just sharing...

jiminos · Post by **jiminos** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 8:16 pm

i've been working long and hard on Ashokan Farewell. i practice it slowly at every opportunity. i figure someday, once my fingers know how to play the tune, the correct speed will come of itself.... anyway....

when i am driving down the road, thinking about Ashokan, i start whistling... then it occurred to me, the song i was whistling was NOT Ashokan.... i had no idea what it was..... i came home and was able to play it right off... but it still wasn't ashokan... then, this afternoon i was listening to a CD i had never listened to... there, buried in one of the tracks was the tune i've been whistling.... it's called "The Minstrel Boy." i double checked... i had never listened to the CD... i wonder where i heard the song and how it got stuck wandering around in my pea sized brain... musta been lonely in there....

Finally, i can claim that i know an Irish tune.... and i know the title, too.

it just gets better and better.

be well all,

jim

added: dang.. didn't know the song had lyrics. just found them. how incredibly sad and intense. now i will have to learn the words, as well. along with the story of the song. now it is hard to play without tears... dang.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:03 am

I remember the Minstrel Boy in the movie Black Hawk Down, brought tears to my eyes

Nice tune esp played on my Bb flute

M

bowjest · Post by **bowjest** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:50 am

Can either of your play a bit of "The Minstrel Boy" and post it?

Can't think of how the tune sounds.

Thanks,

Will

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:36 am

Try Here

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:37 am

I love it when tunes spring forth automatically.

The sad thing about the flute is you can't sing along to yourself.

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:12 pm

sbfluter wrote:I love it when tunes spring forth automatically.

The sad thing about the flute is you can't sing along to yourself.

Speak for yourself. The best thing about the flute is I CAN'T sing while I'm playing. Just ask my wife, she'll tell you.

Jay

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:19 pm

Jay wrote:
sbfluter wrote:I love it when tunes spring forth automatically.

The sad thing about the flute is you can't sing along to yourself.
Speak for yourself. The best thing about the flute is I CAN'T sing while I'm playing. Just ask my wife, she'll tell you. Jay

Yes, but you can still hum while you are playing the flute. Try playing D and humming D#.

jiminos · Post by **jiminos** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:59 pm

i'm no longer married.... i wonder if my singing had something to do with that?

like you, diane, i love the spontaneity (sp?) of the flute.... my day isn't complete until i sit with one of my flutes and just noodle to see what comes out.

btw... i have found that Ashokan and Minstrel make a nice medley even though they are in different time sigs... and because of the third verse of minstrel there is a strong tie-in.

anyway... thank you, all for sharing... please continue...

be well,

jim

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 2:17 pm

Well, I said I like it when tunes spring forth, but sadly they don't seem to do that so much from my flute.

ImNotIrish · Post by **ImNotIrish** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 6:10 pm

sbfluter wrote:Well, I said I like it when tunes spring forth, but sadly they don't seem to do that so much from my flute.

Ah, but they will... eventually. Really, they will.
Arbo

bowjest · Post by **bowjest** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:40 am

Thanks, I.D.10-t

No familiar....hmmm.

I'll have to go back and watch "Blackhawk" again and listen for it.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:41 am

One thing that always sounds strange to me on that tune is the second D in part B of the song. I have always played it as a D# rather than a Dnat. Yet, I have not seen it written down or played that way other than the book that I first saw it. I know, it's just one note, get over it...

Still when I go to play it I play XXOXOX not OXXXXX.

JC's ABC Tune Match

T: the Minstrel Boy
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: G
D2 |: G3 A | cB AG | B2 d2 | g2 fg | e2 d2 | B>c dB | A4 | G4 :|
|| g2 f2 | e2 fg | f3 e | d3 d(d#?) | e3 B | B3 B | e2 f2 | g2 BA ||

jiminos · Post by **jiminos** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:23 pm

i play the d#, too. it just seems right.

be well,

jim

Tootler · Post by **Tootler** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:07 pm

I.D.10-t wrote:One thing that always sounds strange to me on that tune is the second D in part B of the song. I have always played it as a D# rather than a Dnat. Yet, I have not seen it written down or played that way other than the book that I first saw it. I know, it's just one note, get over it...

Still when I go to play it I play XXOXOX not OXXXXX.

Are you sure it's D# you are playing? On my flute, XXOXOX is G# not D#

I.D.10-t wrote:
JC's ABC Tune Match

T: the Minstrel Boy
M: 4/4
L: 1/4
K: G
D2 |: G3 A | cB AG | B2 d2 | g2 fg | e2 d2 | B>c dB | A4 | G4 :|
|| g2 f2 | e2 fg | f3 e | d3 d(g#?) | e3 B | B3 B | e2 f2 | g2 BA ||

Geoff

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:29 pm

Tootler wrote:
I.D.10-t wrote:Still when I go to play it I play XXOXOX not OXXXXX.
Are you sure it's D# you are playing? On my flute, XXOXOX is G# not D#

Sorry for the confusion, The Minstrel Boy was one of the first tunes I could play in the upper registers on the fife where those fingerings work. On the flute it would be half holed XXXXXD for a D#.