Moldavian Whistle (in A)

Fingering chart


The Moldavian whistle (furulya) has a narrow reverse-conical bore, designed for playing in the higher registers. The commonest pitch is A, but they are also made in G, B flat and C. For dance band playing, you nearly always vocalize a low hum while blowing, which adds a buzz to the sound and gets greater volume. A good whistle will cover the whole range listed below. You won't be able to do that (without shrieking, or at all) on a parallel bore whistle like those commonly used for Irish music.

I've used ABC pitch notation, but an octave down. Some notes have alternatives. Halfholing is also possible.

e'  1-- ---
d'  12- 12-
c#' 1-- ---
b   12- ---
a   123 ---
a   -23 ---

g#  123 4--
g#  --- --6
g   -2- ---
f#  1-- ---
e   12- ---
d   123 ---
c#  123 4--
B   123 45-
A   -23 456

G#  --- ---
G   -2- ---
G   -23 ---
F#  1-- ---
E   12- ---
D   123 ---
C#  123 4--
B,  123 45-
A,  123 456

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