Instrument
Tin Whistle sheet music
2,044 titles in the index · page 1 of 43
The whistle is the cheapest instrument in this catalogue and the one where buying the wrong book is most likely, because a whistle plays in a fixed key and books do not always say which one they assume.
The listing below covers tune collections, tutor books, tablature editions and arrangements with accompaniment.
Václav Jan Tomášek - 6 Eglogues, Op.83
- Tin Whistle
Jesus Calls Us (Galilee)
- Choir
- Tin Whistle
Silent night (Christmas)
- Guitar
- Voice
- Choir
Slip Into Spring
- Guitar
- Voice
- Tin Whistle
The Harvest
- Piano
- Guitar
- Voice
American Wake
- Piano
- Guitar
- Voice
Heartland
- Guitar
- Voice
- Tin Whistle
Drowsy Maggie
- Piano
- violin
- Tin Whistle
Cliffs Of Doneen
- Piano
- Guitar
- Voice
The Countess Cathleen
- Piano
- Guitar
- Tin Whistle
Women Of The Sidhe
- Piano
- Guitar
- Voice
Sourwood Mountain
- Piano
- Guitar
- Recorder
Hampton Court
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Dedication
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Epigraph
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Foreword by Gearoid O hAllmhurain, Ph. D.
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Preface
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Acknowledgements and Credits
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Introduction
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
SECTION 1: First Matters
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 1: Orientation to Traditional Irish Music on the Flute and Tin Whistle
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 2: The Language Analogy
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
SECTION 2: The Instruments
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 3: The Irish or Simple System-Flute and the Modern Flute
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 4: The Tin Whistle
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 5: Holding and Blowing the Tin Whistle
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 6: Holding and Blowing the Flute
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
SECTION 3: Ornamentation
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Introduction to Ornamentation
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Preface to Single-Note Ornaments
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 7: Cuts
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 8: Strikes
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 9: Slides
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Preface to Multi-Note Ornaments
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 10: Long Rolls
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 11: Short Rolls
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 12: Condensed Long Rolls
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 13: Condensed Short Rolls
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 14: Rolls in Tunes with Overly Uneven Subdivisions of the Beat
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 15: Double-Cut Rolls
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 16: Cranns
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 17: Charts of the Rolls and Cranns and their Symbols
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 18: Other Mulit-Note Ornaments
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 19: Ornamentation through Melodic Variation
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
SECTION 4: Phrasing, Articulation, and Use of the Breath
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 20: Tonguing, Multiple Tonguing, and Throating
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
CHAPTER 21: Musical Breathing
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
SECTION 5: Final Matters
- Flute
- Tin Whistle
Buying guide
What to know before you buy
A whistle is in one key
The standard instrument is a D whistle, and it plays comfortably in D and G — which is exactly why Irish session repertoire lives in those keys. Whistles in C, B♭, E♭ and low D also exist.
A tune printed in F is not playable on a D whistle without a different instrument or a transposition. Collections aimed at whistle players stay in the session keys; collections of songs arranged from other sources frequently do not, and that is the mismatch to watch for.
Tab, and why it is nearly universal here
Whistle tab is a column of six circles, filled or open, showing which holes to cover. It is simple enough to learn in an afternoon and is printed in most tutor books alongside standard notation.
Because tab shows finger positions rather than pitches, it is the same for any key of whistle — a D tab played on a C whistle produces the tune a tone lower, correctly fingered. That is a genuine advantage and the reason tab persists here where it is treated as a crutch elsewhere.
What is free
The Irish and Scottish traditional repertoire is out of copyright and enormous collections of it are free. A paid tutor buys you graded ordering, ornamentation notated rather than assumed, and a set of tunes chosen to build technique in a sensible sequence.
Common questions
- Which key of tin whistle should I buy?
- D. It suits the session keys of D and G, which is where the traditional repertoire sits, and it is what almost every tutor book assumes.
- Can I use a D whistle book on a C whistle?
- If it uses tab, yes — the fingering is the same and the tune simply sounds a tone lower. If it uses standard notation, you would be transposing.
- Is tin whistle music free?
- The traditional repertoire is entirely free. Tutor books are worth paying for, because they order the tunes to build technique and notate ornamentation that free collections leave out.