Stuck in a (musical) Rut

[@thairishflute6799]

Thanks for posting this video. Like yourself always find myself at a rut musically before I get the second (third, fourth) wind to start playing again. Usually I might go do some of my other hobbies before coming back to the music. But these days, due to various lockdowns, border closures and sessions on pause, I just miss playing with friends. I find I play my best when I’m with my best friends having the craic and enjoying the music. So until then, I’ll be doing some dissection of some old tunes (and maybe adding some hornpipes to my repertoire!)

[@garymcnaughton2338]

Excellent 👌 THANK YOU 🌟😀👍

[@benlander137]

Very relatable. Can get bored at times but there is always something to practice or learn. Always loved the harp and the shamrock, great that you feel that helped light the spark again for ye. Can totally agree with ya. Off to practice that old gem haven't played it for years. Cheers

[@Kitiwake]

I'm gonna play it right now. Edit: It didn't go too well in the B part with the C naturals. Fumbled between the C nat. key and cross fingering. 😆

[@nlkgksadnpqsengfp]

Great video, it´s really helpful to know that this can happen at any level. Thanks!

[@Denise-SA]

Thank you! Yes! So honest. I appreciate your sharing. I've been stuck since November 2021 .... am trying to "break out!" My harp groups shut down due to COVID .... hoping to return to sessions ... with whistle and Irish flute. Love your videos. You're a great person!

[@whistletutor]

Thanks for the kind words! The session world is rebooting around here finally, hopefully everywhere soon!

[@sebtrudgian]

Possibly opening a Pandora’s box... but when I was in a rut (I just stopped liking the sound of the whistle and flute for some reason), I borrowed a completely different type of instrument (a melodeon) and rediscovered the bug of learning basic tunes on a new instrument. I eventually rediscovered my love of the sound of wind instruments, but it’s still nice to switch back to learning a different one (at a different level) from time to time. May be an option for some. Great video production by the way!

[@whistletutor]

Ahhh, that sounds like a great idea too!

[@dannymckeon7780]

As always my man, inspiring. Thanks.

[@eoinmac5084]

Cheers Sean that’s really timely and useful…not sure if you’ve covered this at any stage but dealing with performance anxiety might be another really interesting area for a number of us if it was an area you’d be interested in providing a few tips ?

[@whistletutor]

Ooo that's an interesting topic - I'm not sure if I'm qualified to offer tips on that as, for better or worse, I've never dealt with that myself. Might get into that tale if I ever do an origin story-type video. Was thinking of that as a 15,000 subscriber thing/giveaway but we'll see!

[@Kitiwake]

Yes. A real thing for any player.

[@lukepcreaney]

Hi Sean i am complete novice and I want to play the wooden flute but wondering if it be more beneficial to learn the penny whistle first then transition or should I just learn straight away on the flute? Thanks

[@whistletutor]

I'm of the opinion that it's definitely better to learn the whistle at least at the same time. That way you can use the whistle to learn fingerings (which will translate perfectly to the flute) while working on embouchure on the flute without having to worry about fingers too.

[@soslothful]

A musical rut? How about a life rut?

[@Kitiwake]

Interesting. Tonally challenged here.

[@TheCALMInstitute]

My move is to do drugs.