newbies 'n worship

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 3:56 pm

Hi folks, by way of introduction, I’m new here and have only been playing whistle for about 2 months. I discovered this board sometime in May and want to congratulate the folks who designed it and encourage those who participate. As a newbie I've had lots of questions, but I keep running searches on this site and have found that all of my questions have already been answered, sometimes multiple times. Lots of info here!

While I love traditional and am working on learning it - slow airs and one jig so far - I've also been a vocalist with a worship team for 2 years and am looking forward to being good enough with the whistle to also use it there. I've looked through old threads on worship music for ideas, but I've also been using two other pieces that haven't been mentioned so far. Both are great practice pieces for newbies who want to build their technique so I'll share them here. The first is "Balm in Gilead". I have it in G. It's a slow, melodic piece, very easy to play, but with adequate opportunity for adding ornamentation, especially fills on the long held notes. I also found that I could slide on the last two notes of the verses (G to Cn) by simply rolling up my index finger. The other is "Just A Closer Walk With Thee". I play it in D which is simple enough except that the first measure has accidentals and requires the use of half-holing on the G# and the A#. However, the finger patterns are relatively easy and, after practicing it for a while, I find that I can now hit that G# any time I want it in any piece of music. That just opened up a whole new world!

I would love to hear from others on pieces that are easy enough for newbies but good technique builders. Happy whistling!

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 4:08 pm

I'd strongly recommend Ag Críost an Síol. A beautiful tune, not difficult to play, and beautiful sentiments in the words, which would move anyone who has even the vaguest of residual religious leanings.

I posted to a thread on it at the Mudcat Café, including a translation which was half-way towards being usable to sing it in English. But I don't remember if the tune is there. If you have difficulty tracking it down post back here and I'll see if I can guide you to it.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 4:28 pm

Some of my favorite songs to play are also hymn tunes. Some easy tunes include Slane ("Be Thou My Vision/Lord of All Hopefulness"), The Ash Grove ("The Master Hath Come"), "Alleluia, Alleluia, Give Thanks to the Risen Lord" (the descant is especially pretty on the whistle, if you're playing with singers), Hyfrydol ("Alleluia, Sing to Jesus"/"Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"), "Wayfaring Stranger" (which has been used for a variety of hymns, I believe), and Cwm Rhondda ("Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah"...the descant to this is also pretty).

If you like worship music, here are my two favorite sites for traditional stuff:

<A HREF="http://www.cyberhymnal.org/">The Cyber Hymnal</A>

and

<A HREF="http://www.episcopalnet.org/Music/ACH/">The Anglican Cyber Hymnal</A>

For the latter, you want Scorch (there's a button that leads to a free download), but it's worth it because they have sheet music.

Redwolf

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Thu Jun 20, 2002 4:33 pm

A good one on whistle is "The Haven of Rest."

"Just as I Am" works good.

You might visit my website http://www.protestant.cjb.net

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 2:23 am

Kathy,

to help you on your way, here's the Mudcat thread I mentioned: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?thread ... essages=17

For the tune, try this site: http://ceolas.org/ceolas.html

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 5:35 am

I'm Jewish, so I don't know a lot of Christian worship tunes, but I can't believe nobody has suggested Amazing Grace! O Come, O Come Emmanuel is beautiful too. Many Christmas Carols work very well on whistle.
On the Jewish side of the aisle, the Sabbath melody Shalom Aleichem is gorgeous, but requires a bit of half holing.

Praise Him with Whistles and Bodhrans !

WhistlerWannaBe · Post by **WhistlerWannaBe** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 6:09 am

Hi Kathy and welcome to C&F! I sing and play flute on one of our churches worship teams and easily made the change to whistles about 6 months ago. My Husband is still amazed at the versatility of these instruments. I started with whistle because of the CD "Revival in Belfast" by Robin Mark which has beautiful whistling done by Michelle Wooderson, but have realized that the whistle brings beauty to any style of song.

My favorites right now (which just happen to have whistle solos in them) are "Come, Now is the time to Worship" in D and "Breathe" which is a very slow ballad that I am using to learn to improvise.

God Bless!
Deb

ps....I almost forgot! Mack Hoover (whistlemaker extrordinaire) has just started up a discussion board for "Praise" Whistlers...as soon as I find the site again, I'll let you know the address!
_________________
I'll become even more undignified than this!
(King David, II Samuel 6)

[ This Message was edited by: WhistlerWannaBe on 2002-06-21 08:12 ]

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 8:41 am

Welcome to the board, Kathy! =)

Mack gave me the link to the Praise Whistler's board - http://www.format.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=PWAD

My favorite songs on whistle are:

AS THE DEER
LAMB OF GOD (TWILA PARIS)
THERE IS A REDEEMER
A Shield About Me

Gary
<")))><

Bloomfield · Post by **Bloomfield** » Fri Jun 21, 2002 8:57 am

On 2002-06-20 18:08, Roger O'Keeffe wrote:
... even the vaguest of residual religious leanings.

Ha! I like that! I think it's what Walden has, because his religious slogan is only there half the time (in Netscape).

LadyAshling · Post by **LadyAshling** » Sat Jun 22, 2002 5:08 pm

thanks for the link to Mack's board - I'll be chatting w/ some of you later, I'm sure!

Kathy · Post by **Kathy** » Sun Jun 23, 2002 10:59 am

Thanks to all for the ideas!
Roger - I found the words and a listened to a clip of the melody at http://www.cdnow.com It is beautiful, but I don't know where to find the notation. Any ideas?
Redwolf - I really like the idea of the descants though I'll have to look for the one for "Alleluia..." It's not in my hymnal.
Walden - Your site is a great resource for listening with all the MIDI files. Now I know where to go to hear the unfamiliar pieces.
brewerpaul - I also found the words and a sound clip of your suggestion. I'd like to try it, and I presume it's public domain, but I haven't found the notation yet.
Deb - I actually have all of this music from doing the vocals. Much of "Revival in Belfast" is too fast for my skill level at this point, but I'm starting to work on it. I really like your idea on "Breathe".
Gary - Thanks. I also have these and I'm going to try them on whistle.

One question that I had as I looked at some of these ... How many different whistles, i.e. different keys, do you folks use on a regular basis in the worship setting?

Kim in Tulsa · Post by **Kim in Tulsa** » Sun Jun 23, 2002 1:54 pm

On 2002-06-20 17:56, Kathy wrote:
Hi folks, by way of introduction, I’m new here and have only been playing whistle for about 2 months.

Hmmm...I started whistling in May and so did a couple of other Christians I know...started the same time. Now another one has just bought and is awaiting the delivery of her first whistle! The Lord is moving and he's using the whistle!

I have a Baptist Hymnal that I like to use. It has the First Lines index in the back and also notes what key the hymn is in beside the first line.

Playing along with a Praise Team sounds great! Can you imagine a whistle solo of some of the great classics? I am sure it would be inspiring!

Kim

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Sun Jun 23, 2002 5:49 pm

The descant for "Alleluia" is in the Episcopal Hymnal 1982. If they don't have it at the Anglican Cyberhymnal, I can jot it down and post it.

Our parish is very "high church," so I don't get to whistle much in a worship context (though I do sing in the choir)...we're a Palestrina and Tallis kind of parish. I live on the grounds of a Christian conference center, however, and enjoy sitting on my deck in the evening and playing hymns (sometimes playing along with whatever they're singing down at the Victory Circle, if it's something I know).

Redwolf

_________________
Cantate Domino Canticum Novum

[ This Message was edited by: Redwolf on 2002-06-24 02:03 ]

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Sun Jun 23, 2002 8:15 pm

Intresting that you mentioned the Alleluia descant. We just got thru doing that for an ordination service- a lady on flute and myself on whistle played the descant. Very pretty.
We are not high church so I get to play stuff pretty often here( although the priest seems to like my tenor drum as much as the whistle)! Lots of fun doing either though if they fit the tune. Also transposed "Come O Thou Traveler" to Bflat whistle- and I Bind Unto Myself Today" to Bflat with a switch to D in the middle. These were tunes the canidate chose but happened to be favorites of mine too.

[ This Message was edited by: cowtime on 2002-06-23 22:17 ]

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Mon Jun 24, 2002 8:13 am

On 2002-06-23 12:59, Kathy wrote:
One question that I had as I looked at some of these ... How many different whistles, i.e. different keys, do you folks use on a regular basis in the worship setting?

Kathy,

I took a list of songs my church has played for the last 2 years and counted how many were in the various keys. #1 was E followed by the keys of D, G, Eb and F. This is how I determined which whistles to buy.

Good luck!
Gary