Chiff and Fipple Forums

All,

I'm new to the pennywhistle, but I've already got a couple of song fragments worked out. I'd like to write them down in case I forget them or whatever. Does anyone know a good site to get blank sheet music for making my own notation? If it were in the form of blank (open) circles like I'm used to seeing in the newbie books, that would be cooler. It would be like those tests in high school where you fill in the circles, only I'd be writing down music.

Seriously, I am looking for some way to write down what I write. Does anyone know of any free online blanks? I could always use paint to make circles and just repeat them but yuck!

Thanks,

Lewis

Hi Animation---It looks like you can print up blank sheet music paper at this website:
http://www.8notes.com/school/resources/manuscript/

The only thing I can think of for tablature, unless the blank paper exists and I don't know about it, which is possible, is that you could make a sixth line under the five line staff. Do it to a whole sheet of paper and then xerox lots of copies. Each line would represent a hole on the whistle. I don't know much about tab, but if you have books that use it maybe you know how to indicate how long you hold the notes and the like.

Glad you stopped by!

Oh, on this page you can choose tin whistle tab, and it is lines of holes. I don't know how you indicate timing, but here it is:

http://www.geocities.com/dab_3/sheetmusic/tablepage.htm

The selection place is in the middle of the page. You press on that little down pointing arrow and keep scrolling for quite awhile. You will eventually see Tin Whisle Tab.

Good luck!

Well, darn, it is the same place as FJohnSharp put. I took so long writing my post that I didn't know someone else had answered. Oh well.

Thanks for the replies! Its one of those things, ya know? I'm pretty sure that somewhere somehow anything I write has been done 32 million times before, in part or in fragments, or is in my brain from hearing other stuff, but I just want to write it down.

I appreciate the linkage!

Lewis

stay away from tabs! after the first week they just become symbols to your brain and if your going to train yourself to follow a set of symbols it might as well be sheet music.get the fingering chart from this site print it [prefferably in color] have it blown up and laminated thats 90% of all you need to read sheet music for the whistle. you'll be suprised at how simple it is

Right, you don't need the tab! If you keep using it, it'll hamper your ability to learn what you need to learn.

Using tab is like looking at they keys when you're trying to type. Yes, it works, but it doesn't work very well and it is difficult to break the thought patterns that require you to keep looking.

If you can't write it in regular musical notation, just write the letters of the notes. A, B, C, d, e, etc. Use that fingering chart that was provided above. Learn the names of the holes on your whistle and just write those down. It's simple and easy.

Then, you can transfer that to regular notation. Doing that will help you learn to read music.

In fact, if you do as Lambchop suggests (learn to associate the note names with the holes on the whistle) you'll quickly get to the point where you can sight-read abc notation. I've never tried that, but I hear lots of people do!

OK.

I will try to avoid tabs. I also dont really want to learn some chart that converts a D whistle to notes based on the hole patterns, mainly because I use different flutes all the time. However, I'm not sure what the alternative is.

Right now I'm just trying to ignore the tabs in my Mel Bay book and just look at the notes. However, I guess right now I'm using my own internal system (which assumes a D whistle, which I kinda hate the idea of, but oh well) to train myself that a certain line or row on the normal music sheet equals a particular fingering position. I guess that is the same thing really, only I dont have to kill my neck looking at 2 sheets.

Right now I'm learning and playing alone on my front porch, so I can learn a song with the D whistle or for that matter any other whistle, and just ignore the fact that with a non-D, the A or D or C or whatever I'm thinking I'm playing are really some other (shifted) note.

Maybe later if I become more proficient, or if I end up hanging out and playing with other players, I may learn the real-note / fingering combination for other keys. I'm not too keen on becoming such a master of a D flute that I can play a song in a key that would have that flute playing most of the holes half-closed. That'd be cool and all but I'm no pro.

What do other people do? Recommendations?

Thanks,

Lewis

I would suggest learning ABC notation. If you know music, it will take you about ten minutes. ABC notation is much faster than writing on a staff, and can be typed in ASCII with any wordprocessor, with the bonus that you can easily email and post.

On a D whistle the acronymn BAGFED are the holes, C is all holes open.

Here is a site with the basics:
http://www.lesession.co.uk/abc/abc_notation.htm

Convert to sheet music and MIDI if you need to share dots with other musicians:
http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html

Another suggestion is to get a voice recorder. The best way for me is to hum, sing or quickly playing a melody and record it live. If you do a lot of this, I suggest a digital model that supports USB (can be had for less than $100 now).

Animation wrote: Maybe later if I become more proficient, or if I end up hanging out and playing with other players, I may learn the real-note / fingering combination for other keys. I'
...
What do other people do? Recommendations?

I mostly play trad celtic music, and so I really don't need any key other than D for a whistle. Back when I was playing with a band where the singer would capo her guitar up to whatever suited her voice, my solution was: Get a whistle in that key, and then learn the tune in the key for a D whistle. Then, just switch whistles, and voila! I'm playing the tune in the key she's singing in. It's like magic

There are 2 or 3 tunes I play at session (like Tam Lin on a C whistle) that I can't play on a D whistle...for those, I also transpose the tune for a D whistle, and then just switch whistles to play it in the appropriate key.

I've been playing 11 years or so now, and I've only had to go through that exercise a very small handful of times.

Granted, if you're playing other stuff other than irish/scottish/etc, you're much more likely to need other keys.

Wandering_Whistler wrote:Granted, if you're playing other stuff other than irish/scottish/etc, you're much more likely to need other keys.

Yeah, I guess I shouldnt admit this on a pennywhistle forum but I am kinda "neutral" towards Irish, Scottish and Celtic type music, as well as Bluegrass and Folk and the other forms you usually find the whistle. I can listen to 1 or 2 such songs and enjoy them but after the 3rd I'm sated.

Maybe I picked the wrong instrument from that perspective but for me there are several things I love about the whistle:

a) I love the way they sound
b) there seems to be good variety in the sounds produced based on the make and manufacture of the whistle
c) it is a wind instrument and I've always wanted to learn one
d) it doesnt require electricity or amplification to play
e) it is light and portable and convenient to carry around
f) i love instruments that work more like a voice (as much as I love guitar, unless I am playing an electric and in Santana / McLaughlin mode, I have a hard time making my acoustic guitar playing come across as a "voice" if that makes sense)

So far, the songs I've taught myself (in whole or in part) are:

Beir Me O (the second song in the Mel Bay book)
The All In The Family theme song
Three Blind Mice
Wonderous Stories (by Yes)

Songs I am interested in learning on the pennywhistle:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (think this will be a serious pain, maybe beyond me)
Epitaph (King Crimson)
Fly By Night (Rush)
Goodbye to Romance (Ozzy)
A Kings Prayer (Flower Kings)

So, yeah, I guess I may have to collect a bunch of different whistles in different keys over time. Oh well, one step at a time.

Thanks!

Lewis

Animation wrote:

Wandering_Whistler wrote:Granted, if you're playing other stuff other than irish/scottish/etc, you're much more likely to need other keys.

Yeah, I guess I shouldnt admit this on a pennywhistle forum but I am kinda "neutral" towards Irish, Scottish and Celtic type music, as well as Bluegrass and Folk and the other forms you usually find the whistle. I can listen to 1 or 2 such songs and enjoy them but after the 3rd I'm sated.

Maybe I picked the wrong instrument from that perspective but for me there are several things I love about the whistle:

a) I love the way they sound
b) there seems to be good variety in the sounds produced based on the make and manufacture of the whistle
c) it is a wind instrument and I've always wanted to learn one
d) it doesnt require electricity or amplification to play
e) it is light and portable and convenient to carry around
f) i love instruments that work more like a voice (as much as I love guitar, unless I am playing an electric and in Santana / McLaughlin mode, I have a hard time making my acoustic guitar playing come across as a "voice" if that makes sense)

So far, the songs I've taught myself (in whole or in part) are:

Beir Me O (the second song in the Mel Bay book)
The All In The Family theme song
Three Blind Mice
Wonderous Stories (by Yes)

Songs I am interested in learning on the pennywhistle:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (think this will be a serious pain, maybe beyond me)
Epitaph (King Crimson)
Fly By Night (Rush)
Goodbye to Romance (Ozzy)
A Kings Prayer (Flower Kings)

So, yeah, I guess I may have to collect a bunch of different whistles in different keys over time. Oh well, one step at a time.

Thanks!

Lewis

I'm mostly interested in Irish and Scottish traditional music but there is plenty of room for the whistle in other music too. There is an Traditional Irish Music Forum here too where people just talk about ITM, but the whistle forum is for any kind of whistle music. A group you might like is called Flook---they are based on traditional music but they sound more like jazz to me a lot of the time. Brian Finnegan is the whistle player and he is just unbelievable. You can see some short videos at this website:
http://www.kerrywhistles.com/dl.php?group=4
And one step at a time is definitely the way to go !

Animation wrote:
Songs I am interested in learning on the pennywhistle:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (think this will be a serious pain, maybe beyond me)
Epitaph (King Crimson)
Fly By Night (Rush)
Goodbye to Romance (Ozzy)
A Kings Prayer (Flower Kings)

So, yeah, I guess I may have to collect a bunch of different whistles in different keys over time. Oh well, one step at a time.

Thanks!

Lewis

you've probably already figured this out already, but whistles aren't chromatic - they can play in the key signatures of G and D and that's about it.* A lot of more complex rock music *does* require more notes than you can get on a whistle. There are certain work-arounds that can get you some more notes but they can be challenging.

Have you considered getting either a recorder or a metal flute? Both will get you more notes while staying *somewhat* the same in terms of sound. This is just a suggestion, obviously!

*assuming a D whistle. The point is, ANY simple-system whistle will be limited to two key signatures.