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Tin whistle

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical Instruments

   CAPTION: Tin whistle
   Pennywhistle

        Tin whistle

       Classification
     * Woodwind
     * Wind
     * Aerophone

        Playing range

   Two octaves
     Related instruments
     * Simple-system flute

   The tin whistle, also called the whistle, pennywhistle, flageolet, or
   Irish whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. The Irish
   words for the instrument are feadóg ('whistle' or 'flute') or feadóg
   stáin ('tin whistle'); feadóga stáin is the plural. It can be described
   as an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the
   recorder, Native American flutes, and many other woodwind instruments
   found in traditional music.

History

   L.E. McCullough notes that the oldest surviving whistles date from the
   12^th century, but that, "Players of the feadan are also mentioned in
   the description of the King of Ireland's court found in the Brehon Laws
   dating from the 3^rd century A.D." The Tusculum whistle is a 14 cm
   whistle with six finger holes, made of brass or bronze, found with
   pottery dating to the 14^th and 15^th centuries; it's currently in the
   collection of the Museum of Scotland.

   The word " penny whistle" was in use as early as 1730 and the word
   "tin-whistle" as early as 1825, but neither word seems to have been
   common until the 20^th century. The first record of tin-plate whistles
   dates back to 1825 in Britain.

   The first factory-made tin whistles were produced by Robert Clarke (? -
   1882) in Manchester, England. Norman Dannatt boasted that Robert
   Clarke’s whistles "produced a unique sound which, though attempts have
   been made to copy it, no-one has ever improved." Up to 1900, they were
   marketed as "Clarke London Flageolets" or "Clarke Flageolets". The
   whistle's fingering system is similar to that of the six hole, simple
   system, " Irish flute" ("simple" in comparison to Boehm system flutes).
   The six hole, diatonic system is also used on baroque flutes and other
   folk flutes, and was of course well known before Robert Clarke began
   producing his tin whistles circa 1843. Clarke's first whistles were
   pitched in high A and were later made in other keys suitable for
   Victorian parlor music. The company showed the whistles in The Great
   Exhibition of 1851.

   In the second half of the 19^th century, some flute manufacturers such
   as Barnett Samuel and Joseph Wallis also sold whistles. These had a
   cylindrical brass tube. Like many old whistles, they had lead fipple
   plugs; since lead is poisonous caution should be exercised before
   playing an old whistle.

   The Generation whistle was introduced in the first half of the 20^th
   century, and also featured a brass tube with a lead fipple plug. The
   design was updated somewhat over the years, most notably the
   substitution of a plastic fipple for the lead plug design.

   While whistles have most often been produced in higher pitches, the
   "low" whistle is not unknown historically. The Museum of Fine Arts,
   Boston has in its collection an example of a 19^th century low whistle
   from the famous Galpin collection. During the 1960s revival of
   traditional Irish music the low whistle was "recreated" by Bernard
   Overton at the request of Finbar Furey.

Contemporary tin whistles

   The most common tin whistles today are made of brass tubing, or nickel
   plated brass tubing, with a plastic fipple (mouthpiece). Generation,
   Feadóg, Oak, Acorn, Soodlum's (now Walton's), and other brands fall in
   this category. The next most common form is the conical sheet metal
   whistle with a wooden stop in the wide end to form the fipple, the
   Clarke's brand being the most prevalent. Other less common variants are
   the all-metal whistle, the PVC whistle, and the wooden whistle.

   Whistles are a prevalent starting instrument in Irish traditional
   music, since they are often cheap (under US$10), relatively easy to
   start with (no tricky embouchure such as found with the flute), and the
   fingerings are identical to those on the traditional six holed flute
   (Irish flute, baroque flute). The tin whistle is the most popular
   instrument in Irish traditional music today.

   In recent years a number of instrument builders have started lines of
   "high-end," hand-made whistles, which can cost hundreds of dollars US
   each — expensive in comparison to cheap whistles, but nevertheless
   cheaper than most other instruments. These companies are typically
   either a single individual or a very small group of craftsmen who work
   closely together. It is common for builders of wooden flutes and
   Uilleann pipes to also build whistles. The instruments are
   distinguished from the inexpensive whistles in that each whistle is
   individually manufactured and "voiced" by a skilled person rather than
   made in a factory.

Tuning

Whistle keys

   The whistle is tuned diatonically, which allows it to be used to easily
   play music in two major keys and their corresponding minor keys and
   modes. The whistle is identified by its lowest note, which is the tonic
   of the lowest major key. Note that this method of determining the key
   of the instrument is different from the method used to determine the
   key of a chromatic instrument, which is based on the relationship
   between notes on a score and sounded pitch. Whistles are available in a
   wide variety of different keys.

   The most common whistles can easily play notes in the keys of D and G
   major. Since the D major key is lower these whistles are identified as
   D whistles. The next most common whistle tuning is a C whistle, which
   can easily play notes in the keys of C and F major. The C whistle is
   widely used in American folk music, whereas the D whistle is the most
   common choice for Celtic music.

   Although the whistle is essentially a diatonic instrument, it is
   possible to get notes outside the principal major key of the whistle,
   either by half-holing (partially covering the highest open finger hole)
   or by cross-fingering (covering some holes while leaving some higher
   ones open). However, half-holing is somewhat more difficult to do
   correctly, and whistles are available in many keys, so for alternate
   keys a whistler will typically use a different whistle instead,
   reserving half-holing for accidentals. Some whistle designs by such
   manufacturers as Susato allow a single fipple, or mouthpiece, to be
   used on differently keyed bodies.

Low whistles

   There are larger whistles, which by virtue of being longer and wider
   produce tones an octave (or in rare cases two octaves) lower. Whistles
   in this category are likely to be made of metal or plastic tubing, with
   a tuning-slide head, and are almost always referred to as low whistles
   but sometimes called concert whistles. The low whistle operates on
   identical principles to the standard whistles, but musicians in the
   tradition may consider it a separate instrument.

   The term soprano whistle is sometimes used for the higher-pitched
   whistles when it is necessary to distinguish them from low whistles.

Tuning adjustment

   Whistles may or may not be tuneable. If they are, tuning is done by
   moving the mouthpiece in or out, either the mouthpiece itself sliding
   over the whistle body, as in the metal tube/plastic body model, or else
   with a tuning slide such that the mouthpiece and the upper part of the
   body form the 'head' of the whistle which fits into the main body.

Playing technique

Fingering and range

   The notes are selected by opening or closing holes with the fingers.
   With all the holes closed, the whistle generates its lowest note, the
   tonic of a major scale. Successively opening holes from the bottom
   upward produces the rest of the notes of the scale in sequence: with
   the lowest hole open it generates the second, with the lowest two holes
   open, it produces the third and so on. With all six holes open, it
   produces the seventh.

   In any flute, including the tin whistle, the second and higher octaves
   are achieved by increasing the air speed into the embouchure hole. This
   increases the frequency of the air pressure waves created. On a
   transverse flute this is generally done by narrowing the lip aperture.
   Since the size and direction of the tin whistle's windway, like that of
   the recorder and other fipple flutes, is fixed it is necessary to
   increase the speed of the air stream by overblowing. This can be done
   by blowing fractionally harder.

   Fingering in the second octave is generally the same as in the first
   octave, though alternate fingerings are sometimes employed in the
   higher end of the octave to correct tuning. Also, the tonic note of the
   second octave is usually played with the top hole of the whistle
   uncovered instead of covering all holes as with the tonic note of the
   first octave; this makes it harder to accidentally drop into the first
   octave and is usually more in tune.

   Various other notes (relatively flat or sharp with respect to those of
   the major scale) can be accessed by cross fingering techniques, and all
   the notes (except the lowest of each octave) can be flattened by half
   holing. Perhaps the most effective and most used cross fingering is
   that which produces a flattened form of the seventh note (B flat
   instead of B on a C whistle, for example, or C natural instead of C
   sharp on a D whistle). This makes available another major scale (F on a
   C whistle, G on a D whistle).

   The standard range of the whistle is two octaves. For a D whistle, this
   includes notes from the second D above middle C to the fourth D above
   middle C. It is possible to make sounds above this range, by blowing
   with sufficient force, but, in most musical contexts, the result will
   be loud and out of tune.

Ornamentation

   Traditional Irish whistle playing uses a number of ornaments to
   embellish the music, including cuts, strikes and rolls. Most playing is
   legato with ornaments to create breaks between notes, rather than
   tongued. The Irish and Celtic concept of the word "ornamentation"
   differs somewhat from that of classical music in that ornaments are
   more commonly changes in how a note is articulated rather than the
   addition of separately-perceived notes to the piece.

   Common ornaments and articulations include:

   Cuts
          Cuts are very briefly lifting a finger above the note being
          sounded without interrupting airflow into the whistle. For
          example, a player playing a low D on a D whistle can cut the
          note by very briefly lifting the first finger of his or her
          lower hand. This causes the pitch to briefly shift upward. The
          cut can be performed either at the very start of the note or
          after the note has begun to sound; some people call the latter a
          "double cut" or a "mid-note cut."

   Strikes
          Strikes or taps are similar to cuts except that a finger below
          the sounded note is briefly lowered to the whistle. For example,
          if a player is playing a low E on a D whistle the player could
          tap by quickly lowering and raising his or her bottom finger.
          Both cuts and taps are essentially instantaneous; the listener
          should not perceive them as separate notes.

   Rolls
          A roll is a note with first a cut and then a strike.
          Alternately, a roll can be considered as a group of notes of
          identical pitch and duration with different articulations. There
          are two common types of rolls:

          + The long roll is a group of three slurred notes of equal pitch
            and duration, the first sounded without a cut or strike, the
            second sounded with a cut, and the third sounded with a
            strike.
          + The short roll is a group of two slurred notes of equal pitch
            and duration, the first sounded with a cut and the second
            sounded with a strike.

   Cranns
          Cranns are ornaments borrowed from the Uilleann piping
          tradition. They are similar to rolls except that only cuts are
          used, not taps or strikes. On the tin whistle they are generally
          only used for notes where a roll is impossible, such as the
          lowest note of the instrument.

   Slides
          Slides are similar to portamentos in classical music; a note
          below or above (usually below) the intended note is fingered,
          and then the fingering is gradually shifted in order to smoothly
          raise or lower the pitch to the intended note. The slide is
          generally a longer duration ornament than, for example, the cut
          or the tap and the listener should perceive the pitch changing.

   Tonguing
          Tonguing is used sparingly as a means of emphasizing certain
          notes, such as the first note in a tune. Tin whistle players
          usually do not tongue most notes. To tongue a note a player
          briefly touches his or her tongue to the front of the roof of
          their mouth at the start of the note, creating a percussive
          attack.

   Vibrato
          Vibrato can be achieved on most notes by opening and closing one
          of the open holes, or by variation of breath pressure. Of the
          two, fingered vibrato is much more common than diaphragmatic
          (breath) vibrato, except on notes like the lowest note on the
          whistle where fingered vibrato is much more difficult.

Repertoire

   A number of music genres commonly feature the tin whistle.

Irish and Scottish music

   Traditional music from Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Scotland is by
   far the most common music to play on the tin whistle, and comprises the
   vast majority of published scores suitable for whistle players.
   Musicians who play Irish and Scottish music on the tin whistle perform
   both solo and as members of bands. While the tin whistle is very common
   in Irish music to the point that it could be called characteristic of
   the genre and fairly common in Scottish music, it is not a "required"
   instrument in either one.

   As ornamentation and improvisation around a simple melody is
   characteristic of both genres, many traditional musicians frown upon
   the use of musical scores, believing that learning "by ear," from
   recordings or live instruction, is the best way to learn these aspects
   of whistle performance. Hence, students of the tin whistle may be
   advised not to use musical scores, and will certainly be expected to
   spend a substantial amout of time listening to other performers even
   when scores are used. Scores are never used in live performances and
   usually discouraged in sessions. Nevertheless, it is a common practice
   to transcribe traditional tunes, both for the purpose of preserving
   melodies and as a learning tool. When traditional tunes are scored
   there are seldom if ever separate scores for individual instruments;
   hence, tin whistle players use the same score as all other musicians.

Kwela

   Kwela is a genre of music created in South Africa in the 1950s, and
   characterised by an upbeat, jazzy tin whistle lead. Among all genres of
   music featuring the tin whistle, kwela is distinctive as the only one
   which is totally dominated by the instrument; the genre was created
   around the sound of the whistle. The low cost of the tin whistle made
   it an attractive instrument in the impoverished, apartheid-era
   townships; the Hohner tin whistle was especially popular in this genre.
   The kwela craze accounted for the sale of over a million tin whistles.

   Kwela was mostly superseded in South Africa by the mbaqanga genre in
   the late fifties, and with it the saxophone largely supplanted the tin
   whistle as the lead instrument for music from the townships. However,
   kwela master Aaron "Big Voice Jack" Lerole continued to perform into
   the 1990s and a few kwela bands, such as London's The Positively
   Testcard continue to record kwela music today.

   Kwela musical scores are rarely published and many of the recordings of
   founding kwela artists are out of print and hard to find.

Other music

   The tin whistle is used in many other types of music, though not to the
   extent that it could be called characteristic as with Irish music and
   kwela. It is not unusual to hear the tin whistle used in bluegrass,
   praise music, and film soundtracks, and published scores suitable for
   tin whistle performance are available in all of these genres. The tin
   whistle also appears in "crossover" genres like world music and folk
   metal.

Notation

   Tin whistle music collections are generally notated in one of three
   different formats.

Standard musical notation

   It is common to score music for the whistle using standard musical
   notation. The tin whistle is a transposing instrument and there is no
   real consensus on how tin whistle music should be written, or on how
   reading music onto the whistle should be taught. It can be said,
   however, that when music is scored for a soprano whistle, in the key in
   which it is to sound, then it will be written an octave lower than it
   sounds, so avoiding use of ledger lines and making it much easier to
   read.

   Irish music and other Celtic music constitutes the majority of
   published scores for the whistle. Since the majority of that music is
   written in D major, G major, or one of the corresponding musical modes,
   use of the D major or G major key signatures is a de facto standard.
   For example, the "C whistle" edition of Bill Ochs's popular The Clarke
   Tin Whistle Handbook is scored in D and differs from the D edition only
   in that the accompanying audio CD is played on a C whistle.

   Reading directly onto the C whistle is popular for the obvious reason
   that its home key or name key is the all-natural major key ( C major).
   Some musicians are encouraged to learn to read directly onto one
   whistle, while others are taught to read directly onto another, and
   learning to read directly onto a second whistle will tend to disturb,
   seriously, facility gained on the first.

   The whistle player who wants music to read on to all whistles will need
   to learn the mechanics of written transposition, taking music with one
   key signature and rewriting it with another.

Tablature

   Tablature notation for the tin whistle is a graphical representation of
   which tone holes the player should cover. The most common format is a
   vertical column of six circles, with holes to be covered for a given
   note shown filled with black, and a plus sign (+) at the top for notes
   in the second octave. Tablature is most commonly found in tutorial
   books for beginners.

Abc notation

   Since the majority of popular tin whistle music is traditional and out
   of copyright, it is common to share tune collections on the Internet.
   Abc notation is the most common means of electronic exchange of tunes.
   It is also designed to be easy to read by humans, and many musicians
   learn to read it directly instead of using a computer program to
   transform it into a standard musical notation score.

Well-known performers

   In traditional music

   In 1973, Paddy Moloney (of The Chieftains) and Sean Potts released Tin
   Whistles, which helped to popularise the tin whistle in particular and
   Irish music in general. Mary Bergin's Feadóga Stáin (1979) and Feadóga
   Stáin 2 (1993) were similarly influential.

   Other notable players include Carmel Gunning, Micho Russell, Joanie
   Madden, Brian Finnegan, and Seán Ryan. Many traditional pipers and
   flute players also play the whistle to a high standard.

   In kwela

   Aaron "Big Voice Jack" Lerole and his band recorded a single called
   "Tom Hark" which sold five million copies worldwide and was used as the
   theme song for a BBC series. But the most famous star of the kwela era
   was Spokes Mashiyane. Paul Simon's 1986 album Graceland draws heavily
   on South African music and includes pennywhistle solos in the
   traditional style.

   In popular music

   The low whistle rose to public prominence thanks to its use by Davy
   Spillane in the stage show Riverdance and Tony Hinnigan playing a Phil
   Hardy Chieftain on the soundtrack to the 1997 film Titanic.

   Certain Irish punk bands use the tin whistle as well. Examples include
   Bridget Regan from Flogging Molly or Spider Stacy (of The Pogues).

   Andrea Corr from Irish pop/rock band The Corrs plays the tin whistle.
   Leroi Moore from the American/pop band the Dave Matthews Band plays the
   tin whistle in a few of the songs in the band's repertoire.

   Bob Hallett of the Canadian folk rock group Great Big Sea is also a
   renowned performer of the tin whistle, playing it during both
   traditional and original material.

   In jazz

   Steve Buckley, a British jazz musician is known to have used the penny
   whistle as a serious instrument. His whistle playing can be heard on
   recordings with Loose Tubes, Django Bates and his album with Chris
   Bachelor Life As We Know It. Les Lieber is a celebrated American Jazz
   Tinwhistle player. Lieber has played with Paul Whiteman's Band and also
   with the Benny Goodman Sextet. Lieber made a record with Django
   Reinhart in the AFN Studios in Paris in the post Second World War era
   and started an event called "Jazz at Noon" every Friday in a New York
   restaurant playing with a nucleus of advertising men, doctors, lawyers,
   and business executives who had been or could have been jazz musicians.
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