Tin Whistle Trainerv0.11.10

How to Play The Boys Of Ballycastle on the Tin Whistle

G major · 4/4 · 170 BPM · Hornpipe · Intermediate

The Boys Of Ballycastle is a hornpipe you can learn on the tin whistle, set in G major (4/4, around 170 beats per minute). It uses 11 distinct notes, ranging from E5 up to B6 — all within the D whistle’s range.

Hornpipe in g major (206 notes after repeat-expansion).

The tin whistle notes for The Boys Of Ballycastle start E F# G F# E D E D B D E D… Full sequence below.

The interactive sheet music shows a fingering chart under every note. Press Play this tune to play along while the app listens to your microphone and grades every note, or print a clean copy of the score.

▶ Play this tunePrint the score

Tin whistle notes

On a D tin whistle, play The Boys Of Ballycastle with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.

E F# G F# E D E D B D E D E G B B A G G A B A B D E A A G A G F# E B B G F# E B B G F# E E F# G F# G A B E E G A B A G F# G F# E D E D E G B B A G G A B C B A G E E

Sheet music

ABC notation

X:1921
T:The Boys Of Ballycastle
R:hornpipe
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Gmajor
|:ef|gfed edBd|edeg B2 BA|G2 GA BABd|e2 A2 A2 ga|! bagf gfed|edeg B2 BA|G2 GA BcBA|G2 E2 E2:|! |:gf|e2 B2 B2 gf|e2 B2 B2 gf|e2 ef gfga|b2 e2 e2 ga|! bagf gfed|edeg B2 BA|G2 GA BcBA|G2 E2 E2:|
% Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/1921 setting 1921

Fingering chart

The Boys Of Ballycastle uses these notes on the D tin whistle: E5, G5, A5, B5, C6, D6, E6, F#6, G6, A6, B6.

E5
G5
A5
B5
C6
D6
E6
F#6
G6
A6
B6

More tin whistle tunes