Tunes in A

[breqwas]

There are lots of great tunes in A - mainly scottish ones. How do you play them?

I see three ways:

1) Play them on D whistle as is, removing G# where possible and half-holing it where not. That's a challenge, and I'm not sure I want to take it.
2) Transpose them to G and play on F whistle. Alas, F whistle is too small for my fingers.
3) Buy a low A :)

What way do you choose?

[Cayden]

You may want to try an E whistle (if you can find one), if you play on an F you are playing them in Bflat

I come across few tunes in A but would stick to the D for them usually. Offcourse if they are the right kind (pentatonic ones, like the Foxhunter's Reel or Out on the Ocean) you can cheat by using the 'capo' method and move up all fingers one position and play as if you were playing in G.

[colomon]

Low E whistle.

[breqwas]

Low E is good idea, but that's a _low_ whistle. Playing low whistles (as for me) is a different story, and I'm not sure I want starting it right now.

[plunk111]

Why not transpose to G and play on a D whistle? That's what I do if there are too many G#s...

Pat

[avanutria]

I ended up getting a Low A, more because I liked the sound than because I needed it for tunes in A. It wasn't much of a stretch to learn; it's not as bad as some of the other Low keys.

[Pyroh]

Bregwas: I think, unless you want to play Xb tunes, C,D,E whistles are mostly sufficient (when they aren´t, it has to do something in 3rd octave).

On all of those, you can simply play "sister" (F,G,A respectively to C,D,E) octaves by moving whole tune three holes higher. I. e. for A tunes, I´d simply get an E whistle...

[pancelticpiper]

It depends on which "A" key the tune is in.

For the Scottish tunes, such as Scottish Highland pipe tunes, which are in A Mixolydian, I just play them on a D instrument.

For the tunes (Scottish and Irish) in A major, I play them in G major on a low E whistle. An example is Foxhunter's Reel, which you'll hear played in both keys (G and A).

Though there's at least one A major reel, The Linen Cap, that I've done what you suggest, restructure the melody so that it has no G sharps in it. That's because my band plays it in a medley with tunes in A mixolydian and A dorian and I don't want to switch instruments.

It's a Cape Breton thing, to play a medley of reels in the same key, but different modes, gradually removing sharps as it were, going A major to A mixolydian to A dorian and/or A minor. I put together a medley of Irish reels that do the same thing, which starts with the A major reel The Linen Cap.

[Jon-M]

I find a high E whistle useful for this purpose. Also, getting comfortable with half-holing a G#.

[colomon]

Yeah, if high E is too small for you and low E is too big, then you'd better start practicing half-holing G#s on your D whistle. That's a useful skill to have anyway....

[fancypiper]

I usually use a D whistle. I either half hole the G# or finger it thus, depending on the tune/whistle:

lower octave: XXO XXX
upper octave XXO XOX

[anniemcu]

There are lots of great tunes in A - mainly scottish ones. How do you play them?

I see three ways:

1) Play them on D whistle as is, removing G# where possible and half-holing it where not. That's a challenge, and I'm not sure I want to take it.
2) Transpose them to G and play on F whistle. Alas, F whistle is too small for my fingers.
3) Buy a low A

What way do you choose?

Yes.

Well... OK, I don't use the F whistle (because I haven't 'WhOA'd that far yet), but I do 1 with the half-holing, & 3.

[kenny]

Leave 'em to the fiddlers.

[Tootler]

I also use three ways;

Providing the tunes do not go below A,

1. If they are in A major, I use an A whistle or flute
2. If they are in Amix, Amin or Ador I use a G whistle or flute and cross finger the C# if needed

Otherwise;

3. Use my D flute and cross finger G# where they occur.

Geoff

[talasiga]

.......
2. If they are in Amix, Amin or Ador I use a G whistle or flute and cross finger the C# if needed
......

Why would you cross finger to get the C# for A Mixo's 3rd when you it comes so naturally without getting cross on a D tube?

Is it for to play "She Moved through the Fair" in A mix such that the bell note G is the lowest 7th that the air asks for?