Guitar and Whistle Duets

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Sun May 04, 2003 6:47 pm

Hi,
I'm a guitarist who also plays whistle. I'm more of a guitarist than a whistle player as I have played classical and celtic guitar for the better part of 15 years. Anyway, I've done a lot of duet work with various instruments and most recently flute. I now have a whistle player to play with. So far I've just been arranging the music myself, however, I was wondering if there are any good books of guitar/whistle arrangements. I was also wondering if there are any good whistle/guitar groups out there that I should check out. I'm also curious to know how many of the whistler's here play with a guitarist. I would like to know how you like the combination. I've always felt that flute and guitar is great, but whistle and guitar is amazing. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!!

Picardy

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Sun May 04, 2003 10:13 pm

If you're looking for guitar-and-whistle arrangements specifically, I don't think there's much out there. I'd recommend looking for whistle books that include accompaniment chords.

By the way, I play guitar too! (It's my main money-maker, though I prefer to play other instruments.....Oh well....)

Edited to add: I also love the sound of whistle and guitar! Unfortunately, I can only play one at a time!

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Mon May 05, 2003 7:28 am

So, there are more of them out there than I thought! I, too, play the guitar and the whistle (guitar for going on 30years, whistle for going on 2 months...)
I did hear excerpts from a recording the other day, by Cormac Breatnach and Martin Dunlea called "Music for Whistle & Guitar" (how appropriate!). It sounded great.I don't think you can get it in this country, but try this site:
http://www.scottish-irish.com/asp/
I've ordered form them and they are pretty quick.
Also try both CDs by Flook: guitar, whistles and flutes and bohdran. They kick butt!
I am considering relearning how to play my guitar with my feet, so I can do both at once...

Patrick

PS: I am taking a weekend workshop with Tony McManus in three weeks from now. I can't wait!!!

Easily_Deluded_Fool · Post by **Easily_Deluded_Fool** » Mon May 05, 2003 7:58 am

At a recent-get-together, I ended up noodling a pentatonic G scale 'tune' on a low D, along with a friend who noodled on a guitar tuned to open G.

I thought I was following him, he thought he was following me.
We played like that for about 10 minutes.
It was quite good really, and listening to the recording a few days later,
it sounded even better.

Try playing pentatonic(ly?) in the same key, and see what happens.

Could be fun, and there would be no pressure to get 'that bit' of a tune
just right.

HTH

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Mon May 05, 2003 10:17 am

Patrick,
I've been here long enough to know that you did the unthinkable-started out on a low D!

Being a guitarist, did you find that the larger spacing to not be such a big deal? I figured that I, too, would be an exception to the rule since my fingers are already used to large stretches a cross a fretboard. I also figured that the piper's grip would not be so hard considering the guitar requires the use of the second joint (and third) of the fingers for barre chords. My hands are a good size, but some people worry me with talk of how difficult the low instruments are. I guess I'm just wondering if a person's muscles and hands are already conditioned for stretching, will moving on to a low G and then low D not be such a large step? Thanks!
Picardy

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Mon May 05, 2003 11:56 am

On the face of things, it's fine to treat the whistle
as a flute in guitar and whistle duets. Same
music, etc. The differences should take care
of themselves with some practice.

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Mon May 05, 2003 12:03 pm

Picardy,

Actually, I haven't got my Low D's yet. They are on their way (a Dixon bc. everybody seems t agree it is forgiving for beginners, and an Alba bc. I was weak enough to go on their site and when I saw a picture, I couldn't resist).

I wanted to play the low whistle because it was the closest thing to the Uilleann Pipes I could think of (don't ask!...

), and I didn't have the guts (or cash) to go with the pipes. However, I did follow some advice posted on the Whistle Shop site, which was to start with a Low G first.

Sadly, I found no definite advantage to being a guitarist, other than less of a propensity to cramp up. The stretch on the Low G does not bother me, it is the proper sealing of the hole that does, particularly on quick changes (from a high E to the low G note, for example)... And all of the normal beginner's woes are compounded and magnified if you skip right to the Low Whistle (well, NOW I know!...)

So, although I still practice the low whistle (I'd better, now that I own 3!...), I have also got a couple of soprano D's, which is probably where I should have started out anyway... I figure the technique acquired on the soprano can only help later on the Low, and it gives me an opportunity to play a tune without funky noises!!!

Hey, but no regrets here! I still LOVE whistling and eventually I'll get it down (being alone yesterday, I spent the whole day learning Inisheer, a fine example of an easy tune on the Soprano that turns into a bear when played on the Low!...)

Patrick

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon May 05, 2003 1:37 pm

The referenced CD is available here in the U.S., try Tayberry Music....there's another place as well, but I forget right now.

For Duets, do a web search for Mark Hanson, I believe he has a Guitar and Flute Duet book out, and as Jim says, that's close enough.

Loren

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Mon May 05, 2003 3:20 pm

Loren,
I've actually done some Mark Hanson flute/guitar work. He does some nice arrangements and the guitar parts are great. I see if he has any Celtic books out there.

Patrick,
If that is the Inisheer Air you happen to be talking about, I must say that is maybe my favorite Irish tune. Absolutely gorgeous. I've been playing an El McMeen transcription on guitar for years which is in his CGDGAD tuning. I'm working on a whistle/guitar duet arrangement as we speak that i think will sound amazing. Not amazing because I think I did well, but amazing because it is just a fantastic piece. Another arrangement that I have done is for "Concerning Hobbits" on the LotR soundtrack. Again, I used to play it solo in an open D tuning, but have recently transcibed it to the original whistle part with just a guitar in the background. I haven't been playing whistle very long, but something tells me that the "Concerning Hobbits" whistle part isn't one of the more difficult pieces in the whistle repertoire. But again, a very pretty piece of music. I like it--simple and beautiful.
Picardy

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Mon May 05, 2003 3:56 pm

Try music by Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh (flute and guitar). I got some sample music from them. The guitar parts are not extremely difficult and the flute parts can be easily adapted to whistle.

Concerning guitarists playing low D whistles, I would think that if you are a right-handed guitarist, it would be easier to avoid the piper's grip by playing switch-handed, like Mary Bergin.

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Mon May 05, 2003 4:40 pm

I have the Celtic Music for Flute and Guitar for Flute and Guitar by Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh. My flautist and I use some of those regularly. Great stuff! We also have the Celtic Collection of John Dowdall and Jan Boland. I think it is becoming clear to me to either play flute and guitar music for whistle and guitar, come up with my own arrangements, or figure out the arrangements off of a cd. It sounds like there aren't very many published whistle and guitar books. That's ok. I just thought I would check. Thanks!
Picardy

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Mon May 05, 2003 6:22 pm

Picardy,

How difficult are the guitar parts in the Hanson Duet book? I'm fooling around with the guitar a little these days (really terrible, with a $100 guitar to match), so I'm curious. I'd seen the advert for the book, but haven't run across it in a store so.....

That Cormac Breathnach Martin Dunlea CD is nice if you can track it down.

Loren

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Mon May 05, 2003 7:15 pm

Loren,
From my perspective, Mark Hanson's arrangements are very playable. He includes tablature for those guitarists who can't read music. Mostly everything is played in open position with a few chords higher on the neck. It is nice fingerstyle stuff. But if you are more of a strummer, you still get the chord symbols so you play what you like. What I like about his arrangements is that it isn't just a flute solo and guitar accompaniment. He gives the guitar the melody sometimes and I love it when the guitar plays harmony (usually a 3rd above) while another instrument plays the melody. Simple stuff but very nice. He actually has some samples on his website in pdf format. http://www.accentonmusic.com/tab.html is where you can find them. Not all of them are by Mark Hanson. I know "We Gather Together" because I used it as a flute duet. Unfortunatley, these are all for solo guitar. This will give you a good idea of what the difficulty level is.
Picardy

pthouron · Post by **pthouron** » Tue May 06, 2003 9:15 am

picardy third wrote:Patrick,
If that is the Inisheer Air you happen to be talking about, I must say that is maybe my favorite Irish tune. Absolutely gorgeous. I've been playing an El McMeen transcription on guitar for years which is in his CGDGAD tuning. I'm working on a whistle/guitar duet arrangement as we speak that i think will sound amazing. Not amazing because I think I did well, but amazing because it is just a fantastic piece. Another arrangement that I have done is for "Concerning Hobbits" on the LotR soundtrack. Again, I used to play it solo in an open D tuning, but have recently transcibed it to the original whistle part with just a guitar in the background. I haven't been playing whistle very long, but something tells me that the "Concerning Hobbits" whistle part isn't one of the more difficult pieces in the whistle repertoire. But again, a very pretty piece of music. I like it--simple and beautiful.
Picardy

This must be the same piece (Inisheer). Fairly simple, with two themes, and absolutely gorgeous. It's the one posted on the "Mick's Virtual Whistle" site.
Thankfully, I have found that a LOT of beautiful pieces happen to be simple as well. Notewise, that is. Because the interpretation then becomes important, and that is, of course, very subjective.
If you ever post them somewhere, I'd love to hear your arrangements.

picardy third · Post by **picardy third** » Tue May 06, 2003 10:04 pm

My goodness! I just heard Inisheer Air from Mick's website. The whistle sounds great on that piece I think I like it better than the guitar version! Thanks for telling me about that!