Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Overview

  • 13 lessons teaching how to play 13 very popular Irish slow airs and waltzes.
  • Progress at your own pace, pause & repeat videos.
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  • PDF sheet music & mp3’s to download & keep for each tune.
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BONUS:
  • Access our Entire Course Catalogue for Every Instrument.
  • Library of over 150 popular Irish tunes to practice along with.
  • Virtual Reality Sessions for the unique Irish Pub Session experience – a real treat for the Irish music lover.
  • Community Forum of students and teachers, all friends with a love of Irish music.

Ireland is famous the world over for its rich mystical heritage. The lore, the music and the legends; the stone circles, dolmens and tombs; all evoke in us a deep sense of the beyond, the otherworldly. More than any other instrument, wind instruments such as the flute and whistle, seem to innately have the capacity to translate that ethereal mystical nature into haunting notes which, when executed masterfully, offer a glimpse beyond the ordinary.

It is with great excitement that we present this intriguing course, straying from our normal, up-beat lively dance tunes, as we ramble down an even more alluring, possibly even contemplative, path. It is taught by flautist and whistler Kirsten Allstaff, steeped as she is in the Celtic tradition all her life.

So we invite you to tarry a while in her expert company as she invites you into the world of waltzes and slow airs, to learn first to play them, and then perhaps moving into the even more intriguing delight of letting this instrument play you as you explore embellishments and articulations that really bring the tunes to life!

By the end of the course you will have dipped your toes into some tunes that are centuries old, with a couple of exceptions. With 13 lessons in all, each lesson is broken down into 3 to 4 tutorials, taking you slowly and methodically through the skills and techniques. Although the course is aimed at those who already play, it is a basic course, accessible to all, and recommended to basic and accomplished player alike. (This course is also taught on the flute here.)

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Course Structure

The aim of this course is to teach you how to play some slower pieces of music on the tin whistle with haunting embellishments.

Kirsten teaches 13 simple and beautiful slower pieces of music from the Irish tradition. All the pieces are very well known and are time honoured favourites here in Ireland and throughout the Irish music world.

Some of the tin whistle techniques Kirsten covers include: ornamentation for slow tunes, vibrato, how to approach phrase endings, articulation, how to create momentum and fluidity with the use of tempo and dynamics.

Tunes covered are:

The South Wind
Down By the Sallygardens
The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow
Éamonn an Chnoic
Planxty Irwin
Thoir Dhomh Do Lámh
Eleanor Plunkett

Marino Waltz
My Lagan Love
An Chuilinn
Lord Inchiquin
Boulavogue

 

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Sheet Music and Mp3s available to Download for each Tune

Sample Sheet Music

Download Boulavogue ABC Sheet Music.
Download Boulavogue Standard Notation Sheet Music.

Sample mp3 of Boulavogue

Download Mp3 of Boulavogue.
Your Tutor
Kirsten Allstaff, co-founder of OAIM, is an acclaimed flute and tin whistle player that has played throughout Ireland, Europe, North America and Asia with various Irish dance shows and groups. She has a First-Class Honours Master’s Degree in Traditional Irish Music Performance from the University of Limerick, Ireland. She previously tutored flute and whistle at The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance where she was involved in early online lecturing initiatives. Kirsten’s opening lesson of the Tin Whistle Basics course to date has reached over 900,000 views on YouTube and consistently ranks in first position for those searching for tin whistle lessons, a testament to the quality of her teaching and popularity as a teacher. Read more.

Detailed questions and discussion on the course can be found in the Community Forum, available to paying members only.
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Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lessons

Level

Boulavogue

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 1

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

The focus of this lesson is on vibrato

Air

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The South Wind

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 2

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focuses on breath control, melodic cuts and slides.

Waltz

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Down by the Sally Gardens

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 3

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Study on breath control, melodic cuts and slides

Air

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Eleanor Plunkett

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 4

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Study of articulation and ornamentation

Waltz

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Thoir Dhomh do Lámh

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 5

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus of this lesson is on vibrato

Waltz

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Éamonn an Chnoic

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 6

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on vibrato and the tapering of phrase ending

Air

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The Lonesome Boatman

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 7

  • E Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Continuing the study of vibrato and phrase endings

Air

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The Marino Casino

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 8

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Continuing study of ornamentation and articulation

Waltz

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The Pretty Maid Milking Her Cow

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 9

  • A Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Study of vibrato, phrase endings and ornamentation

Air

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Planxty Irwin

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 10

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on slides and cuts

Waltz

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Lord Inchiquin

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 11

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

There is a distinctly Baroque sound to this planxty of O’Carolans

Waltz

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An Chuilinn

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 12

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Fluidity of tempo, dynamics and expression

Air

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My Lagan Love

Popular Airs & Waltzes for the Tin Whistle Lesson 13

  • D Mix
  • Level 1
  • Melody

Focus on fluidity of tempo, dynamics and expression

Air

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