How to Play The Swallowtail on the Tin Whistle
A dorian · 6/8 · 180 BPM · Jig · Intermediate
The Swallowtail is a jig you can learn on the tin whistle, set in A dorian (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 A dorian — 266 notes, difficulty 3/5.
The tin whistle notes for The Swallowtail start C B A E A A C B A E D C… 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 Swallowtail with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.
C B A E A A C B A E D C B G G D G G G F# E D C B E F# G A B A B A G E E F# G A B A G E G D E F# G A B A B A G E G F# E D C B C B A A D
Sheet music
ABC notation
X:106 T:The Swallowtail R:jig M:6/8 L:1/8 K:Adorian |:cBA eAA|cBA edc|BGG dGG|gfe dcB|! cBA eAA|cBA e2f|gfe dcB|cBA A2d:|! efg a2b|a2b age|efg a2b|age g2d|! efg a2b|a2b age|gfe dcB|cBA A2d:| % Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/106 setting 106 (traditional, public domain)
Fingering chart
The Swallowtail uses these notes on the D tin whistle: G5, A5, B5, C6, D6, E6, F#6, G6, A6, B6.
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