BOOKS

Grey Larsen’s books have sold over 15,000 copies worldwide.

Upon request, and at no charge, Grey will autograph your book. Please specify your autograph needs (to whom? any specific wording?) when completing your purchase.

Easy Favorites for Tin Whistle or Irish Flute

(book plus audio files download/eBook plus audio files download)

This is a collection of 34 folk, popular and classical songs and tunes arranged for tin whistle or Irish flute. (Tin whistles are also known as pennywhistles.) These pieces represent numerous countries and cultures. Most of these melodies will be familiar to many English speakers. A few of them—cherished favorites from non-English speaking cultures—may be less familiar.

Chords are included with the notation and recording of each tune. On the recordings the chords are played on guitar or piano. Recordings of each tune are provided in several configurations: whistle alone, Irish flute alone, guitar or piano alone, whistle with guitar or piano, and Irish flute with guitar or piano.

First Lessons Tin Whistle

(book plus audio files download/eBook plus audio files download)

This book is for beginners and for those who have tried to play the whistle (also known as a pennywhistle) but need more help. It leaves no stone unturned, offering valuable insights and detailed instruction you won’t find anywhere else — expert guidance that will smooth your way and steer you clear of the pitfalls newcomers often encounter. Much more comprehensive than other beginning whistle books.





Easy Christmas Favorites for Tin Whistle or Irish Flute

(book plus audio files download/eBook plus audio files download)

Here are 30 easy-to-play Christmas favorites arranged for tin whistle or Irish flute. Chords are included for guitar, keyboard, or other accompaniment instrument.

What makes these tune arrangements easy?

  • They are played in the lower two octaves of the whistle and flute’s range, ascending no higher than B in the second octave.
  • They are in easy tin whistle and Irish flute keys: D major, G major, E minor and B minor. No metal keys are needed on the Irish flute.
  • They use only eight notes: D, E, F-sharp, G, A, B, C and C-sharp.
  • They are also easy to play on soprano and tenor recorder, modern flute and piccolo.
 

The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle

(book plus audio files download/eBook plus audio files download)

At 480 pages, this is a book for the beginner to the highly advanced player of Irish flute, tin whistle, or Boehm-system (modern) flute. Over 10,000 copies sold. Has been translated into Chinese and Russian. Features a new approach to understanding and notating ornamentation that goes beyond any previous method, exploring techniques never described in print before. Includes an Orientation to Traditional Irish Music, information on scales and modes, dance tune types, the historical roots of flute and whistle playing in Ireland, and advice for learning by ear. Also includes adaptations for Boehm-system flute players, guidance on breathing and phrasing, 49 ornamentation exercises, history and theory of traditional Irish flute and whistle music, and 27 meticulous transcriptions of recordings (1926-2001) by important Irish flute and tin whistle players.

 

The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox

(book plus audio files download/eBook plus audio files download)

All the tools the beginner, novice, and intermediate tin whistle player needs in order to progress to a high level of competence in Irish music. Includes an Orientation to Traditional Irish Music, information on scales and modes, dance tune types, the historical roots of whistle playing, and advice for learning by ear. The book is full of thorough instruction, exercises, and musical examples: from holding, fingering, breathing, and blowing, on up to advanced ornamentation, phrasing, and variations. Features a penetrating new approach to understanding and notating ornamentation that goes beyond any previous method. Also includes history and theory of traditional Irish tin whistle music. For those who don’t read music, recordings of almost all the exercises and examples are included in the online audio download.

 300 Gems large

300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments

(book/eBook)

This book contains 300 traditonal Irish tunes, selected from among Grey’s favorites. They are notated in a style that makes them equally accessible to players of fiddle, flute, whistle, accordion, concertina, harp, keyboard, guitar, mandolin, banjo, uilleann pipes – to all melody players. These are the 300 tunes that also appear in the books 150 Gems of Irish Music for Tin Whistle and 150 Gems of Irish Music for Flute, collected here in one volume.

Audio of all 300 tunes is available either as a set of four CDs or as a set of downloadable MP3s. Grey Larsen plays the tunes on Irish flute, tin whistle and anglo concertina.

 Down the Back Lane Large

Down the Back Lane, Variation in Traditional Irish Dance Music

(book plus 1 CD/eBook plus audio files download)

At the heart of Down the Back Lane are the recordings on the companion CD. Grey plays eight traditional tunes on Irish flute and tin whistle, each three times through, complete with lovely, improvised variations. He notates the complete performances in meticulous detail and offers insightful comments on the variations. We get a rare and intimate view into the intuitive musical mind of a masterful player, along with extensive information on ornamentation, phrasing, articulation, dynamics and much more.

The eight tunes in this book also appear in 300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments. Four of them appear in 150 Gems of Irish Music for Tin Whistle and the other four appear in 150 Gems of Irish Music for Flute.

 Gems Flute Large

150 Gems of Irish Music for Flute

(book plus audio download, or with 2 CDs/eBook plus audio files download)

This book/online audio collection contains 150 traditional Irish tunes, with suggested ornamentation and breathing places. Recordings of the author playing all the tunes are on included in the online audio download. (As of 12.13.17, I have just a few copies left that come with audio CDs.) Also included are three explanatory chapters on Grey’s ornamentation notation system, modes, and breathing and phrasing (with new and improved information on breathing strategies). While composed mainly of “flute-friendly” tunes, there are also tunes of non-wind origin and tunes requiring the use of keys. Grey addresses the issue of notes that go too low for the flute and options for making needed adaptations. The tunes are all different from the ones in 150 Gems of Irish Music for Tin Whistle.

150 Gems of Irish Music for Tin Whistle

(book plus audio download/eBook plus audio files download)

This book/online audio collection contains 150 traditional Irish tunes, with suggested ornamentation and breathing places. Recordings of the author playing all the tunes are on included in the online audio download. Also included are three explanatory chapters on Grey’s ornamentation notation system, modes, and breathing and phrasing (with new and improved information on breathing strategies). While composed mainly of “whistle-friendly” tunes, there are also tunes of non-wind origin and tunes for non-D whistles. Grey addresses the issue of notes that go too low for the whistle and options for making needed adaptations. The tunes are all different from the ones in 150 Gems of Irish Music for Flute.

The Toolbox Tune Collection

(physical booklet plus audio files/eBook plus audio files download)

This supplement to The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox is comprised of written transcriptions and audio recordings of the 18 traditional Irish tunes referred to and excerpted in that book. It also includes introductory and explanatory text. Grey’s transcriptions include his suggested ornamentation and breathing places. The recordings are of Grey playing the tunes, as notated in the transcriptions, on tin whistle.

The Toolbox Exercises for Finger Coordination

(physical booklet plus audio files/eBook plus audio files download)

This supplement to the book The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox is comprised of written transcriptions and audio recordings of 38 exercises for tin whistle, composed and performed by Grey Larsen. It also includes introductory and explanatory text.

What are some of the differences between The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle and The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox?

  • The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle is a much larger book (three times as large). It addresses Irish flute and modern, Boehm-system flute, as well as tin whistle. The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox addresses tin whistle only.
  • The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle covers ornamentation exhaustively and includes 49 exercises for practicing ornamentation. The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox covers the bread and butter of the subject, featuring everything necessary to reach a high level of competence as a player (cuts, strikes, slides, long rolls, and short rolls), but not the more advanced ornamentation.
  • The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle is far more than an instructional book. It includes historical material and transcriptions of recordings by 22 important Irish flute and tin whistle players from 1926-2001, with biographical notes and commentary on their playing styles. The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox focuses more narrowly on playing.
  • While The Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle contains quite a bit of material for beginning flute and whistle players, The Essential Tin Whistle Toolbox included a bit more for the beginning whistler, with an additional chapter, “Getting Comfortable with Fingering”, and more beginner’s exercises. However, if you want a true beginning tin whistle book, we strongly recommend First Lessons Tin Whistle.