This notation is pretty simple; dark circles mean covered holes; empty circles mean uncovered holes; a '+' below means to blow harder to get the upper octave; a '#' below means this note is too low for the whistle chosen and you'll have to fake it :) The author of this program always plays accidentals by closing holes, so you'll never see half-covered holes.
When I was starting, I found notation like this to be very helpful, and I know plenty of people who have trouble reading music who find this notation easier. Good luck!
(This score available as
ABC,
SongWright,
PostScript,
PNG, or
PMW, or
a MIDI file)
(Choose a whistle key:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
Ab
Bb
Cb
Db
Eb
Fb
Gb
A#
B#
C#
D#
E#
F#
G#)
Dulcimer tab
for this song is also available
Girls of the Shamrock Shore It being in the spring when the small birds sing And the lambs do sport and play I entered as a passenger To New South Wales sailed o'er And I'll bid farewell to all that dwell And the girls of the Shamrock Shore The ship that we set sail upon The Speedwell was her name For full five months and longer We sailed the foaming main Neither land nor harbour could we see Or the girls of the Shamrock Shore On the fourteenth of September We then did reach the land We went on shore at Sydney Cove All chained hand to hand My sentence is for fourteen years Farewell to the Shamrock Shore Collected from Sally Sloane by John Meredith. She told Meredith that she learned it from her grandmother. See 'Botany Bay 2' in this collection for a related tune. MG MG apr96
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!