Hi there
I'm learning the tin whistle from books and sites such as this one as there are no teachers to be found here in Australia.
I've hit some snags learning rolls.
Snag 1:
top two holes - when fingers on the same hand are required to make the cut AND the tap. I'm finding the speed and quality just won't come and it feels very stange and unco-ordinated. The frustrating thing is that I have it going well on the bottom four holes.
Is there another way to do this, or is this just a stage to pass through??
Snag 2:
Rolls for certain notes don't seem possible, but appear in song books. For example trying a roll on these notes - D,C,C#
Any ideas are gratefully received.
Troy
The top two notes are
The top two notes are definitely the hardest for rolls -- it's something that just takes practice, I'm afraid. Make sure to practice slowly and in rhythm so that when you do play up to speed you'll still be consistent.
You're right that you won't be able to get a roll on a D since there's no other hole below the note that's available. That's where the crans come in. Have a look at that tutorial and you'll see how to work those into your playing.
Doing a roll on C or C# is a bit tricky and definitely open to interpretation. On C-natural I like to just tap my top finger twice -- not the most elegant solution, but it works. For C# you can do the "cut" part of the roll by tonguing and then tap with the top finger. Again, it won't sound like a roll on a lower note but it serves the purpose.
Hope this helps!