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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Instrument of the Month: Penny Whistle

It's August and you know what that means. it's time again for Instrument of the Month! This time around we will be looking at :

The Irish Penny Whistle


Also called the tin whistle, or feadog, the Irish penny whistle is an instrument of Irish (obviously) decent that has been around for thousands of years. It is an end-blown, six-holed fipple flute. It's most closely associated with Celtic or Irish music, and is a great tool for learning basic reels. It's also fantastic for beginning musical education.


The modern penny whistle as we know it was born in England in the mid-1800s, but the flute as a whole is part of a much larger family of fipple-flutes dating back as far as 50,000 years ago. These days they are typically made of aluminum or wood, they can be tapered or straight, and some come with a detachable head while others are one solid piece. The tin whistle is a diatonic instrument. That means if a whistler wants to play in different keys, they'll need numerous whistles in various keys, so many feadogs come with detachable heads that can be placed on different scale bodies. Know what else is awesome? The Low D Feadog.

Arguably the most famous song utilizing the tin whistle is "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, but it's long history in Celtic music has given it a robust set of songs, like Cooley's Reel above, or:

The Butterfly



Swallowtail
 


Concerning Hobbits
 


The pennywhistle is no stranger to contemporary music either, like the before-mentioned  Lord of the Rings' "Concerning Hobbits". There are many great online resources for learning to play the tin whistle, and so many new performers are learning to pick it up. Some great modern uses of the tin whistle include:

The Corrs: Little Wing
 


Akeboshi: Wind
 


The Unicorns: Sea Ghost
 


Flogging Molly: Devil's Dance Floor



and my personal favorite:

Jimi Hendrix Tin Whistle: What Might Have Been?
 

 
If you're interested in purchasing a penny whistle, some great online shops are here, here, here.
For more information and TABs of whistle music, check here or Google search for more.

For instruments similar to the penny whistle, check out the fife and the Irish flute. You Zelda fans might also be interested in the ocarina.

Well that's it for this month's special instrument. See you guys in September!

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