well what i mean by that is. i play tin whistleand am learning by ear and getting better each day with my enthusiasm growing with every new tune i learn.
but im thinking of learning some other instrument that isnt windy type of instrument. and i dont know what to choose. so what instrument would be recomended that doesnt takes years of lectures to make your own tunes? (not guitar)
also an instrument that requires a teacher for weekly lessons is a no. im running short on csh and have to catch up on studies.
17 fret tenor banjo - then you can always take up the mandolin later. I love playing mandolin, but even a good one gets drowned out in a loud session and a cheap one stands no chance.
I'd second tenor banjo. It's just a fun instrument, and if you want to learn mandolin or fiddle later, you'll already know where the notes are. I think the banjo is a great duet instrument for whistle, fiddle, and accordion, too.
If not that, concertina or button accordion are good options, too.
Please bear in mind there's nothing wrong with being a *good* whistle player. Personally I still find it difficult to consistently play tunes well on the whistle...might just be me though.
A mandolin is sweet & merry, generally inexpensive (for a decent starter) and readily available (new or used) option... Yes, it is 'quiet' compared to say the tenor banjo, but that has its pluses and it is one of the least obtrusive and consequently most welcomed instruments in the house or a small session...
There is another mad but portable option ~ the ukelele!
well yeah im gonna stay with whistle. i didnt spend good money and an oath to get good at it for nothing.
but is a mandolin easy to learn? and you dont nead tutoring?
i was thinkin concertina buti hear its hard. something good for a person with not much spare time
If you don't feel you're a strings person, a box is a nice thing to play as well as whistle - that's my combination, as it happens.
The main choice there is between:
Concertina,
Melodeon,
Piano accordion (or big button job).
Decent boxes, unfortunately, come expensive. Cheap but crappy melodeons, in particular, litter the world. Maybe good piano accordions provide the best value for money, bought new, because they are made and sold in quantity and are thereby still profitable when sold at a lower price, unlike concertinas and melodeons which are made for a more limited market...but I might be wrong here, and my grasp of economics is shaky. By all means spend the minimum on a ropey box if you're doing so just to get a feel of that kind of instrument, but be aware what you've landed yourself with. (And free reed instruments, like cars, deteriorate with age, not improve.)
Melodeons are a minefield of different models, tunings and fingerings; to learn on one sort doesn't mean you can pick up and play another sort, without taking some time to learn its ways. Fortunately there have been many discussions on the pros and cons of different kinds of melodeon in The Session, and these can be looked up. In brief, though - "There's the BC, and there's all the rest..." That is to say, boxes in the other common tunings have a lot in common with one another, but the BC - while favoured by many - is very different from any of them to play.
As for concertinas, the verdict of the Irish music world is clearly in favour of the Anglo Concertina, it would appear.
I've found you can get pretty far along without much instruction. Others may be able to say the same about different instruments. Perhaps it is a matter of motivation.
Instruction has helped with ornamentation, pick direction, and right hand technique. Relevant theory and exercises have helped me find my way around the fretboard. Since I don't have regular tutoring, I still work on these by myself.
I benefited from Padraig Carroll's book with the CD, "The Complete Guide to Learning the Irish Mandolin."
I also noticed some free material at http://www.melbay.com/mandolinsessions/index.html. The beginning Irish mandolin selection looks promising and the back issues are still posted as well. It has slow and fast versions of tunes in MP3 format and notation. Each piece has some commentary with suggestions for overcoming difficult bits.
Here's yet another fiddler who wishes he was as good on the whistle as he is on the fiddle. My problem is I end up getting ticked while practicing the whistle, and my first thought always is: "I can already play this tune on the fiddle, what the heck am I messing with this thing for?!?!"
Seriously, carry on. There's nothing wrong at all with being a good whistle player, everything about it is "right" as a matter of fact!
why do whistle players feel they have to progress onto something more "challenging". Whistle is wonderful instruments in the right hands - stick with it, soon won't be many whistle players left, they'll have become pipers, fluters, etc.
'but im thinking of learning some other instrument that isnt windy type of instrument. and i dont know what to choose. so what instrument would be recomended that doesnt takes years of lectures to make your own tunes?'
Stick with the "penny" whistle, the most traditional and prince of instruments. And they cost about £3, or $6. I love a good whistle player, hard to find as they all play flutes.
As for the mandolin? As a humble bodhran player, even I can play a mandolin, so I suppose it must be sooooo easy.
I've been thinking the same thing. It would be nice to play a string instrument. Not just flute (and whistle to some extent, although I only ever played the whistle at a session for the first time last week.) I've been thinking about the mandolin. There aren't very many of them at our session. I think they sound pretty loud and they're so versatile and have such a pleasing sound.
My boyfriend is thinking about the concertina. Apparently the patent for the concertina says that it's the easiest to play, even a non-musician can make music right away. I doubt that is true, but he's a non-musician and made music on it right away, so maybe it's not so far-fetched.
So why not a guitar? It's amazingly versatile, and there is probably more teach your self media available for it than anything else in the universe, not to mention other players to ask questions.
Why not a guitar ?
Because they're ubiquitous.
Do you really enjoy a session with more than one rhythm guitar ?
I second the mandolin suggestion, you can always use the fingering skills to trade up, to fiddle, tenor banjo, octave mandolin or 'zouk. And I've never heard anyone suggest that two mandolins is one too many for a session.
The uke is a bit of a wild card, and only if you enjoy lots of high-pitched chordal accompaniment ( quick look over shoulder to check for absence of Significant Other ). But it is light and portable.
I am also mainly self taught on mandolin. Only been playing for three years, but surprising how quick I have came along, had never played any instrument before. the fact that it is quieter than most instruments allows me to play in sessions with more confidence. I have since aquired a tenor banjo and mandola, but with the banjo you make a mistake everyone can hear it.
1) They’re relatively cheap – I’ve never heard anyone complaining they bought a cheap one and it wasn’t worth the money
2) They’re portable, so it doesn’t matter so much if you take it to the session and never get it out of its case. If you try that with a box of any kind you’re going to attract negative publicity.
3) They’re quiet enough to noodle in sessions without upsetting anyone, especially if you sit at the back. Also, you can practice at night without getting a divorce, or moving to Wyoming.
4) I know half a dozen people who have taken it up as a second or third instrument. They’re all still persevering with it (so I’m guessing they made enough progress to figure it was worth continuing) and only one of them is actually taking lessons.
5) It’s the same fingering as several other instruments, so you’ve more opportunities if you decide two noise makers aren’t enough for you.
Don’t get a box as they’re big, heavy, expensive and loud.
'easy' is what you make of it. Some people never get more than squaks and squeeks out of whistles. Sounds like you are ahead in that game.
At 55 two years ago, I started learning button box. It was a brain transplant as a piano player (and whistle). You work through it. I am having a wonderful time with it.
Herself shuddered the other day when I suggested that I might take on concertina next year
Pick an instrument that makes the sound you like and gets you excited. That 's what its all about.
I stopped playing the wood 5 years ago when I acquired the famous lump of wood. Saves putting a hole in the riddle. I hate that business of hitting the wood when playing the skin. Must be getting old, like Captain McCloskey.
where do i go from here?
where do i go from here?
well what i mean by that is. i play tin whistleand am learning by ear and getting better each day with my enthusiasm growing with every new tune i learn.
but im thinking of learning some other instrument that isnt windy type of instrument. and i dont know what to choose. so what instrument would be recomended that doesnt takes years of lectures to make your own tunes? (not guitar)
also an instrument that requires a teacher for weekly lessons is a no. im running short on csh and have to catch up on studies.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by michael willoson
Re: where do i go from here?
I'd go with mandolin myself... Wait! I already did.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by abuteague
Re: where do i go from here?
Concertina ~ it uses the same fingers, both hands too...
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by ceolachan
Re: where do i go from here?
17 fret tenor banjo - then you can always take up the mandolin later. I love playing mandolin, but even a good one gets drowned out in a loud session and a cheap one stands no chance.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by RichardB
Re: where do i go from here?
I'd second tenor banjo. It's just a fun instrument, and if you want to learn mandolin or fiddle later, you'll already know where the notes are. I think the banjo is a great duet instrument for whistle, fiddle, and accordion, too.
If not that, concertina or button accordion are good options, too.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by nofrets
Re: where do i go from here?
Please bear in mind there's nothing wrong with being a *good* whistle player. Personally I still find it difficult to consistently play tunes well on the whistle...might just be me though.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: where do i go from here?
A mandolin is sweet & merry, generally inexpensive (for a decent starter) and readily available (new or used) option... Yes, it is 'quiet' compared to say the tenor banjo, but that has its pluses and it is one of the least obtrusive and consequently most welcomed instruments in the house or a small session...
There is another mad but portable option ~ the ukelele!
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by ceolachan
Re: where do i go from here?
concertina.
stay with the whistle and get really good at it. . Its the ultimate trad instrument, though the pipers might disagree
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by jig
Re: where do i go from here?
well yeah im gonna stay with whistle. i didnt spend good money and an oath to get good at it for nothing.
but is a mandolin easy to learn? and you dont nead tutoring?
i was thinkin concertina buti hear its hard. something good for a person with not much spare time
so far mandolin sound convincing
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by michael willoson
Re: where do i go from here?
If you don't feel you're a strings person, a box is a nice thing to play as well as whistle - that's my combination, as it happens.
The main choice there is between:
Concertina,
Melodeon,
Piano accordion (or big button job).
Decent boxes, unfortunately, come expensive. Cheap but crappy melodeons, in particular, litter the world. Maybe good piano accordions provide the best value for money, bought new, because they are made and sold in quantity and are thereby still profitable when sold at a lower price, unlike concertinas and melodeons which are made for a more limited market...but I might be wrong here, and my grasp of economics is shaky. By all means spend the minimum on a ropey box if you're doing so just to get a feel of that kind of instrument, but be aware what you've landed yourself with. (And free reed instruments, like cars, deteriorate with age, not improve.)
Melodeons are a minefield of different models, tunings and fingerings; to learn on one sort doesn't mean you can pick up and play another sort, without taking some time to learn its ways. Fortunately there have been many discussions on the pros and cons of different kinds of melodeon in The Session, and these can be looked up. In brief, though - "There's the BC, and there's all the rest..." That is to say, boxes in the other common tunings have a lot in common with one another, but the BC - while favoured by many - is very different from any of them to play.
As for concertinas, the verdict of the Irish music world is clearly in favour of the Anglo Concertina, it would appear.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by nicholas
Re: where do i go from here?
I'm mostly self taught on mandolin.
I've found you can get pretty far along without much instruction. Others may be able to say the same about different instruments. Perhaps it is a matter of motivation.
Instruction has helped with ornamentation, pick direction, and right hand technique. Relevant theory and exercises have helped me find my way around the fretboard. Since I don't have regular tutoring, I still work on these by myself.
I benefited from Padraig Carroll's book with the CD, "The Complete Guide to Learning the Irish Mandolin."
I also noticed some free material at http://www.melbay.com/mandolinsessions/index.html. The beginning Irish mandolin selection looks promising and the back issues are still posted as well. It has slow and fast versions of tunes in MP3 format and notation. Each piece has some commentary with suggestions for overcoming difficult bits.
Good luck in your search.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by abuteague
Re: where do i go from here?
Here's yet another fiddler who wishes he was as good on the whistle as he is on the fiddle. My problem is I end up getting ticked while practicing the whistle, and my first thought always is: "I can already play this tune on the fiddle, what the heck am I messing with this thing for?!?!"
Seriously, carry on. There's nothing wrong at all with being a good whistle player, everything about it is "right" as a matter of fact!
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: where do i go from here?
concert flute....you can get keyless one for a decent price..same fingering too
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by tinwhistler10
Re: where do i go from here?
" ~ some other instrument that isnt windy type of instrument."
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by michael willoson
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by ceolachan
Re: where do i go from here?
why do whistle players feel they have to progress onto something more "challenging". Whistle is wonderful instruments in the right hands - stick with it, soon won't be many whistle players left, they'll have become pipers, fluters, etc.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by MollyB
Re: where do i go from here?
Michael Willoson wrote:
'but im thinking of learning some other instrument that isnt windy type of instrument. and i dont know what to choose. so what instrument would be recomended that doesnt takes years of lectures to make your own tunes?'
Isn't this another wind-up?
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: where do i go from here?
I don't think so. Naive perhaps though.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: where do i go from here?
Stick with the "penny" whistle, the most traditional and prince of instruments. And they cost about £3, or $6. I love a good whistle player, hard to find as they all play flutes.
As for the mandolin? As a humble bodhran player, even I can play a mandolin, so I suppose it must be sooooo easy.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: where do i go from here?
I've been thinking the same thing. It would be nice to play a string instrument. Not just flute (and whistle to some extent, although I only ever played the whistle at a session for the first time last week.) I've been thinking about the mandolin. There aren't very many of them at our session. I think they sound pretty loud and they're so versatile and have such a pleasing sound.
My boyfriend is thinking about the concertina. Apparently the patent for the concertina says that it's the easiest to play, even a non-musician can make music right away. I doubt that is true, but he's a non-musician and made music on it right away, so maybe it's not so far-fetched.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by sbhikes
Re: where do i go from here?
So why not a guitar? It's amazingly versatile, and there is probably more teach your self media available for it than anything else in the universe, not to mention other players to ask questions.
# Posted on January 22nd 2008 by monkey440
Re: where do i go from here?
Why not a guitar ?
Because they're ubiquitous.
Do you really enjoy a session with more than one rhythm guitar ?
I second the mandolin suggestion, you can always use the fingering skills to trade up, to fiddle, tenor banjo, octave mandolin or 'zouk. And I've never heard anyone suggest that two mandolins is one too many for a session.
The uke is a bit of a wild card, and only if you enjoy lots of high-pitched chordal accompaniment ( quick look over shoulder to check for absence of Significant Other ). But it is light and portable.
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: where do i go from here?
There's always a bass Uke...
~ Or, why not introduce something new, like the balalaika?
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by ceolachan
Re: where do i go from here?
I am also mainly self taught on mandolin. Only been playing for three years, but surprising how quick I have came along, had never played any instrument before. the fact that it is quieter than most instruments allows me to play in sessions with more confidence. I have since aquired a tenor banjo and mandola, but with the banjo you make a mistake everyone can hear it.
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by paddyd65
Re: where do i go from here?
I’d vote for Mandolin because:
1) They’re relatively cheap – I’ve never heard anyone complaining they bought a cheap one and it wasn’t worth the money
2) They’re portable, so it doesn’t matter so much if you take it to the session and never get it out of its case. If you try that with a box of any kind you’re going to attract negative publicity.
3) They’re quiet enough to noodle in sessions without upsetting anyone, especially if you sit at the back. Also, you can practice at night without getting a divorce, or moving to Wyoming.
4) I know half a dozen people who have taken it up as a second or third instrument. They’re all still persevering with it (so I’m guessing they made enough progress to figure it was worth continuing) and only one of them is actually taking lessons.
5) It’s the same fingering as several other instruments, so you’ve more opportunities if you decide two noise makers aren’t enough for you.
Don’t get a box as they’re big, heavy, expensive and loud.
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by bc_box_player
Re: where do i go from here?
And paddy,
I thought if you made a mistake on the banjo people just thought that was what the banjo sounded like...
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by bc_box_player
Re: where do i go from here?
ha some witty comments in here i see. well so concertina and mandolin sound convinceing.
thanks everybody
but if i wanted to practice mandolin (my final question)
would it beeasier practicing on a backpackers mandolin before buying the proper thing?
my friends got a packy and it look sooo cool
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by michael willoson
Re: where do i go from here?
my advice would be get whatever mando you get set up for low action. and get a tuner
8strings!
IS the packy cheap?
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by jig
Re: where do i go from here?
i think theyre 150 dollars (au)
you know what they are right? just a really small mandolin. smaller than ukelele. but it has four strings
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by michael willoson
Re: where do i go from here?
I dont really know, no. post a link.?4 strings sounds good. I just have4 on my mandolin.....simpler
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by jig
Re: where do i go from here?
is concertina easy? and doe it require tutoring?
awfully sorry if im being a bother to some
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by michael willoson
Re: where do i go from here?
MW
'easy' is what you make of it. Some people never get more than squaks and squeeks out of whistles. Sounds like you are ahead in that game.
At 55 two years ago, I started learning button box. It was a brain transplant as a piano player (and whistle). You work through it. I am having a wonderful time with it.
Herself shuddered the other day when I suggested that I might take on concertina next year
Pick an instrument that makes the sound you like and gets you excited. That 's what its all about.
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by zippydw
Re: where do i go from here?
No, I'm right, Danny,
It was a wind-up - 'a really small mandolin, smaller than a ukulele'!
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: where do i go from here?
I am getting half a whistle next week. Very compact.
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: where do i go from here?
What you *really* need is half a bodhran. Preferably the half without the skin.
# Posted on January 23rd 2008 by benhall.1
Re: where do i go from here?
Yes, I do sound wonderful playing the wood, but it would become a trifle monotonous.
# Posted on January 24th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: where do i go from here?
A bodhran? Monotonous? Surely shome mishtake!
# Posted on January 24th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: where do i go from here?
Just playing the wood. Just playing the wood. Just playing the wood.
Got that?
# Posted on January 24th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: where do i go from here?
Yep. Playing the skin. Playing the wood. Playing the skin. Playing the wood. Playing the skin ...
I see ... so-o-o much better ...
# Posted on January 25th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: where do i go from here?
I stopped playing the wood 5 years ago when I acquired the famous lump of wood. Saves putting a hole in the riddle. I hate that business of hitting the wood when playing the skin. Must be getting old, like Captain McCloskey.
# Posted on January 25th 2008 by bodhran bliss