Customer Reviews

The Penny Whistle Book

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many years ago (more years than I care to count!), I wandered into a small music store, cash poor, but badly wanting an instrument to play. I emerged a half hour later with a Generation Penny Whistle and a copy of this book, both of which have since been beloved companions on a long and happy musical journey. I have since owned many penny whistle tutors and tune books, but this one remains my fast favorite.

Williamson presents basic music reading succinctly, and in a way that is easy for even beginning music readers to understand, right at the beginning of the book. Theory then makes way for a boatload of tunes designed to build technique and repetoire simultaneously. Unlike other tutors, which tend to use fairly boring, childish tunes to teach basic technique ("Mary Had a Little Lamb" and the like), Williamson moves right into the lovely music of the British Isles (a nice bonus for the adult learner, who most likely is NOT interested in learning to play another version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"!). By the time you've worked your way through the book, you will not only have a good grasp of penny whistle technique, you will have a nice collection of tunes under your belt.

Another nice facet of this book is that it doesn't concentrate exclusively on the music of Ireland. Much as I love Irish music, the penny whistle is suitable for so much more, and Williamson's nice collection of airs, song tunes, jigs, reels, hornpipes, harp and fiddle tunes, Morris tunes and country dance tunes from England, Scotland, Wales, America and (yes) Ireland is a satisfying addition to the body of work for this instrument that I find myself returning to again and again. His obvious passion for the music (not to mention the lovely illustrations!) is also a bonus.

Highly recommended.

I am a trained musician and a big fan of Robin Williamson, he is a rare and gifted artist and muse. I have used his Pennywhistle Book for teaching adults new to playing a musical instrument. This book has it all, it takes only a few pages to introduce a student how to read and count musical notation then it moves instantly into tunes. Most beginning methods start with Row Row Row yer Boat or Lightly Row, standard repertoire, I know, but Mr. Williamson has one playing beautiful Irish airs and jigs in the first week of practice. Add to this, the total investment of a book and penny whistle is only about $20, and you have an excellant and fun method guaranteed to give adults and teenagers a great way to learn how to play music.

I have also used this book for teaching students of the saxophone and flute, because his simple melodies are so appealing to the new musician. I think this book and its approach should be a standard adopted by other beginning methods.

I also love the arrangements, his guitar chords are perfect, and the book has been a standard source of irish melodies for me over the years.

What more can I say, but thank you Mr. Williamson for a great book, and for your body of musical works. You are truely a Rennaissance Man.

Like one of the previous reviewers, I first picked up this book a long, long time ago, shortly after it came out. It has remained one of my favorite books ever since. It is both a great way to learn to the play the instrument and a great introduction to the music of the British isles. Williamson's comments on the tunes help the reader understand the basics of Celtic music and the way in which the tunes moved from one country to another.

One shortcoming of the book is that Williamson doesn't give a lot of information on how to use phrasing, rhythm and ornamentation to develop a real style. When I listen to recordings of Irish penny whistle players, I'm always surprised by how different their playing sounds from my own. The Penny Whistle Book is a great place to start, but you'll need to look beyond the book to learn how to achieve the sound you want.

Robin Williamson's Penny Whistle book has been around for a long time and it's a wonderful book for beginners and beyond. There are some stunningly beautiful, yet simple tunes in it and he does a wonderful job communicating in words how to develop a good sound and how to read music.

Good book, with a slew of old tunes, but if you are a beginning whistler, check out Bill Ochs " The Clarke Tin Whistle." Then buy this book. Whistle on!

A best buy, especially considered the low price. Nice collection of tunes, suitable for all instruments and most importantly nice arrangements and chord settings for an excellent selection of useful songs for the beginning or grown musician. You simply can not go wrong investing 6quid here, whatever you're background. Get it while still in print and a big hand to Williams for providing us this treasure of Bluegrass, Irish and traditional British tunes along with useful introductions to each number. Put short; an excellent book of reference value to any folk based player out there.

The author provides a spectrum of good selections and some solid advice on performance. Many of the selections translate well to fiddle too. Over the years I have bought a number of different books, but this is one I keep coming back to.

I play Bodhran, Whistle, Flute & Bowed Psaltery in a group called " Celtic Ties " Found a lot I can use in this book .

It's great to finally receive this book. The seller was prompt, payment easy, and on the whole a pleasure to do business with.

I bought this book in 1978, maybe '79, along with a couple of Generation whistles, at the time that I discovered Celtic music and added it to my growing list of musical enthusiasms. Though no virtuoso, I always have been a player of music -- guitar and bass, primarily -- in a variety of genres -- jazz, rock, country, Latin and, yes, Celtic. As life went on, I'm afraid the whistles fell by the wayside. But the book didn't. It has been, and remains, one of the best collections of folk tunes (not just Irish, by the way; in fact, not even primarily Irish) that I own or have seen. I love playing these tunes on my guitar. I suppose it helps that I already was a music reader, and thus didn't need the tutorial on music basics, but Robin Williamson's presentation of this information strikes me as being accessible and intelligible to any person who has little or no musical background but who wants to learn how to play a simple instrument, and is willing to apply himself or herself to the task.

I now have children in high school and college. Both of them are musically gifted and took (or are taking) music instruction in school, one on clarinet who now plays guitar, the other on clarinet but now playing the bassoon. There are few greater joys in life than pulling out a book like this one, and especially this one, and having an hour of music with one's children -- the bassoon or clarinet taking the melody while I accompany on guitar or bass, depending on my mood (and what instrument is available). If it sounds like some kind of makes-ya-wanna-puke Disney or Spielberg family fantasy, it's not. It's far, far better. I get to drink beer while this is going on.

I still have the copy I bought in 1978. It followed me around the world, and got used off and on, most memorably at one magical evening in Qatar where I knew a bagpiper from Belfast named Ray Campbell. Ray (and a few other fellows, some of whom also played music) came to my house. As the playing of music and the intermittent talk about it went on, Ray told me that the fingering for the pipe chanter was the same as for the penny whistle, whereupon I produced my now-neglected Generation whistles, Ray put down his pipes, and we ripped through about half of this book. He played the rest of it on his bagpipes. There are not many evenings I would like to relive as much as I would that one.

Several years ago, I wanted to show this book to my daughter (the bassoonist), but I couldn't find it. Thinking I had lost it, I ordered a new copy -- that's how highly I prize this music. After the new copy arrived, of course, I found the old one. I gave the new book to my daughter in hope that she will still have it in her library thirty years from now. There is a lifetime of great music in this book.