[scots-l] confused fiddlehead attempts whistle

[David Greenberg or Kate Dunlay]

Hi folks,

I've been attempting to learn to play the whistle lately (can old dogs 
learn new tricks?). I'm wondering about the ornamentation. I can see 
that pipe-playing whistle players naturally approach ornamentation a 
certain way, which is quite different from what my fiddle-playing 
instincts tell me to do. I'll never be a piper in this life, so do I 
need to try to do it their way or can I just do it my own way? Is there 
an advantage to doing it their way? For instance, I am assuming that 
the suggestions for ornamentation on Nigel Gatherer's helpful site are 
pipe oriented. But since whistles don't have drones, there isn't 
anything magic about an A note anymore, is there? So I don't have to do 
cuts from an A note, maybe? Also, I don't know why people think 
whistles are so easy. Fiddles seem a lot easier to me!

- Kate D.

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