Customer Reviews

Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor: Book Only (Penny & Tin Whistle)

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

 

 

This is a very nice tutor for the Irish Whistle. Ms. Cotter assumes you dont know anything about music, and starts from the beginning, not only teaching how to play the whistle, but also the basics of reading sheet music. Tonguing, time & rhythm, breathing, articulation, slurring, ornamentation (including cuts, rolls and the casadh) are all covered using nice irish tunes as examples. There is also a small section on slow aire playing, which is the slow, haunting style that you often hear on movie soundtracks.

After the tutorial, Ms. Cotter lists the music for 100 Irish tunes. It is a nice mix of tunes--many are popular tunes that are often played during pub sessions, and others are very nice but less well known.

I started from scratch with this tutorial, and made very quick progress. However, I also had the accompanying CDs: one CD that walks through the teaching part, and two CDs playing the 100 tunes. IF YOU ARE NOT VERY VERY FAMILIAR WITH IRISH MUSIC, IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU GET THE ACCOMPANYING CDS. I cannot tell if these CDs are also available on Amazon...it looks to me like only the book tutorial is offered.

Why is this important? One of the unique things about irish folk music is that unlike classical music, the basic irish tune is almost never played as written...the soul of irish music and whistle music is how you embellish and customize the tune to your own style. In her written tutorial, Cotter covers how to play cuts, rolls, and other ornaments, but you have to HEAR it played to really understand and learn how to play this music.

So, to sum up, this is a great learning tutorial when you get the CD's too. I've heard that L.E. McCullough's Irish Whistle tutorial is also very good, and also comes with a bunch of good session tunes. Im going to get McCullough's next, since his list of session tunes seems to be the "bible" that a lot of players use and refer to during pub sessions.

A different sort of book than L.E. McCullogh's in many ways. I own them both and think of them as complementary. The music in Cotter's repertoire section is typeset, and easier to read, though. Get the tape for Cotter's book if you can, however. After all, the tinwhistle is a $12.00 instrument and you savings over the cost of a fiddle, say, would allow both to grace yor library.

This collection is good: it containes typical tunes, and is easy to read. Like any such materials, it really does require the tape to actually hear what is being taught. I have many whistle books, and this is one to which I regularly return.

This is a good begnning for anybody wanting to learn the Irish Whistle. Those unfamiliar with the idiom may want to listen to lots of CDs, as Cotter suggests. Also, I think that she also has a CD to accompany this tutor. Once again, probably a very good investment for those who aren't sure whether they are executing the
embellishments properly.

It's a bit dated and it's really just a song book. It doesn't offer much of the way in instruction. I recommend L.E. McCullough over this book.

This tutor has a very good selection of traditional tunes and good settings