The FairDays is a cooperative festival amalgamating two traditional local events‐ Aldergrove Festival Days and the Aldergrove Agricultural Association Fall Fair. This will be our third year working together, although it is the 97th Agricultural Fair and the 24th  Festival.  FairDays is an umbrella organization dedicated to facilitating events that are exciting for residents as well as attractive for visitors. Our goals are entertained visitors , town‐proud residents, and flourishing local businesses.

Tin Whistle Tutorial by Mike Simpson

The tin whistle is a great instrument. It's simple enough for a complete beginner to learn in a short time, yet it is capable of an incredible range of expression, from the most subtle, delicate tune, to a dazzling display of virtuosity. It is extremely versatile and has been used in many different kinds of music for a long time, and is continually being refined and adapted to new music. Last but not necessarily least, it's cheap, small, durable, and completely portable. When practicing, there are a several things you can keep in mind which will increase your skill much more quickly: First, GO SLOWLY. The importance of this cannot be overemphasized. You should practice slowly enough that you are making mistakes less than ten or fifteen percent of the time. If you are finding it hard to play a certain figure right, then slow down until you can play it correctly. Speed will come later. Second, RELAX. Keeping your upper body, especially your stomach and hands, relaxed will help you play faster, cleaner, and more accurately. It will also help you avoid running out of breath, and will enable you to hold your concentration better. Relaxation is most important for speed - you simply will be unable to play well quickly if your fingers are not relaxed. Third, don't be afraid to EXPERIMENT. You'll find your own style that way.

Good Form To play a tin whistle well you must use good form. To start, hold the whistle so that your thumbs are on the bottom, and your fingers are covering the holes. Your left index finger should cover the top hole, and your right ring finger should cover the bottom hole (if you are left-handed, you can reverse these directions). Your other fingers should cover the respective holes in between. From here on in this manual, I will refer to your fingers from the top down according to their corresponding holes (i.e. "first finger", "second finger", etc.) Do not arch your fingers much; you should cover the holes with the pad of the finger, not the tip. If necessary, let your fingers extend over the holes so that the holes are under the middle joints of your longer fingers. Keep your fingers relaxed; too much tension will slow your playing and make it difficult for you to learn to cover the holes easily. Now, raise the whistle to your lips. No special way of gripping the mouthpiece is required; some players hold the whistle between their teeth, and some use only the lips, so find a method which is comfortable, and stick with it (if using your teeth, over time you will wear indentations into the mouthpiece. This can be an advantage in that it helps you grip the mouthpiece, but you may need a new whistle a year or two down the road).

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Breathing

Many beginning players wonder where they're supposed to take a breath, especially in the middle of a fast tune. It's not written into the music (normally), so it's pretty much up to the player to decide. Experienced players use a couple of ways to make space for a breath. First, you may shorten a long note. If you see a quarter note or a dotted quarter note, you can shorten it by an eighth note and take a quick breath there. Second, you can leave out a note. Be aware that taking a breath will put a break in the tune, and choose where you do so accordingly. Practice helps! Have fun and then come along to the Fair and get some more practice on Saturday 25th and the morning of Sunday 26th. We will then be ready to set a new Guiness world record for the largest Tin Whistle Ensemble. Thanks for participating. If there is anything we can help with or any questions we can answer, please call or Email. Finally, looking to stay in Aldergrove? Then call up the wonderful people at The Super 8 at Gloucester (ph 604 856 8288). They are our very enthusiastic sponsors for this event and so let’s help them in return. Kind regards Mike Robinson Pres Aldergrove Festival Days Society. Ph 604 607 7790 Email mrdesign@shaw.ca