Good Scottish tunes for whistle?
Anyone know of some Scottish tunes that go well on the whistle or flute?
Needing to put a few sets together with a pall so would appreciate some help!
Cheers folk
Anyone know of some Scottish tunes that go well on the whistle or flute?
Needing to put a few sets together with a pall so would appreciate some help!
Cheers folk
The Kenny Gillies / Jig Runrig / Rory Macleod set is popular in my part of Argyll these days.
https://thesession.org/tunes/1875
https://thesession.org/tunes/1827
https://thesession.org/tunes/2905
Hi David,
Right now this is my favorite set with whistle:
https://youtu.be/hQgG8uzTH7U
Julie Fowlis is Scottish. I believe that the two reels played at the end are both Irish, but the first two, “The Thornton Jig” and “Chloe’s Passion” are both Scottish.
Alex Green was another Scottish whistler. You might want to check some of his stuff out.
I have heard Kirsten Allstaff play a rousing version of “Train Journey North” on the whistle.
One thing I would say is if you want to learn Highland bagpipe tunes , learn them from a piper. And do NOT rely on any transcriptions here.
This profile has excellent tunes for whistle!
https://thesession.org/members/6479
Jig runrig/Simon thoumires/famous baravan and calliope house/road to Banff/basil the retriever, enjoy!
Most Scottish pipe tunes sound great on the whistle as they share similar playing capabilities (try e.g. Dr MacPhail’s Reel recorded by Capercaillie https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ThseaWpHtVw) Most Scottish fiddle tunes sound great on the flute. An 8-key flute also allows you playing those in flat or minor keys (Fmaj/Dmin, Gmin, F#min).
Any bagpipe tune can be played on a normal D whistle as the piping scale uses a G natural. Because it uses a lot of the higher register on the whistle these tunes sound nice and bright and carry well in a session. N.B. Because most modern bagpipes use a sharper pitch than as written (usually around Bb), you will need an Eb whistle to play along with a recording.
Does anyone know the name of the reel played on the whistle by Dougie Pincock on the clip from the Battlefield band recording above?
Aye - I added the titles when I posted the clip. As far as I recall, it’s called “The Tide’s Out”.
Thanks, Kenny. I should have looked at the URL as well as the clip …