Tin Whistle Games

Saddle the Pony on the tin whistle

An Irish jig for a D whistle, 48 notes. Press play to hear it on Penny's whistle, then learn it one note at a time.

48 notes. Press play, or Next note to go one at a time.

B

Top hole covered.

The notes

Each box is one bar. A + means the high octave: same fingers, blow a little harder. A longer line under a note means hold it longer.

    1. B
    2. G
    3. G
    4. high D
    5. G
    6. G
    1. B
    2. A
    3. B
    4. high D
    5. G
    6. G
    1. B
    2. G
    3. G
    4. high D
    5. G
    6. G
    1. C natural
    2. A
    3. F sharp
    4. A
    5. B
    6. C natural
    1. B
    2. G
    3. G
    4. high D
    5. G
    6. G
    1. B
    2. A
    3. B
    4. high D
    5. high E
    6. high G
    1. high G
    2. high F sharp
    3. high E
    4. high F sharp
    5. high E
    6. high D
    1. C natural
    2. A
    3. F sharp
    4. A
    5. B
    6. C natural

Fingers for each note

  • F sharp

  • G

  • A

  • B

  • C natural

  • high D

  • high E

  • high F sharp

  • high G

About the tune

Saddle the Pony is an Irish jig. It is tune 717 in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903), a book of 1,850 pieces collected by Francis O'Neill, then head of the Chicago police. The notes here are the first part of the tune as it is printed there (a scan of the book), set for a D whistle, with the ornaments left out. It is moved down a step from the book, from A to G, so it sits on the whistle.

It was printed in Boston in 1883, in Ryan's Mammoth Collection, under the name Rough Diamond. Source: The Traditional Tune Archive

How hard is it

Level
In between
Notes
48
Range
F♯ to G+
High notes
13 of 48
C natural
4 times. Cover only the second and third holes.

Keep going

All 18 tunesThe full finger chart

Every tune here also plays in Typing Meadow, our free typing music game for kids.