How to Play Cooley's on the Tin Whistle
E dorian · 4/4 · 220 BPM · Reel · Intermediate
Cooley's is a reel you can learn on the tin whistle, set in E dorian (4/4, around 220 beats per minute). It uses 12 distinct notes, ranging from D5 up to A6 — all within the D whistle’s range.
Reel in E dorian — 230 notes, difficulty 3/5.
The tin whistle notes for Cooley's start D E B B A B E B B A B 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.
Tin whistle notes
On a D tin whistle, play Cooley's with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.
D E B B A B E B B A B D B A G F# D A D B D A D F# D A D D A F# D G F# E B B E F# G E E B B G E D B A F# A D A F# A A F# A D E F# G E B B E B G B E B B D E F# G A F# E C# D B A F# D E F# D E
Sheet music
ABC notation
X:1 T:Cooley's R:reel M:4/4 L:1/8 K:Edorian |:D2|EBBA B2 EB|B2 AB dBAG|FDAD BDAD|FDAD dAFD|! EBBA B2 EB|B2 AB defg|afec dBAF|DEFD E2:|! |:gf|eB B2 efge|eB B2 gedB|A2 FA DAFA|A2 FA defg|! eB B2 eBgB|eB B2 defg|afec dBAF|DEFD E2:| % Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/1 setting 1 (traditional, public domain)
Fingering chart
Cooley's uses these notes on the D tin whistle: D5, E5, F#5, G5, A5, B5, C#6, D6, E6, F#6, G6, A6.
More tin whistle tunes
- How to play Banish Misfortune on the tin whistle
- How to play Byrne's on the tin whistle
- How to play Cal Callaghan's on the tin whistle
- How to play Callaghan's on the tin whistle
- How to play Carolan's Welcome on the tin whistle
- How to play Chief O'Neill's Favourite on the tin whistle
- How to play Chief O'Neill's Favourite on the tin whistle
- How to play Come West Along The Road on the tin whistle
- How to play Corney Is Coming on the tin whistle
- How to play Cronin's on the tin whistle
- How to play Cuckoo's Nest on the tin whistle
- How to play Danny Boy on the tin whistle