The Silver Spear
Reel in D Major · difficulty 3 of 5
The story of The Silver Spear
Some tunes have a composer and a birthday; The Silver Spear just is. No one seems to know who wrote it, when, or what the spear was - it comes down through the anonymous tradition, polished smooth by more than a century of session playing until every note feels inevitable.
That polish is exactly why it's everywhere. The melody is mostly bright runs up and down the D major scale, which makes it one of the easiest reels to learn on a tin whistle - the fingers simply walk. Ask a room full of Irish musicians for a reel absolutely everyone knows, and The Silver Spear will be among the first names called.
How to play The Silver Spear on tin whistle
Reels run in 4/4 with two big pulses to the bar. Keep the eighth notes even and let the emphasis, not extra speed, carry the drive.
The tab under the notes shows the whistle fingering for every note - filled circles are covered holes, and a + means the overblown octave. If you are new to stave notation, you can try reading the stave and tab together which gradually will make you learn the notation.
Start slow with a metronome getting the base melody right. As the fingers learn the tune, try adding some ornaments and gradually increase the tempo without losing control.
Notation is sourced from The Session, the community archive of traditional music.
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