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    • Lesson 1: Getting Started on the Tin Whistle
    • Lesson 2: Holding and Blowing the Tin Whistle
    • Lesson 3: Tin Whistle G and Metronomes
    • Lesson 4: Tin Whistle F# and Squeaky Sounds
    • Lesson 5: Tin Whistle E and Half Notes
    • Lesson 6: Tin Whistle D, Whole Notes and 3 Blind Mice
    • Lesson 7: Tin Whistle A, Legato and Breathing
    • Lesson 8: Tin Whistle B and Tied Notes
    • Lesson 9: Tin Whistle C# and Dot's
    • Lesson 10: Tin Whistle C and the Key of G
    • Lesson 11: Tin Whistle High D and 8th Notes
    • Lesson 12: Easy Tin Whistle Songs and 3/4
    • Lesson 13: Tin Whistle High E
    • Lesson 14: Tin Whistle High F#
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    • Lesson 16: Tin Whistle High A
    • Lesson 17: Tin Whistle High B
    • Lesson 18: Tin Whistle tunes using both octaves and 2/4 Time
  • Novice
    • Lesson 1: Tin Whistle Breath Control and Tone
    • Lesson 2: Tin Whistle Tonguing
    • Lesson 3: Tin Whistle Low Hand Taps
    • Lesson 4: Tin Whistle High Hand Taps
    • Lesson 5: Tin Whistle Songs with Taps
    • Lesson 6: Tin Whistle Cuts
    • Lesson 7: Slow Airs and Tin Whistle Slides
    • Lesson 8: Ascending Tin Whistle Cuts
    • Lesson 9: Tin Whistle Polka's and 2/4 Time
    • Lesson 10: Descending Tin Whistle Cuts
    • Lesson 11: Tin Whistle Repeats, Intros, Endings and Triplets
    • Lesson 12: Tin Whistle Marches
    • Lesson 13: Tin Whistle Tuning
    • Lesson 14: Tin Whistle Vibrato
  • Advanced
    • Lesson 1: Tin Whistle Long Rolls
    • Lesson 2: Tin Whistle Jigs
    • Lesson 3: Tin Whistle Short Rolls
    • Lesson 4: Tin Whistle Reels
    • Lesson 5: Tin Whistle Hornpipe
    • Lesson 6: Tin Whistle Slip Jigs
    • Lesson 7: Tin Whistle Crans
    • Lesson 8: Tin Whistle BCD Triplet
    • Lesson 9: Tin Whistle Slides (Jigs)
    • Lesson 10: Tin Whistle Double Cuts
    • Lesson 11: Tin Whistle Finger Bounces and Descending Taps
    • Lesson 12: Tune Interpretations and Variations
    • Lesson 13: Practicing
    • Lesson 14: Transposition and Different Keyed Whistles
    • Lesson 15: Low Whistles
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Lesson 6: Tin Whistle Cuts


tin whistle cuts
"Ornamentation is the practice of adding notes to a melody to allow music to be more expressive."  You will be learning many different ornamentations in these lessons and it's important to understand and know a few things. Styles and techniques of ornamentation vary widely among whistle players. I will be teaching you the way I learned how I play ornamentations. However, it is not necessarily how everyone does it. You have many options and you will eventually have a choice on how you would like to play them.
These next couple of lessons are going to be centering around 'cuts' also sometimes called 'grace notes'. They are very fast little notes placed in-between longer notes to give the music some flavour. Make sure to go about these exercises slow in-order to do them correctly and resist the temptation to tense up while learning them properly. The cut is a way to attack a note. It should occur right on the beat, not before it as its written on sheet music. Its probably easier to think of the cut as having no duration and that it is just part of the note that is in-front of it. These are important to get right because they will be the base for all the more complicated embellishment in further lessons.


Cuts on Repeated Notes
The simplest use of a cut is on a repeated note to help separate them similar to the 'tap' in the previous lesson. When two notes of the same value are played side by side and need to be separated; you can either take a breath, tap or cut. The videos below will show you an example of a cut done slowly and then up to speed. Pay special attention to the slow one.

B Cut
tin whistle B cut

A Cut
tin whistle A cut

G Cut
tin whistle G cut

F# Cut
tin whistle F# cut

E Cut
tin whistle E cut

D Cut
You will notice below that I say to use an A cut when on D.
​Keep in mind that you can also use a G cut if you prefer on D.
tin whistle D cut

Cuts Exercise 
Picture
Please don't rush through this lesson or the next couple. Just because it's one lesson doesn't mean you should be able to get through it in one day. It could take you several days to get through any lesson and you might have to revisit lessons after you have gone through them.

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  • Login
  • Beginner
    • Lesson 1: Getting Started on the Tin Whistle
    • Lesson 2: Holding and Blowing the Tin Whistle
    • Lesson 3: Tin Whistle G and Metronomes
    • Lesson 4: Tin Whistle F# and Squeaky Sounds
    • Lesson 5: Tin Whistle E and Half Notes
    • Lesson 6: Tin Whistle D, Whole Notes and 3 Blind Mice
    • Lesson 7: Tin Whistle A, Legato and Breathing
    • Lesson 8: Tin Whistle B and Tied Notes
    • Lesson 9: Tin Whistle C# and Dot's
    • Lesson 10: Tin Whistle C and the Key of G
    • Lesson 11: Tin Whistle High D and 8th Notes
    • Lesson 12: Easy Tin Whistle Songs and 3/4
    • Lesson 13: Tin Whistle High E
    • Lesson 14: Tin Whistle High F#
    • Lesson 15: Tin Whistle High G
    • Lesson 16: Tin Whistle High A
    • Lesson 17: Tin Whistle High B
    • Lesson 18: Tin Whistle tunes using both octaves and 2/4 Time
  • Novice
    • Lesson 1: Tin Whistle Breath Control and Tone
    • Lesson 2: Tin Whistle Tonguing
    • Lesson 3: Tin Whistle Low Hand Taps
    • Lesson 4: Tin Whistle High Hand Taps
    • Lesson 5: Tin Whistle Songs with Taps
    • Lesson 6: Tin Whistle Cuts
    • Lesson 7: Slow Airs and Tin Whistle Slides
    • Lesson 8: Ascending Tin Whistle Cuts
    • Lesson 9: Tin Whistle Polka's and 2/4 Time
    • Lesson 10: Descending Tin Whistle Cuts
    • Lesson 11: Tin Whistle Repeats, Intros, Endings and Triplets
    • Lesson 12: Tin Whistle Marches
    • Lesson 13: Tin Whistle Tuning
    • Lesson 14: Tin Whistle Vibrato
  • Advanced
    • Lesson 1: Tin Whistle Long Rolls
    • Lesson 2: Tin Whistle Jigs
    • Lesson 3: Tin Whistle Short Rolls
    • Lesson 4: Tin Whistle Reels
    • Lesson 5: Tin Whistle Hornpipe
    • Lesson 6: Tin Whistle Slip Jigs
    • Lesson 7: Tin Whistle Crans
    • Lesson 8: Tin Whistle BCD Triplet
    • Lesson 9: Tin Whistle Slides (Jigs)
    • Lesson 10: Tin Whistle Double Cuts
    • Lesson 11: Tin Whistle Finger Bounces and Descending Taps
    • Lesson 12: Tune Interpretations and Variations
    • Lesson 13: Practicing
    • Lesson 14: Transposition and Different Keyed Whistles
    • Lesson 15: Low Whistles
  • Tunes
    • Slow Airs >
      • Dawn of the Day
      • Mo Ghile Mear
      • South Wind
      • Down By the Sally Gardens
    • Marches >
      • Minstrel Boy
      • Irish Rover
      • Mairi's Wedding
    • Polkas >
      • Kerry Polka
      • Britches Full of Stitches
      • John Ryan's Polka
    • Reels >
      • Rolling in the Rye Grass
      • Morning Star
      • Wind that Shakes the Barley
      • Dunmore Lassies
    • Jigs >
      • Donnybrook Fair
      • Sporting Pitchfork
      • Humours of Glendart
      • Fig For A Kiss
      • Lilting Banshee
    • Hornpipes >
      • Off to California
      • Boys of Bluehill
      • Harvest Home
  • About