Brad, no matter what key the sheet music is in or a YT video is in, it's most important that you know for sure what key your choir is singing it in. You must be in the same key and picking your whistle depends on knowing the key for sure.

Since you experiencing 'missing' lower notes on your D whistle, you have two choices: 1) play the melody in the higher D octave on that d whistle so you'll have the lower notes, or 2) use a lower key whistle and play in the key of D on it.

The trouble with solution 1) is that you'll be playing really high up and it may sound shrill and annoying to others unless you are a skilled and nuanced player.

Solution 2) may work well, if the choir is singing in key of D. Get a key of A whistle and play it in the key of D. (This is just like when people so often play in the key of G on their D whistle.) You would base your tonic key note on the D note you get with your top three fingers down. That way, by putting down more fingers you also have available the A, B, and C# notes that are lower in pitch than your 'home'/key note of D. That should cover most lower notes in the tune that you might be 'lacking' if your tonic note is with all fingers down as on a high D whistle.

Another thought is to play it on a LOW D big whistle but in the higher octave on it. But that seems more fussy than to simply play in key of D on an A whistle.

Hope I'm getting this right in my head!

What the link in my original post is suppose to be is YouTube  ->  "In Christ Alone"  ->  posted by "Mick"

Folks, I've been trying to improvise the tin whistle part on this song to accompany the praise team at church, but so far no luck.  The sheet music for "In Christ Alone" is in the key of D.  The tin whistle part is not difficult so even a beginner like myself should be able to pick it up fairly easily, especially just playing basic melody.  I've tried using the common D, E, and even an A whistle but I can't seem to find all the notes.  When using the D whistle, which I believe is the proper one, I cannot go low enough.  That makes me believe they are using a low D whistle.  Here's the YouTube link of the song so you can see (hear) what I'm talking about.

  In Christ Alone

I figured all you seasoned experts can tell me the error of my ways short order.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

Ok I just picked up my Feadóg after some time away from it, and looked through the little James Galway book I've been working through, and the next piece to try is The Foggy Dew. I found it really hard, partly because I'd forgotten my fingerings, and also it spends a lot of time in the second octave. Oh my ears!

IMG20211227201620-01_copy_800x633.jpeg  •  114KB

I'm hoping to present some tunes for St. Pat's 2022 at a local brewery.  I'm working on: Garret Barry's jig, Blackthorn and Tenpenny Bit as a jig set. 

Scarborough Fair & Greensleeves are my harmonica forum challenge this month, so I think I'll try to get Greensleeves onto my list, I know it's a bit passe, but I like it.

I've decided to concentrate my efforts on a number of tunes that I like to play, or want to be able to play, going forward.

Presently, as it's nearly Xmas - Jingle bells & Silent Night.

Others - Skye Boat Song - Westering Home - Loch Lomond - Banks of the Ohio - Scarborough Fair - Edelweiss - House of the Rising Sun

Plus - Old Man River - Moon River

They should keep me busy for a while.

There appears to be some whistle tab here - https://www.google.com/search?q=whistle+tab&client=firefox-b-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigxqiMzIvfAhXvVBUIHTXqCmEQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1368&bih=625

Xmas tabs here - https://www.google.com/search?q=xmas+whistle+tab&client=firefox-b-ab&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigxqiMzIvfAhXvVBUIHTXqCmEQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1368&bih=625

(Else, just search for whistle tab on Google or your favourite search engine.)

Oh, and here's a handy page of Christmas whistle tabs:

https://www.8notes.com/tin_whistle/christmas/

Ok, so I discovered that one of my favorite Christmas carols is actually not too hard to play on the whistle... yay!

Was working on it last night a little.  Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella has lots of interesting parts to it and is an old carol (I'm not generally as fond of modern carols). Yet it sounds more complicated to play than it really is.

I found a nice whistle tab to it online as well, by a John Atchley:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6a/72/3b/6a723b99670eda4358c3a5e3abd463f7.gif

I can't find Mr. Atchley's site or book online (maybe one of you can find it?) as it'd be nice to buy his tab or at least thank him or link to him. But this one image was randomly on Pinterest and I was able to use it to play the carol from the key of G position for a D whistle.. which is an easy approach.  Of course you can play it exactly the same on ANY key of whistle, and I'm liking it on my Bb whistles. (my cat likes it better on the lower whistle as well... lolol)

Should be easy enough, or Jingle Bells.

I like Silent Night, you can put some 'feeling' into it, sort of like Amazing Grace, where you can play it slightly differently, slowly or little faster.

Do you think O Tananbaum might be the easiest Christmas tune to play?

I guess it's about time to dig out the Xmas tunes - not really a fan, but you have to, don't you

I am getting O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ready to play for our church offertory before  Christmas. I will be accompanied by our wonderful 91 year old pianist. I love  the music of Christmas.

I am learning the Mudgee Waltz in G. The key of G used to do my head in when I first started but I made friends with it by practicing scales.

Mudgee is pronounced kind of like in gee whiz. So if you just put mud as in mud and gee together you've got it.

I know the tune well as I used to play it on the harmonica.

The B part of Mudgee Waltz has a kind of old caliope sound to it.

How is "Mudgee" supposed to be pronounced, do you know?

@chris , the Mudgee Waltz looks pleasant and fairly playable for amateurs like me.  

I found the sheet music for it in the keys of G, C, and D online. I may try it out in D so that the lowest note is the tonic D with all fingers down on the whistle, and it'll have the C# (which I find easier to play than the Cnatural):

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ed/80/03/ed8003562d571eef7a240ba11f26d5fd.png

I'll have a go at it later today! I do like old polkas and waltzes.

Are you learning it in G or in D on your whistle?

Nice score on getting that book.

HI All

I am currently working on The Foggy Dew, a fairly easy piece but I am slow to learn it as I have a terrible ear and learn from sheet music,which I can only read slowly.

The other tune I am learning is The Mudgee Waltz. It's an old Australian tune, I got the music for it from a book titled "Folk Songs of Australia and the Men and Women who Sung Them"

I got the book at a garage sale for $3 and it's a goldmine of old tunes,dances polkas all sorts of stuff.

I think I will get back to practicing a couple of Scottish tunes, Skye Boat Song & Loch Lomond, they should be easy enough, but my fingers & brain aren't co-ordinating well enough yet.

I had to go & look one of those up as I had never heard of it before.

I've been trying to learn an old tune that's often associated with Christmas-  Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day.

I find it so pretty!  I started out trying to play it on my penny whistle, but I've decided i like it better played on my epinette des Vosges... so I'm practicing it on that now instead.

Just having a little bit of practice with my high G & F yesterday, as I was reading/responding to a post on Chiff & Fipple about high F whistles.

My harmonica forums have monthly challenges, so I try to learn a tune & post it within the month, keeps my interest going, as I only play for my own enjoyment. I used to try to post on my ukulele forums weekly challenge too, but I seem to have lost a bit of interest in my ukes just now - so it's harmonicas & whistles for now, (& maybe get some embouchure practice on my keyless flute).

I'm currently trying to get Inisheer under my fingers. It is a nice G tune that is pretty simple. There are several You Tube versions to study.

I'm trying to get better at playing in G on my D whistle... going back to basics to hopefully improve my beginner skills!

So I've been working on some very simple G folk tunes.

Here's a fun little French traditional polka I'm practicing:

Polka de Mirepoix

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I think then in the video they played it in C Dorian mode, on an F whistle with the tonic note at the C (with the top two holes covered).  That gave it the minor-y sound.  Not that I'm any expert, just guessing.

Sedi, I'm suspecting your formatting issue was caused by perhaps you composed your post in another text program and then copy/pasted it into the textbox here..?  Or, did you play with the font settings in the input box as you were typing?  In any case, I removed the text 'styling' formatting it had retained ...from somewhere... so now it looks normal.

P.S. hi Anamcara 

Hi everyone 

i am currently working on Banish Misfortune with tricky second half. 

PS: I don't know why the formatting is so strange in my post. Tried everything but it always produced an endless string of words in just one line (?).

PS: I don't really know the correct key of the song. It changes somewhere in the middle. It is played on a low F, that's all I know. Since I play everything by ear I often couldn't even say which key a tune is in.

Exactly. It is a low F but the tune goes all the way up to the end of the 2nd octave.
I should maybe explain that my left ear is slightly damaged since I was in my twenties, so for 20 years now.
And I do get tinnitus sometimes. The "problem" with the low whistles in my opinion is that there is much more air vibrating inside the whistle,
so they produce much more sound pressure than a standard thinwhistle.
So when playing the 2nd octave on a low D for example it is more penetrating than the 1st octave on a standard D.
And the kitchen amplified it. So the tinnitus started again. It is still ringing in my ears while writing this.
So there's two factors at play that make a whistle "problematic" for me -- frequency and sound pressure.
I never would have thought something like this could happen when playing a low whistle.
So I guess the Kerry Optima F is just not for me (it is a great whistle but probably best played on stage or in a large open room)
and therefore I will also probably never buy a Goldie like I was planning.
They use the same mouthpiece design (based on Bernard Overton's design).
And they are simply too loud for me, at least in a small room. No problem in the living room or outside.
So I made a low F today myself with a very narrow bore which is very quiet. And somebody recommended the Carbony whistles as they are also quiet.
Guess I'll be trying a low F Shearwater next as they also seem to be a little more mellow.

@sedi , I just listened to the Youtube version of "May Morning Dew" by Moving Hearts.  Very haunting and evocative.  Am I correct in thinking that in the video they are playing this in a C minor key?

When you say the Optima F, do you mean a LOW F whistle? ( not  a high F two steps above standard whistle D)  If you do mean the Low F whistle... are you saying you still find it too piercing in the second octave, even on such a low whistle?  

Currently I'm working on "May Morning Dew". Made the mistake of practicing in the kitchen and almost blew my eardurms out while playing those long high notes (the sound is amplified in the kitchen compared to my living room, just because it's smaller). I only noticed it afterwards because my tinitus got worse. Now I probably got to pause a couple of days or only play very quiet whistles. The Kerry Optima F is almost too loud for me in the 2nd octave. I think I need something softer. So I'm thinking about getting a Shearwater alto F just for this song :). Well, one can never have enough whistles.

Lately I've been enjoying working on "Ductia" a tune from the 13th century.  It's not too complicated to play in minor on the whistle (your tonic note will be on the next-to-bottom hole, one step up from the bell note), and it has three distinct parts, which gives it some nice length and variety.

Here can be found  the sheet music.

Here is a good instrumental YT video (on rebec I believe) to show how it sounds:

I have been working on "Tourdion" from the 1500s... along with some other early tunes.  I find my C, Bb, and A polymer whistles give a nice sound and tone for early music.  Sort of the 'poor man's recorder'... lol.

Bill, yes that's a pretty tune- has a lot of heart to it and seems fairly accessible to play.  Not being experienced in Irish trad music, I hadn't heard of it and went to listen on YT.  :)

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I tend to fall in love with some tune for a couple months and then fall in love with a different one and move on...so fickle!

Right now I'm working on "Les Set Goyts"/"Los Set Gotxs"... seems to have various spellings.  Song from the 14th century, I'm playing just the instrumental.  It's challenging due to switching from 2/4 to 9/4 in the B part...yikes!  But listening to other folks playing/singing it helps me get my bearings on the timing.

Such a compelling tune... here is the sheet music and also an instrumental version by the wonderful Ernst Stolz, whose early music YT channel never fails to inspire me:

sheet music

Ernst playing of it

I am simply stumbling along on this tune and I don't expect to get 'highly skilled' at it, but it's fun to play and is great 'challenge practice' for me!

Working on Mountains of Mourne in D using an A whistle. Sounds pretty..

Tell us about a tune you are currently working on playing!