Who it's for
Anyone who has a tune as letter names and wants to see the fingerings: from a songbook, a piano or recorder book, a forum post or the description under a video. It also suits players who find ABC from The Session hard to read at speed, and teachers turning a class song sheet into tab for D whistles. If the tune is already on the site, the tab library has it, most with a play-along; this tool is for everything else.
A worked example
Paste E D C D E E E | D D D | E G G, the start of Mary Had a Little Lamb as it appears in most children's songbooks, in C. A D whistle has no low C, so the converter lifts the whole tune into the second octave and gives you e+d+cd+e+e+e+ d+d+d+ e+g+g+. That works, but it is high, shrill and needs a C natural. Press Transpose to fit and it moves the tune up a tone into D, where it sits in the easy bottom octave on plain fingerings: f#edef#f#f# eee f#aa. Each bar you marked with | becomes one group of notes on the tab.
Which octave is which?
Most people typing a tune from memory don't mark octaves at all, so when there are no octave marks anywhere the converter follows the melody: each note goes to the octave closest to the note before it. That is how you would read "E D C D E E E" off a songbook without thinking about it. As soon as you add a + or an octave number anywhere, it switches to reading every note exactly as written, with plain letters in the bottom octave of the whistle.
Converting ABC to tin whistle tab
Most Irish and Scottish tunes online are written in ABC, a text format where K:G sets the key and |:GAB dBG:| is the music. Paste the whole thing, headers included. The key signature is applied for you, an accidental holds until the end of the bar just like on paper, and chord symbols, grace notes and ornament marks are left out so they don't turn into stray notes.
Tab shows fingering, not rhythm, so note lengths are dropped and each bar becomes a group of notes. Keep the ABC or a recording nearby for the swing of a jig or the lift of a reel. If ABC is new to you, read our guide to ABC for whistle players.
When a tune doesn't fit the whistle
A D whistle has two octaves, from the D above middle C to the D two octaves up. That covers nearly every folk tune, but a song copied from a piano book in C or F will often dip below the bottom D. Those notes simply don't exist on the instrument, so the converter lists them and leaves them out of the tab.
Press Transpose to fit and it tries every key, keeps the ones where the whole tune fits, and then prefers the key with the fewest half-holed and cross-fingered notes and the least time in the upper octave. In practice that usually means D or G, the two keys a D whistle is happiest in. If you play along with other people, move it back to their key by hand with the arrows, or learn the half-holed notes you need.
Other whistle keys
A C whistle, a low D and a whistle in B flat all use the same fingerings as a D whistle. What changes is the note that comes out. Choose your whistle and the converter works out which fingering gives each written note, and the letters under the tab show the pitch you will actually hear. Not sure which whistle a tune wants? The guide to whistle keys covers it.
Questions
How do I convert notes to tin whistle tabs?
Type or paste the notes as letters (for example D E F# G A B C# D) or paste an ABC tune. The converter writes out the tab for every note: filled circles are covered holes, empty circles are open holes, and a + under a note means the second octave. Download it as a PNG or open it in the composer to keep editing.
Can I convert ABC notation to tin whistle tab?
Yes. Paste the whole ABC tune including the X:, T: and K: lines. The converter reads the key signature from the K: line, applies sharps, flats and naturals the way ABC does (to the end of the bar), and skips chord symbols, grace notes and ornament marks. The title from T: becomes the title of your tab.
Why are some notes out of range?
A D whistle plays from the D just above middle C up to the D two octaves higher. Songs written for voice or piano often go below that bottom D. Press Transpose to fit and the converter tries every key, then picks the one where the whole tune fits with the fewest half-holed notes. That is why Mary Had a Little Lamb in C comes out in D.
Does it work for a C whistle, a low D or a whistle in G?
Yes. The fingerings are the same on every whistle, only the pitch changes. Pick your whistle from the list and the tab is worked out for it, with the letter under each note showing the pitch that actually sounds.
What do the + signs mean on the tab?
A + means the same fingering blown a little harder, so the note jumps to the second octave. Two + signs means the third octave, which the converter only uses if a tune really needs it.