How to Play The Kesh on the Tin Whistle

G major · 6/8 · 180 BPM · Jig · Beginner

The Kesh is a jig you can learn on the tin whistle, set in G major (6/8, around 180 beats per minute). It uses 10 distinct notes, ranging from G5 up to B6 — all within the D whistle’s range.

Jig in G major — 170 notes, difficulty 2/5.

The tin whistle notes for The Kesh start G G A B A A B D E D D G 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 The Kesh with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.

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

Sheet music

ABC notation

X:55
T:The Kesh
R:jig
M:6/8
L:1/8
K:Gmajor
|:G3 GAB|A3 ABd|edd gdd|edB dBA|! GAG GAB|ABA ABd|edd gdd|BAF G3:|! |:B2B d2d|ege dBA|B2B dBG|ABA AGA|! BAB d^cd|ege dBd|gfg aga|bgg g3:|
% Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/55 setting 55 (traditional, public domain)

Fingering chart

The Kesh uses these notes on the D tin whistle: G5, A5, B5, C#6, D6, E6, F#6, G6, A6, B6.

G5
A5
B5
C#6
D6
E6
F#6
G6
A6
B6

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