Tin Whistle Keys and Tune Transposition
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- Опубликовано: 2 авг 2021
- Strap on in for a deep dive on tin whistle keys and how (and why, or when) to transpose songs and tunes to fit your whistle.
*SORTA = I actually learned that tune on the Highland Bagpipes first, which are in Bb, but the notes are written as if they're in A, but with no key signature like it's in C, and the fingerings are similar enough to an A whistle so I can play the tune in A that way or in D on a D whistle or by completely transposing to play in A again on a D whistle. Make sense?
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Hi Sean- I suspect this video is in response to a request I made for the topic of transposition previously, so thank you. But it does not quiet address my question. I'm learning, "Moon and Seven Stars" a jig in D. If I wanted to paly the same in G how would the transposition go? The first note is a high D. On what note would one start to play in G and how would the note changes proceed?
*Is high D written as D or d?
If you wanted to play a D tune in G on a D whistle, you'd shift every note up a 4th. So if it started on high D you'd start on high G; and at this point you're probably discovering the problem, which is that you're going to run out of notes. Alternatively, you jump the octave (up or down) as needed, which works but will probably make the tune irritatingly jumpy and hard to follow. So then we come back to the question of switching whistles. You could grab a G whistle (high or low), play it exactly the same way as you did in D on the D whistle, Bob's your uncle. Or, you could grab a C whistle and play the tune as if it were in A fingering on a D whistle (starting on the A below 2nd D.) Alternatively you could play the D tune in D and then use the time you would have spent learning it in a different key to learn the next tune on your list :)
@@whistletutor Thanks for this mini-tutorial. It is informative but beyond my nascent musicianship to transpose on the spot, I heed the closing advice and spend time learning other tunes.
@@soslothful Alternatively, take the ABC file for your tune, and transpose it up 5 semitones. You can do that for free online (I use mandolintab.net).
Look up your tune on thesession.org, copy and paste the ABC text into mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php , select "transpose up 5 semitones" in the dropbox underneath, and hit submit. It'll give you the sheet music for moon and 7 stars in G
@@soslothful There's no fancy pants transposing "on the spot." If you learn a tune on a D whistle, you can play it with *exactly* the same fingering on any other whistle. You don't need to learn *anything* new, and certainly not transposing on the spot. Tin whistles give you this for free.
When Sean says "grab a G whistle" he really does mean pick up a G whistle and play the tune exactly as you would on a D whistle. You don't even have to know what key you're now playing in, it just happens automatically.
@@andrewwigglesworth3030 My question was a general questio
As a recorder player, I need to know two different fingerings: F and C. All recorders (well, almost all) are in these keys from the tiny garklin to the giant sub contra bass. The fingerings of the C recorder is almost identical to the D whistle since the extra right pinky holes are used for C/C#. In fact I occasionally play Irish tunes on a soprano recorder in C. For the same reason the alto recorder (F is the lowest note) is almost identical to the G whistle. That is why I bought a G whistle as my only non-D whistle. I was able to use my F recorder fingering muscle memory to learn tunes at the correct pitch on the G whistle. The only problem is being limited to tunes with G as the lowest note...but they do exist. And I do like the lower pitch of the G whistle. So I would recommend the G whistle for recorder players transitioning to whistle ( in addition to D of course).
By the way, I enjoy all of your videos.
This video was so helpful and you covered a lot of material quickly and clearly. And your fiddle counterpart cracked me up!
Thank you explaining the whistle. I am just starting out on the d whistle and I just love the fact you can take it anywhere .and they are so much fun
Thank you
Thank you for this video. I don't know anything about Irish music, except that I like it and I appreciate that you love it so much that you make videos for us. From what I know about other music, it seems like if the fiddle player wants to play in A and the whistle player wants to play in D, it would be very interesting and exciting music as long as neither of you played the note G or G#. To me, it seems like Irish music would be written that way on purpose. Please enlighten me on this. Thank you for your deep interest and videos, I'm really glad I found them. Irish whistles saved me from a darkness, and continue to uplift my spirit.
I think the parallel 5ths would get a little tiresome after a bit, but there are folks who do stuff like this with 2 whistles set a 5th apart - who am I to judge? haha
@@whistletutor - yes, two whistles would get tiresome for every song. I was thinking more like - since the fiddle player wants A, every instrument plays in A except the whistle. In my imagination, in that scenario, the whistler might accidentally upstage the fiddler. It would be fun to watch. 😉
Imo, make music and try stuff as you like. if it brings joy, it's a win.
At it's core, Irish dance music is pretty much about two things. A strong melody and rhythm. Harmony when present is typically pretty subdued. But that can be innovative and exciting in itself. Looking at you Micheal O'Domhnaill. =)
Recently purchased a Roy MacMaghnuis high D in Mopane. A beautiful thing for this whistling journey. Thanks for all you do on your channel dude. I've learned much and still enjoying 🤙🏽
I bet it's awesome, enjoy it!
Eb and Bb are awesome for accompanying the Highland Pipes.
Singers also want to sing in weird keys.
I sing and play guitar. I choose the key I sing in for what I think will best suit my vocal range. There some whistle keys that I am unable to accommodate.
Thanks for this
I would first get a low d, then a Bb. And then any whistle that is suited to your band. Fe, if you have a kind of ballad group/string band with a singer- it is no good to use a d Whistle if your singer is a baritone and then play irish folk songs on it. It might be a good idea to reassort your intire instrumentation to fit your main singer. That of course includes the fiddle and the banjo and the bouzouki etc. as well... perhaps a short scale Bb Banjo is the way to go or you tune the fiddle a step lower to F, or use a low guitar or.... all this is way better then force a singer into unusually high notes.
If you have your microphone fixed to the Whistle like I choose to do, it will be handy to also play other keys on the d Whistle, like g minor or C major. Of course there are "speed limits" in those off keys, but it's sometimes better then have another open microphone laying around.
Very informative. Thank you
D whistle for the win 👊🏽
D whistle is for mormies! I preffer the double flat E.
Nice choice of tune. The Boys of Malin is a very cool tune. I never thought of learning it as the bouncy C part which works so brilliantly on the fiddle, especially when players periodically swing it as they often do, wouldn't work so well on the whistle.
Great video production and teaching as always. Cheers.
Thanks! It's a tricky one on the whistle for sure but a lovely tune
There is also "the other dificult scale", in a D whistle it would be a Cmajor. You start from VIIb, playing everything normal except for III which becomes IIIb, in this case it would be F instead of F#.
thanks for this. I also wonder where do u found a tin whistle in B. Im looking for that one
Are there any A whistles under $100?
Thanks for the great video! I am a Highland piper, I have some uilleann pipes on the way, and I intend to pick up some smallpipes in A eventually. All of which I'd like to record instrumentals with.
It appears that D, Bb, A, and F whistles would serve me well. Would you recommend those and/or others? Any keys that may not be the most useful that you simply enjoy because of the tone?
I'm looking at getting all Humphrey whistles and since he goes all the way from high G to low D chromatically, there's a lot of interesting options that I have no experience with. Like would a low G# whistle ever be useful?
Usefulness really depends on what your goals are - if you're trying to play Irish music in a session for example, you just need a D whistle. None of the others would ever need make an appearance. If you're trying to play Highland pipe tunes along with pipes in a recording session/gig scene, you'd want a Bb (or an A if you're going to pair it with smallpipes.) And definitely buy a G# to subtly swap out and then bust out when everyone else is in A - it's a hoot until the psychosis starts.
@@whistletutor I'll be sure to keep that G# tip in my back pocket to keep everyone on their toes. Or when I feel that I have slightly too many friends. Cheers
What about going from D to low D? what are your thoughts on the low D whistle, and why do you prefer the F over the low D?
I've done a few vids on low whistles but the short story is that because I play flute (which occupies the same range as the low whistle) and because the flute is more versatile I tend to stick with that when I want the lower range. I like the F so much because it's just enjoyable to play - mellow tone and I find I can move around it in interesting ways.
Hi Sean. The F Whistle you showed in the video. That is a Gary Humphrey whistle I assume. Could you point me to which one on his website. Is it a Stealth III or Journeyman III? And is it an Alto? Thnx. Nice video by the way..
It is a Humphrey and an alto F and I believe it's a Journeyman though I've had it a while and I'm not sure his naming convention was the same at the time. It's lovely, whatever it is!
@@whistletutor Thnx Sean. They are a nice sound alright.
@@whistletutor thank you for your responses to the questions people are asking you. It is so helpful to so many questions I had ❤
Couple of questions that are probably obvious with a bit of experience (or covered in your other vids) - I assume playing in the secondary keys comes with some awkwardness in "wrapping," where you're going to have to break to the instrument's 2nd octave either 'before' you would normally or in places you wouldn't normally. Since a lot of whistles seem to have different timbre/character in the high octave, is this an issue for tone? Similarly - is it common when transposing to 'run out' of upward scalar notes in a melody and need to 'wrap' back down the octave, and is that something that causes problems?
It's actually more common the other way - notes dropping below the playable range of the whistle, causing the player to jump the octave up for those notes and then carry on playing in the lower octave once the melody returns there. But yes, it's a pretty common practice and it's one of those things that you just kinda get used to in time. As for different timbre between the octaves, it's even more pronounced than that - each note has its own unique character that you'll start to hear. As an example, I don't have perfect pitch but I can tell exactly what notes someone is playing on whistle, flute, or uilleann pipes but I have a much harder time with fiddle, accordion (or anything else that I don't play myself.)