Orki The Whistler
@OrkiTheWhistler
Member since October 2025
Tabs
Rooney's Favourite
Rooney’s Favourite is a modern Irish jig often mistaken for an older tune. The common D dorian session setting dips below the whistle’s low D, so this version is set up a fifth in A dorian — watch for the high C natural near the top, played with a half-holed C.
Blacksmith, The
The Blacksmith is a haunting English folk song made famous by Steeleye Span, also known as "A Blacksmith Courted Me." This B minor setting sits comfortably in the whistle’s range and makes a lovely, plaintive slow jig.
Calum's Road
Calum’s Road by Donald Shaw of Capercaillie honours Calum MacLeod, who spent ten years building a road to his Raasay township by hand. This A major setting fits the D whistle, with a high C sharp near the top to watch for.
Planxty Fitzgerald
Planxty Fitzgerald is a modern harp tune by Michael Rooney, so convincing in the old style that it is often mistaken for an O’Carolan piece. This G major setting stays within the whistle’s range and makes a lovely slow waltz.
Wrong Foot Forward
Wrong Foot Forward is a modern slip jig from the band Flook, a favourite of flute and whistle players. Mind the time signature: this setting runs in 7/8, which is exactly what gives the tune its off-balance lift.
Misty Mountains (The Hobbit)
The dwarves’ song from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, better known as Misty Mountains. This E minor setting sits low and dark on the D whistle, matching the mood of the scene by the fireside in Bag End.
Immigrant, The
The Immigrant is a slow waltz known from Joanie Madden’s whistle playing with Cherish the Ladies. This D major setting fits the whistle’s two octaves exactly and rewards gentle phrasing over speed.
Lyke Wake Dirge
The Lyke Wake Dirge is one of England’s oldest surviving songs, a stark Yorkshire funeral chant sung since at least the 1600s. The A minor melody spans barely an octave, so it plays beautifully on any whistle.
Lonesome Boatman, The
Finbar Furey’s The Lonesome Boatman may be the most famous tin whistle piece ever written. This D setting keeps the long haunting phrases exactly where whistle players expect them, so take it slow and let the notes ring.
Road to Boston
Road to Boston is a New England march that fife and whistle players have carried for two centuries. This D major setting uses the whistle’s strongest octave and is very beginner friendly.
Killavil Jig, The
The Killavil Jig is named for the Sligo townland that gave Irish music so many session standards. This G major setting flows easily on the D whistle and pairs nicely with other jigs in a set.
Sligo Maid, The
The Sligo Maid is a well-loved session reel from the Sligo fiddle tradition, played here in A dorian. It sits perfectly on a D whistle with no awkward notes, and it is a great tune for building steady reel rhythm.
I'll Bid My Heart Be Still
I’ll Bid My Heart Be Still is an old Scottish Borders air with words by Thomas Pringle, a quiet, mournful melody beloved of flute and whistle players. It needs the C natural cross-fingering throughout, but its slow pace gives you time to place each note.
An Dreoilín (The Wren Song)
An Dreoilín — the Wren Song — is the tune of the St. Stephen’s Day wrenboys, carried door to door on December 26th for generations. In D major and jig time, it stays in the whistle’s first octave, making it an easy seasonal tune to pick up.
Hot Cross Buns
The classic English nursery rhyme Hot Cross Buns, using just three notes — B, A and G — on a D tin whistle. Often the very first melody a whistle player learns.
Jingle Bells
The chorus of Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpont, 1857) set for tin whistle in D major. It sits entirely in the whistle’s first octave with no tricky fingerings, making it a perfect first Christmas tune for beginners.
Beidh Aonach Amárach
Beidh Aonach Amárach (There’ll Be a Fair Tomorrow) is one of the best-known Irish-language children’s songs, sung in classrooms all over Ireland. In D major it uses only the whistle’s six basic fingerings plus the second-octave D — an ideal early tune for young players.
Fire on the Mountain
Fire on the Mountain is an American old-time breakdown with roots going back to an 1814 New York flute collection, still a favourite at bluegrass jams today. Transposed from D down to G so its high runs stay on the whistle, it is all quick scale passages — start slow and let the tempo come.
Lord of the Dance
Lord of the Dance is Sydney Carter’s 1963 hymn, set to the old Shaker tune Simple Gifts and recorded by The Dubliners among many others. The melody stays within one octave plus a note on the D whistle, with the C natural cross-fingering as the only new skill — a satisfying tune for improving beginners.
Red Is the Rose
Red Is the Rose is the Irish love song that shares its sweeping melody with Scotland’s Loch Lomond, recorded memorably by The High Kings and Nanci Griffith. Transposed here to D major so every note falls on the D whistle, it is a lovely slow tune for building tone and phrasing.
Humours of Tullycrine, The
The Humours of Tullycrine is a West Clare hornpipe in A dorian, named for the townland near Kilrush and also known as Bobby Casey’s. Give it the characteristic hornpipe swing, and use the C natural cross-fingering throughout — there are no C sharps in this one.
Last Rose of Summer, The
The Last Rose of Summer is Thomas Moore’s beloved 1805 air, set here in D major where it falls naturally on the tin whistle. Watch for the single A sharp passing note in the third line — half-cover the A hole, or simply play a plain A if you prefer. Guitar chords are included in the sheet view.
Parting Glass, The
The Parting Glass is the great Irish and Scottish farewell song, sung at the end of gatherings for centuries and known today from The Clancy Brothers to Ed Sheeran. This E dorian setting fits the D whistle perfectly — the marked rolls are optional, so start plain and let the melody breathe.
My Lagan Love
My Lagan Love is one of the great Irish slow airs, collected in Donegal and famously recorded by The Chieftains. This setting sits in A mixolydian on the D whistle: play it rubato, and note the two colour notes — a G sharp (half-cover the G hole) and a high C natural — that give the air its haunting character.