Customer Reviews

"The Complete Irish Tin Whistle Tutor"

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

_Bad Points_

CD Quality
The sound quality of the accompanying CDs are poor. I have a very good audio card and an extremely good surround sound system, but the grainy, gritty and sometimes faded sound makes it clear that these CDs were copied directly from a non-digital source. Most likely a previous recording on tape, or loop. Still, you can understand what is being said and the musical tunes are clear enough to catch. It is just very annoying to listen to, which diminishes overall enjoyment.

Type Font
The type font used in this book is standard typewriter. Some people may enjoy the vintage look it provides, but I find it bothersome to read.

Sheet Music Font
The sheet music font is hand-drawn. While this may seem classical and campy to look at, it adds another challenge for novice players. Some of the notes are too large to accommodate the bars and are thus indistinguishable from where they are supposed to be.

_Good Points_

Mr. McCullough presents a very well thought out guide to learning the Tin Whistle. His research into the history of the instrument may be a little overstated in some areas and a little on the dry side, but his teaching method is nonetheless comprehensible.

Mr. McCullough is rather verbose. He makes his points, and then remakes them, and remakes them yet again. Although some people may find the repetition beneficial, I find it confusing. To his credit he does not contradict himself.

The overall value of the book makes it well worth its price. The CDs and the information are an excellent package, compared to many other teaching books and courses about this instrument.

_Other Recommendations_

I personally prefer Labhras O Murchu's "Traditional Irish Tin Whistle tutor." The book is perfect for a true beginner, and has an excellent study in the art of reading music. The songs and styles contained are very well explained in a friendly, but direct way. Although it is not necessary to have the accompanying CD, it is immensely helpful. Sadly the book and CD are sold separately. For a true beginner I would sincerely recommend buying the CD as well. It has excellent sound quality, it follows the books lesson plan precisely, and it is wonderfully narrated.

The book is sold here at Amazon, but the CD is not. [...]

The Clarke Tin Whistle Handbook, by Bill Ochs, is a better book for beginners, and is really the definitive tin whistle tutorial. Advanced beginners or intermediate players who have worked through the Ochs book might enjoy Cathal McConnell's book. I'd also look into the Grey Larson Irish Flute & Tin Whistle book before buying Mr. McCullough's book.

This was a great re-introduction to music for me. I was able to pick up a whisle and play quickly, the guide was informative. I will be moving from here to Ullian Pipes since they are also in D and use much of the same fingering.

This tutorial is not for rank beginners, like me. If you have any experience at all with the pennywhistle, you might find this book and CD to be helpful. Being one completely ignorant of the instrument, the tutorial was pretty close to useless for me. The CD was not of any use also, again, for me...perhaps it would be helpful for someone else. If you've played any wind instrument before, then it might be useful, but for total novices, forget it and find something else.

Irish tinwhistle music, as it is played, is very different from how it is written on the page. It has a beautiful, lilting sound that you can't get by simply reading the notes and playing them. I've played tinwhistle for almost thirty years, but I've always been a slave to written music, and bought this book because it seemed to show how a good Irish whistle player takes a basic tune and gives it that sound.

McCullough's first full example of an Irish tune, in the chapter "Putting It All Together," is a great example of why this book doesn't do that. The goal of the chapter is to start with a simple, unornamented tune and embellish it, step by step, with grace notes and other ornaments. However, his version of the unornamented tune on the CD is nothing like its written version. It already has that great, lilting Irish sound. I can't even come close to copying what he is doing in an example that he presents as dead simple. He does things involving phrasing and rhythm that he hasn't tried to teach. This is really the essence of the music, and anyone who hasn't grown up listening to Irish music everyday will have a hard time picking it up without some instruction.

This is a fantastic bundle. The whistle is beautiful, clean sounding and fun to play. The book is basic and easy to follow, yet should get me to an "expert" in no time. I actually bought a whistle tutor book with this, but prefer the one that came with the whistle! The CD is a plus, but its very basic and does add some value in being able to hear the notes, but I think I could have managed without--the book is that good.

I was surprised at the tin whistle "how-to" options, and I read every review for each of the choices. I am NOT a musician, so I needed the basics, but I didn't want to waste a lot of space on music theory and reading the staff (I can read music). I think I made the right choice. I really wish that they would have made a complete package, though, with a tin whistle on which to learn--it doesn't have the whistle, just the book and cd. This paperback book has a charming "home-spun" quality to it, which I find endearing. The CD, although not of great production value, has value as a learning tool.

The book itself is very helpful and has many different type of songs to learn from. However if you don't know how to read music it can by difficult to follow because it doesn't go over in detail how to read music. The Cd is also very helpful, it lets you hear what you need to play.

I seriously doubt that this book has, as it claims, "taught the joys of tinwhistling to more than one million people worldwide." If that's how many have bought the book, I bet most of them pretty quickly flung it aside in frustration. For those who have been playing for years and are looking for a little variety, maybe this is the book for them. For others who are still firmly in the "moderate" category, this book is next to useless, and teaches only that they have a long, long way to go (with no clear idea from the book of how to get there).

While it is a stretch to say this is a complete tutor, it does permit a first time user to get a pleasant tune the first try. It isn't as easy to use as many others out there, but there is no perfect whistle book. Lots of tunes to make you sound suitably Irish within a week.