The Whistle and its Modal Scales - Part 1

A naming convention

Lets call the lower seven notes one can play on a six-hole simple whistle with numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, the bottom (end) note is note 1, by lifting up the finger on the lowest finger hole we get note 2, and so on till all fingers are lifted and we get note 7. Note 8 would be the octave, and we basically need to overblow note 1, to obtain it. Note 9 is the octave to note 2, etc. In the following description of modal scales we will not distinguish the notes in the second octave from the first, we will use the same numbers 1 to 7.

Whistles are named by their key note, which is the end note. In English speaking countries we use Latin letters A B C D E F G, plus symbols # and b if a note is raised or lowered half a tone step.

Here are some whistles with their note names spelled out, for the lower seven notes obtained by lifting finger after finger, from bottom end to top. These form diatonic Major scales:

Note  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8 / 1 
Bb WhistleBbCDEbFGABb
F WhistleFGABbCDEF
C Whistle    CDEFGABC
G WhistleGABCDEF#G
D WhistleDEF#GABC#D

Whistles in other keys can likewise be associated with the note numbers 1 to 7, and such association can be used to find the actual note names from the tables below, for any particular scale or mode, if so desired.

The modes of the Major Diatonic scale

From a diatonic major scale we can form modal scales by using any other note from it as a base note (Tonic, I), so we shift the musical centre, so to speak, to another note of the diatonic scale. Going up from left to right, from note 7 we go into the second octave notes. In all the tables below Arabic numerals denote the whistle note played, which depends on the whistle key, 1 being always the key. The Roman numerals in the table headers denote the scale degree, I being the Tonic, IV the Fourth, V the Fifth or Dominant, etc.

Diatonic modes I    II   III IV V  VI VII VIII  For D whistle
Ionian / Major 12345671 D Major
Dorian 23456712 E Dorian
Phrygian 34567123 F# Phrygian
Lydian 45671234 G Lydian
Mixolydian 56712345 A Mixolydian
Aeolian / Minor 67123456 B Minor
Locrian 71234567 C# Locrian

The Locrian and Lydian modes are rarely used in Western folk music, the other five modes frequently, as well as some hexatonic and pentatonic modes, which could be viewed as gapped scales, with one or two notes from a seven note scale excluded or missing.

The flattened 7th note

If we lower note 7 half a tone, usually by using a forked fingering like OXXOOO, we can play in another set of seven modal scales. Our basic Major scale is now Mixolydian, and we got a new Major scale starting from the 4th note.

Diatonic modes I    II   III IV V  VI VII VIII  For D whistle
Mixolydian 123456b71 D Mixolydian
Aeolian / Minor 23456b712 E Minor
Locrian 3456b7123 F# Locrian
Ionian / Major 456b71234 G Major
Dorian 56b712345 A Dorian
Phrygian 6b7123456 B Phrygian
Lydian b71234567 C Lydian

These two sets of diatonic modes provide the basic melodic structure for whistle playing: one set with a Major scale starting starting from the six-fingers-down (bottom) note, using open holes throughout, the other set with another Major scale starting from the three-fingers-down note (from IV of the Major basic scale), and using a flattened top note, instead of the all-fingers-off note. The second set of modes is a Fourth interval above the first, or, similarly, the first set could be viewed as a Fifth above the second set.

Flattening and raising other notes

We can explore many more different modal scales if we advance in our playing technique by half covering certain finger holes. Notes lowered or raised a semi tone can be produced, which opens up a vast spectrum of different scales and modes to play. → Go to Part 2