F whistle tunes

[scottie]

Can anyone tell me where I might find tunes to play with a low f whistle? I have been told if a tune is also written in key Bb I would be able to play those tunes. I am trying to find out since the Low F has a tone I like and am wondering if I could use it to play many other tunes without having to transpose the music. From what little music I know I was thinking this is my only option. I know a lot of you are very knowledgeable with music theory so if you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it. Have a great day.
Scottie

[Steve Bliven]

If you are playing by yourself, just finger the whistle as if it is a D whistle. The results will be in F if the notation is in D and in Bb if the notation is in G. (We can leave modal keys to the next discussion.) That means all the tunes you play on your D whistle will work fine on your F, they'll just sound a few notes lower.

If you are playing with others, ask them to play in your keys...

Best wishes.

Steve

[walrii]

If you look at sheet music in D major (two #) and play your F whistle with "D fingering," the tune will come out in F. If you look at sheet music in G major (one #) and play your F whistle with "G fingering," the tune will come out in Bb.

If you try to play a tune written in F (one flat), you will either have to transpose the tune to D or G and play as described above or half-hole/cross-finger the Fnat, Cnat and Bb in the tune.

Transposing the tune on the sheet music is easy if you have an ABC file, just use Jens Wollschläger's ABC-Transposer to transpose the tune to D or G then proceed to play as descibed above.

[hans]

If you try to play a tune written in F (one flat), you will either have to transpose the tune to D or G and play as described above or half-hole/cross-finger the Fnat, Cnat and Bb in the tune.

I don't understand the second part of the sentence.
If the tune is written in F you could just learn to read the dots for the F whistle.
So an F gets played with all fingers down etc., not half-holed or cross fingered.
The scale of the F whistle is F G A Bb C D E.
So F, C and Bb are normal, not half-holed.

[hans]

Can anyone tell me where I might find tunes to play with a low f whistle? I have been told if a tune is also written in key Bb I would be able to play those tunes. I am trying to find out since the Low F has a tone I like and am wondering if I could use it to play many other tunes without having to transpose the music. From what little music I know I was thinking this is my only option. I know a lot of you are very knowledgeable with music theory so if you have any advice I would greatly appreciate it. Have a great day.
Scottie

You could search for tunes on thesession.org with regards to a specific key.
The database allows you to search for F Major, G Dorian and G Minor, for suitable F whistle tunes. It does not allow for Bb searches though. But some Bb tunes are entered as G Minor. You will need to learn to read the dots according to the F whistle.

F Major: F G A Bb C D E, fingered like D Major on a D whistle.
G Dorian: G A Bb C D E F, fingered like E Dorian on a D whistle.
G Minor: G A Bb C D Eb F, fingered like E Minor on a D whistle (with a Cnat OXXOOO).

[scottie]

If you are playing by yourself, just finger the whistle as if it is a D whistle. The results will be in F if the notation is in D and in Bb if the notation is in G. (We can leave modal keys to the next discussion.) That means all the tunes you play on your D whistle will work fine on your F, they'll just sound a few notes lower.

If you are playing with others, ask them to play in your keys...

Best wishes.

Steve

Thanks Steve and all the other guys too. This is what is so strange to me. I bought this book with play along cds. (121 Irish Session Tunes). I see a song with (1#) and the song is labeled Key G. That is fine, but next to it is another song (1#) labeled Key A Modal. Then I see another song with the same note(1#) labeled Key Em. The final icing on the cake is that I see another tune with (2#) labeled Em when I am thinking this should be labeled Key of D. HELP!!!! I guess I am just wondering what the H.... I guess at this point I am a little confused. I am wondering since all these tunes are labeled with keys and the music is accompanied by guitar if I try to play them with an F whistle or D whistle or G whistle something is not going to sound right, but maybe I am 100% wrong and just not seeing the whole picture. Maybe I am getting this confused because of thinking when I play the guitar I just play the chords for a specific key and I am trying to think the same way. If you have any other ideas send them my way or reply. I sure appreciate the help.
Scottie

[hans]

Perhaps read up about musical modes here:
http://www.intermix.freeuk.com/modes_and_scales.htm

or this older topic:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72886

And sometimes the differentiation between Minor and Dorian gets lost, i.e. E Dorian is called E Minor (2 sharps) because of similar chords.

Code: Select all

Modes for some key signatures
Key sig:  Major  Minor  Mixolydian  Dorian  Phrygian  sharp or flat notes in scale:
4 sharps  E      C#m    BMix        F#Dor   G#Phr     F# C# G# D#
3 sharps  A      F#m    EMix        BDor    C#Phr     F# C# G#
2 sharps  D      Bm     AMix        EDor    F#Phr     F# C#
1 sharp   G      Em     DMix        ADor    BPhr      F#
0 sharps  C      Am     GMix        DDor    EPhr      -
1 flat    F      Dm     CMix        GDor    APhr      Bb
2 flats   Bb     Gm     FMix        CDor    DPhr      Bb Eb
3 flats   Eb     Cm     BbMix       FDor    GPhr      Bb Eb Ab

On the F whistle you can play (without transposing) all the modes listed with key sig 1 flat and 2 flats, without half-holing.

[Steve Bliven]

Thanks Steve and all the other guys too. This is what is so strange to me. I bought this book with play along cds. (121 Irish Session Tunes). I see a song with (1#) and the song is labeled Key G. That is fine, but next to it is another song (1#) labeled Key A Modal. Then I see another song with the same note(1#) labeled Key Em. The final icing on the cake is that I see another tune with (2#) labeled Em when I am thinking this should be labeled Key of D. HELP!!!! I guess I am just wondering what the H....

I guess at this point I am a little confused. I am wondering since all these tunes are labeled with keys and the music is accompanied by guitar if I try to play them with an F whistle or D whistle or G whistle something is not going to sound right, but maybe I am 100% wrong and just not seeing the whole picture. Maybe I am getting this confused because of thinking when I play the guitar I just play the chords for a specific key and I am trying to think the same way. If you have any other ideas send them my way or reply. I sure appreciate the help.
Scottie

Don't worry about it. Save minor keys and modal stuff for a later lesson. Just play the note shown using the whistle as if it is a D and don't sweat the other key notations at this point. Unless, of course, you are accompanying yourself on the guitar, in which case I'd like to see a photo.

If someone else is accompanying you on the guitar, just tell them to use a capo or, hopefully, they'll know the correct chords to adapt. The trick is to always play with tolerant people who know more music theory than you do.

Best wishes.

Steve

[scottie]

Thanks Hans for the code chart. I will have to study up on some of this. Also, thank you Steve for all of the information you have provided. I really appreciate you guys trying to help me understand.
Scottie

[oggiesnr]

What kind of music are you wanting to play?

I have assorted Israeli and Balkan Tunes in F, Bb and associated keys. Likewise there are a lot of tune in Aird and other earlier collections in these keys. If however you want to play standard session tunes in a session then either you have a lot of cross fingerings to learn or you need a Low D (Irish/English sessions) or a low E (my preference for Scottish sessions, they like their A Major tunes )

Steve