The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #33208   Message #443928
Posted By: Peter K (Fionn)
18-Apr-01 - 08:36 PM
Thread Name: Tin Whistle problems in sessions !
Subject: RE: Tin Whistle problems in sessions !
Seany, some of those tunes you listed are not particularly high within the two-octave span. You might try the Controversial Reel, which has a high-ish A part, or the Golden Keyboard, where the whistle will certainly be heard, especially with attacking ornamentation. The Mug of Brown Ale jig is a tune that gets well into the upper register inboth the A and B parts.

The Silver Spear (or Spire) which you listed, has to be altered a bit to be played on the whistle - it starts out from the fiddle's G string, and thus below the whistle's (and pipes) starting point.

Just skimming the sheet music for an exercise like this brings home just how remorselessly routine and mechanical Irish dance music is - all of it totally rooted in the fiddle's first position,mostly diatonic, with modulations few and far between. But for energy and atmosphere, it's hard to beat.