation of what it's supposed to sound like. I think that book has a CD that goes with it. Or try "The Session"

I had to teach myself to read music because I couldn't wait to explore new tunes. Reading the notes is easy. Reading the rythmn is harder, but as most ITM is dance music the rythmns tend to be pretty simple.

The fact that just about everything is in one or two sharps also helps.

[Enclose]

I had the same problem as you when I wanted to play my first instrument... I couldn't read notes. But a quick search on the internet will give you all you need to know.

Use the scale as mentioned above. And unless you're going to play with other instruments just consider the lowest note on your whistle a D. No matter what key it is in.

If you know which note is on which line all you need to know then is which symbol is which length. In ITM I've only seen 4 different ones.

A full note with a little flag (they can be hooked together in pairs): shortest (1/8 or something, don't really know the 'technical' name).
A full note without a flag: twice the length of the above note
An empty note (with a little stick): twice the lenght of the above note
An empty note, no stick: twice the lenght of the above note

That's all you need to know to get started really. ITM doesn't use much complicated notations like you see in classical music.

I hope this helped a bit. I never bothered learning how to read notes because I thought it was very hard. But when I eventually had to I learned the mentioned basics in a day and I could already play with sheetmusic semi-fluently in a week or so. It was much easier than I thought.

[pancelticpiper]

Okewhistle makes an excellent point, that if any type of Irish music defies being written accurately it's the airs.
They are rubato in nature, in other words, there is no even beat, and any placement of bars lines is arbitrary.
For this reason airs, above all else, need to be learned by ear.
There are a lot of good recordings out there. The great uilleann piper Mick O Brien has a wonderful CD consisting entirely of airs called The Ancient Voice of Ireland.
It takes me a lot longer to learn an air than a reel or a jig. But once the shape of the air is internalised you have great freedom within the structure.