BEFORE WE MOVE onto the G scale, we need to make sure that we're completely conversant with the D scale. You should know all the names of the notes on the D scale, and be able to play a normal scale, up and down from low D to high D. Do exercise 1, which explores the D scale from low D right up to high B. First play by tonguing every note, then try it without tonguing.

Exercise 1

A New Note: C natural

THE TIN WHISTLE is a versatile instrument in that with the D whistle you can actually play in quite a few keys, not just one. In order to be able to play in some keys, however, you have to alter a note or two.

Let's look at the key of G major: there's one note different between G major and D major, namely the 4th note (fa) of the G scale, the C natural. (C natural is just plain C, and we'll recognise it because it has no sharp - # - after it.)

One way to achieve that note is by half-covering the top hole of the whistle (see diagram 1 on the right). Unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to use this method while playing fast, so you have to get into the habit of using an alternative fingering, by covering the second and third holes, but leaving the top hole open (diagram 2, and see illustration). This isn't easy to begin with, but with practice it will soon become easier. This is a big hurdle in beginning to play whistle, but it's absolutely necessary.

Let's apply this new note to some exercises:

Exercise 2

Play each part of exercise 2 over four times. Play it until you can play it through smoothly without making any mistakes. You need to get used to forming the C natural.

Exercise 3

Exercise 3 is similar to exercise 1 in that we're exploring virtually the full extent of the whistle from its lowest note (the D) to one of its highest (the high B). There are higher notes on the whistle, but you almost never come across them in Scottish or Irish music. Get to know your way around the whistle. Be able to play this exercise with confidence. First play by tonguing every note, then try it without tonguing.

The Rakes of Mallow

Although seemingly an Irish tune (Mallow is a town in County Cork), this tune has long been popular in England (where it has been called The Rakes of Marlowe) and Scotland, first published here in the 1780s. A rake was a fashionable youth who led a somewhat dissolute life, so this tune maybe celebrates such young men from the town of Mallow (or Marlowe?), much as other tunes celebrate The Merry Lads of Ayr, The Lads o' Dunse or The Lasses o' Fochabers.

There was an old Scottish song called Sandy Lent a Man His Mule. There was also a later Scottish song, Sandy He Belangs Tae the Millwhich was written to this tune to explain a point of Scottish law.

There are a few runs of notes in this tune. When I talk about a run, I mean a string of notes which rise or fall one note at a time. If notes go up two at a time, it is called steps, and music is largely made up of runs and steps. You should be familiar enough with scales to know how to play runs.

It's vital to know how to play the C natural note in order to play The Rakes of Mallow. If you're finding it difficult to play parts of this tune, step back a bit and put some more practice into C natural.

The Rakes of Mallow

Triplets

In traditional Scottish and Irish music, you often come across triplets, either written into the tune itself, or used as decoration. A triplet is a group of three notes, all of the same length, and they are usually joined with a bar, a curved line and have a figure "3" underneath or above. Look at the lines in exercise 4 below and tap out a 4/4 rhythm with your feet. Count the beats in your head or out loud at the same time. Tap your foot only on the beats which are underlined. The easiest way to sound a triplet in which all the notes are the same, is by saying tuh-kuh-tuh with your tongue.

Exercise 4

When triplets are used as decorations, it's often a case of substituting, say, a quarter note with a triplet. In the second example (ex.5), the first line uses some quarter notes. The second line uses triplets where the quarter notes were, used purely for decoration and to give the tune a bit of excitement.

Exercise 5