I just took up trying to learn the Tinwhistle. AKA: Penny whistle, Celtic flute.
Does anyone have any good ideas for a newbie player that wants to learn? The little sheet of music and fingerings (yay) is great, but I've already got the 4 little tunes memorized! My faery heart wants more songs! ;D
You will find the Chiff & Fipple site to be helpful -- http://www.chiffandfipple.com/
*giggles uncontrollably*
That website is SO informative and SO hilarious at the same time. Thanks a bunch!
I just got Gaelsong's new catalog today and they have two Tin Whistle books, one of Irish and one of Scottish tunes, 27 songs in each one, for $24.95 each. Music books are expensive, but worth it!
Item # C3001 and C3002
gaelsong.com
Quote from: appljx on February 11, 2010, 04:02:45 PM
*giggles uncontrollably*
That website is SO informative and SO hilarious at the same time. Thanks a bunch!
Agreed! Everyone who sees this should go and take a look! Great fun!
I found a neat website. www.whistleanddrum.com (http://www.whistleanddrum.com) Looks like they have many many many tin whistles (among other instruments) for relatively cheap and lots of tune books, as well as tutorial booklets, for anyone (like me!) interested it learning a new skill!
For a really good whistle, that is also tunable, check out the Susato's at www.susato.com .. A friend of mine recently purchased a D whistle and she loves the thing.
You should also check out this site for a lot of Irish Traditional Music:
http://www.thesession.org/index.php (http://www.thesession.org/index.php)
I am in the early phases of making medieval wood whistles that I hope to market at ren fairs one of these days. I would love input as to what keys and tuning folks prefer. I hope this doesn't come across as blatant advertising, because I really can't handle any volume yet.
Quote from: CarvedTones on March 29, 2010, 03:42:35 PM
You should also check out this site for a lot of Irish Traditional Music:
http://www.thesession.org/index.php (http://www.thesession.org/index.php)
I am in the early phases of making medieval wood whistles that I hope to market at ren fairs one of these days. I would love input as to what keys and tuning folks prefer. I hope this doesn't come across as blatant advertising, because I really can't handle any volume yet.
C and D seem to be popular for most musicians I have spoken to!
Capt. Marga
I was set on learning something and tried this. I have not practiced enough but even i, a non musical person learned a song by heart quickly. Now i just have to spend more time on it between work, the farm and the family. I actually bought a bunch of them and the easiest to play and best sound is a bamboo non concert tuned pennywhistle from Erik the flutemaker.
Never learned a song on it, but I can solo pretty good, with a bunch of noise, and a drum accompaniment, and I can make it seem like I know what I'm doing. But, that's great to hear so many other people find this little instrument so interesting, and it is a very good sounding whistle/flute and goes well with all renaissance music. I may not play it well, but I love the sound of it.
Do you guys own a plastic whistle? I really want one, but I'm having a hard time finding one that is not plastic, and still has all the features I want.
Quote from: insidiousraven on August 11, 2010, 10:42:35 AM
Do you guys own a plastic whistle? I really want one, but I'm having a hard time finding one that is not plastic, and still has all the features I want.
I have a feadog, waltons, generation, a cheap bamboo, a persimmon wood, and a bamboo erik the flutemaker pennywhistle. I like the natural wood and bamboo ones better than the metal ones. I dont own a plastic one, although all but the persimmon and cheap bamboo have plastic fipples. As i said the one Erik made is my favorite.
My little collection. The flute, piccolo and fife, are antiques plus my Chris Abell http://www.abellflute.com/ penny whistle set that my wife bought for me several years ago and the leather case I made to carry it.
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b160/Groomporter/Misc/flutes.jpg)
I absolutely love that whistle case!! I recently had someone make me leather frog type cases for my flutes to hang off my belt.
Yeah I think it turned out pretty good. The original case that came with them was just nylon and I was afraid I might slip and fall on my whistles some time, so made this and lined it with pvc pipe to reinforce it.
here is my collection, i seem to have lost the brass walton
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v209/jduffy01/IMG00198-20100811-1630.jpg)
Which one do you like the best?
Good idea groomporter. I never really thought of one breaking a flute/whistle. Hey, Duffy I like that black one who makes that and how much. I do own a plastic recorder sort of liek a tin whistle, but not really, but it's a real cheapy got it at a dollar store. But, I now know that some of the chain stores sell a fairly nice one, especially for beginners or people like me whom just play around with it from time to time.
http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com/Pennywhistle_Bamboo.html is the dark one and my favorite.
You must be good to shell out that amount for a flute, but I can see the craftsmanship involved as well, so for that amount it's quite reasonable. Thanks for the info.
No I am not good. I am so bad I kept looking for something that would make me sound better. His was the last I purchased as I just could not get the metals to work and the rest are just ebay finds. I really am very much not musical although i like music. I think i just dont have the focus or attention span to catch on. i have even built a couple of other instruments. maybe i will post pics in another post.
It's amazing what a decent player can get out of even a cheap whistle, but it's a joy to play a good one that is really in tune throughout it's range.
Fingering tip: look at some fife fingering charts, some of them have alternate fingerings to try, especially for higher notes. Some alternate fingerings work better on some whistles. http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/tinwhistle/
(You can even get up into the third octave -That's really ear-bleeding shrill but really carries well on a fife for marching purposes.)
I picked up a Clarke Sweetone in D at BARF, and it seems to be a nice beginner whistle (granted, I don't have any to compare it to). But what I really love is the book I got - Mel Bay's Deluxe Tinwhistle Songbook of Irish Music and Ballads by Patrick Conway. It has a little bit of music basics (which I didn't need), some tinwhistle basics and ornamentation how-to's, and then over 70 ballads, hornpipes, jigs, and reels. And the best thing is that underneath every note in the music, it shows the fingering, so there's no going back and forth between fingering charts.
Quote from: Poldugarian Warrior on August 13, 2010, 12:26:39 AM
You must be good to shell out that amount for a flute, but I can see the craftsmanship involved as well, so for that amount it's quite reasonable. Thanks for the info.
If you're talking about the Erik the flute maker one, $50 is cheap!! At least for a wood instrument.
Really $50 is cheap, never knew. duffy, I too was like you, got a guitar as a christmas gift, which was what I really wanted that year, played around with it, made some noise, but it never sounded like real music, then I got discouraged when I tried to learn and I wasn't wholly focused, I was 14 at the time. Then as 2 years went by people showed me how to play and what they learned and I just picked it up, focused a few times over some weekends, and got better. I too am not the best at what I play, but I get by enough. So I say just pick up tips, and focus time and again, and you'll get it down. never say never. And remember it's not always the equipment, I hate to say, but it can be the player, I had to be honest with myself, because I'd play a tune, then my friend would play the same tune, and his sounded better and we'd share the equipment, so keep that in mind. It's like buying a cheap instrument and making it sound like an expensive one, just by the way you play, not the other way around. But, I won't lie having nice equipment around helps too.