To tongue or not to tongue - on the whistle!

[dapple]

If you want to hear how this reel should really sound, listen to the second track of Mick O'Brien and Caoimhin O'Raghallaigh's album, Kitty Lie Over.

I bought this CD just three days ago. It’s great.

The liner notes give credit to Peter Leban for photography. I wonder if Leban is a typo or an alternate spelling of Laban.

[Jessica Ventura]

I tongued the Rakes of Mallow, and liked it.

[Azalin]

I tongued the Rakes of Mallow, and liked it.

I put a pencil mark on my boyfriend's drone.

Ya dirty girl

[bradhurley]

I tongued the Rakes of Mallow, and liked it.

Not as much as they did, I bet!

[Jessica Ventura]

I tongued the Rakes of Mallow, and liked it.

Not as much as they did, I bet!

They're a busy lot:

The Rakes of Mallow

Beauing, belling, dancing, singing,
Breaking windows, damning, sinking,
Ever raking, never thinking,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.
Spending faster than it comes,
Beating Bawds and Whores and Duns,
Bacchus' true begotten sons,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.

One time nought but claret drinking,
Then like politicians thinking,
To raise the sinking-fund when sinking,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.
One time flush of money store,
Then as any poet poor,
Kissing Queens, and then a W--re,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.

When at home with dada dying,
Still for Mallow waters crying,
But when there, good claret plying,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.
Living short, but merry lives,
Going where the D---l drives,
Keeping Misses, but no Wives,
Live the Rakes of Mallow.

Racking tenants, stewards teizing,
Swiftly spending, slowly raising,
Wishing to spend all our days, in
Raking thus at Mallow.
Thus to end a raking life,
We grow sober, take a Wife,
Ever after live in strife,
Wish again for Mallow.

[Cayden]

I bought this CD just three days ago. It’s great.

The liner notes give credit to Peter Leban for photography. I wonder if Leban is a typo or an alternate spelling of Laban.

Mick slipped up writing the credits, Caoimhin got it right writing the notes.

[Flauta dolce]

I play "Micho Russell's" on the whistle (you know the reel starting on A) and apart from the repetition of notes, I feel the piece isn;t meade for tonguing. Ditto "Cliff of Moher", "Banish Misfortune", in fact anyone of tunes I've learnt to put ornamentation into doesn't sound so good with tonguning. Tonguing does make the piece sound smudged. I like the notes to sound clear, I suppose. I also would like to add I don't necessary enjoy playing quickly. I feel though that it's interesting to try new things.

[Cayden]

I feel the piece isn;t meade for tonguing. Ditto "Cliff of Moher", "Banish Misfortune", in fact anyone of tunes I've learnt to put ornamentation into doesn't sound so good with tonguning. Tonguing does make the piece sound smudged. I like the notes to sound clea

Listen to <a href="http://www.rogermillington.com/tunetoc/ ... .mp3">this playing of Banish Misfortune</a>. Plenty of tongueing, nowhere smudged.

[Azalin]

I've noticed HTML is now disabled on the forum, even if you didnt unselect the checkbox. Must be a PHPbb flag Rich turned off/on or a new security feature of PHPbb?

[Cynth]

Tonguing does make the piece sound smudged.

Hi Flauta dolce,
I barely play the whistle, but it seems to me that tonguing makes the notes more distinct. I suppose there are different degrees of tonguing. I rarely use it, but I might use it to make a note stand out or be staccato. In the book I am using as a guide it is recommended not to tongue at first while you are learning to hit each note because tonguing will cover up a poor transition from one note to the next, it will automatically make the transition sharper and clearer, and you will not know if you are really making the change well with your fingers. So it seems there's more chance of sounding smudgy without tonguing to me. But I have not tried playing a whole tune with a lot of tonguing.

Just a comment from a beginner. Nothing authoritative!

[lindsey]

In the book I am using as a guide it is recommended not to tongue at first while you are learning to hit each note because tonguing will cover up a poor transition from one note to the next, it will automatically make the transition sharper and clearer, and you will not know if you are really making the change well with your fingers.

I'm guilty of that. I can't seem to stop tonguing because my transitions are so clumsy without that extra bit of time to move my fingers. Also it helps me cheat up to the higher octave with that tiny bit of extra air.

[Cynth]

Hi lindsey----I also have a tutorial by Cathal McConnell (sp) and he says that for the high notes tonguing is good for helping them to sound "sweet"---I think I am remembering correctly. So perhaps lots of people do that regularly when they first kick up into the higher register. Cathal McConnell would certainly be someone whose advice I would really respect.

I think the book I was refering to was saying it was good to practice that way, and then you would add tonguing for emphasis and separating notes and the like. I guess I am really try to get the transitions between notes really clean without tonguing just so I have the option of playing legato if that would sound best---if I ever get far enough for it to matter .

Are you trying to play too fast? I find getting each note just right to be extremely difficult. It is hard to get things covered and uncovered at exactly the same time. Maybe you are expecting to do it well too soon. I have only been practicing about six months and I am not at all satisfied with a number of transitions I make. Some I can do well about half the time I try, some about a quarter of the time. And some are pretty good now. But if you can do it once, then there is hope.

I think a lot of players do tongue a great deal of the time or even all the time. It varies from person to person.

Obviously I don't know a thing about playing the whistle, so please don't take my comments as though they are from an experienced person!!!!!

[Blaydo]

I have Cathal's tutorial but I didn't go through much of it. He may have mentioned tonguing as a method of control over the high notes but I don't remember. I think what he did say though about the transition to the higher notes AFAIR was to slide into them and keep them really short. As a newbie I find this helps and give a bit more control over them. The other thing I find helps with those high A's and B's is to use grace notes around them, hold back the breath a bit and play them as quickly and fluently as possible with or without tonguing.

I started with a Jerry Freeman tweaked mellow D whistle and at first found these high notes to be totally ear piercing. Then a friend bought me a much louder Shaw's untweaked E whistle which was even harder to control on those high notes. However because I liked the sound so much I persisted in playing it and have managed to tame the high notes down a good bit. I think this has been really helpful because now when I go back and play with JF's mellow D the high notes seem fine! So I guess it's all just down to breath control and practice, practice, practice!

[Ann]

I don't know if this is the right or wrong thing to do, but lately I've been playing tunes both tongued and untongued. In the end I decided I prefer to tongue it. Not because it sounds better, it doesn't. But because I want so much to get the rhythm right. Its easier to keep the beat with my tongue than with my awkward finger movements. This way its easier for me to tell which notes need to be lengthed and whichneed to be shortened.

[Chiffed]

Just another articulation. Why do it? Because we're not highland bagpipers, and we can.
As with any effect, overuse is a danger. I growl too much on blues tunes (on sax) and I slide around too much on airs. I'm getting help . . . .

The only real danger is the infamous GLOTTAL STOP!! Some people tongue solely with the glottis, like a soft cough. This is baaad for the throat.

Treat a case of the glottal stops with 65cl of Loch Dhu; McCallum 25 will work in a pinch.

Seriously, though: be nice to your throat, especially if you've ever been a smoker.