Members-Only Lesson (Free This Month): Kevin Crawford Analysis – "George White’s Favourite”

Added: 2026-05-04

[00:00:00]This video is usually available only to channel members, but for a limited time this month, I've made it public. If you enjoy this kind of in-depth analysis, I create videos like this every month for my members along with sheet music and practice materials to support your learning. And to all my members, thank you as always for your support. I hope you don't mind me sharing this one publicly for a limited time. Sheet music is available on my Patreon.

[00:00:29]Welcome to Herttow's performance analysis. In this series, we explore outstanding recordings of Irish flute and tin whistle performances, learning style and technique from great players and applying them to our own practice.

[00:00:42]Even if it's difficult to absorb everything, try to take away just one element.

[00:00:48]This time, we'll look at the Dflute album, the debut solo album released in 1995 by Irish flute player Kevin Crawford. From this album, we'll focus on the opening track, George White's Favorite. Kevin Crawford was born in 1967 in Birmingham, England to parents from County Clare, Ireland. He is also known as the flute player of the band Lunasa, formed in 1997 and remains active today. The performance you're about to hear is, of course, far from his level, but I have carefully listened to his playing and attempted to recreate it as faithfully as possible in my own way.

[00:01:43]3.

[00:02:06]Wow.

[00:03:24]Heat. Heat.

[00:03:58]Next, let's listen while following the sheet music. In this transcription, I've notated ornaments, breathing, and variations.

[00:04:07]Slurs are omitted, so please listen closely to the original recording to understand them. Kevin uses extremely long slurs as part of his style.

[00:04:41]Heat. Heat.

[00:05:47]Heat. Heat.

[00:06:51]Kevin's playing is characterized by extremely intricate and elegant finger ornaments, a smooth and flowing breath with minimal accenting and highly original variations. To me, he embodies the piping style of flute playing even more strongly than Matt Malloy. There is a tremendous amount to learn from this recording, but today we'll focus on a few key features.

[00:07:15]One, finger bounce. Finger bounce is a technique where the finger bounces as it comes down onto the tone hole. Like a descending cut, it emphasizes the note.

[00:07:26]While a descending cut involves two fingers, the cutting finger and the landing finger, finger bounce achieves a similar effect with just one finger. It is commonly used by pipers but relatively rare among flute players.

[00:08:15]two two condensed cran. A condensed cran is when a cran is executed within the space of a single quarter note on D.

[00:08:24]This is used in both the first and second octaves. We practiced this in episode 1 with Matt Malloy's The Bucks of Orurin Moore, but Kevin's condensed crayons remain extremely precise even at fast tempos.

[00:09:11]Three. Long roll plus short roll. In bar 41, specifically the second time through the A part, a combination of a long roll and a short roll is used to articulate 5/8 eighth notes.

[00:09:33]Four. In several places when playing high D in the second octave, Kevin keeps the first finger hole closed, producing a tone that blends with the first octave. Five. Chromatic variations using the G sharp key are also characteristic of Kevin's playing, creating a very sweet sound.

[00:10:11]Now let's practice the basics of finger bounce and crayon.

[00:13:34]Next, let's practice George White's favorite. We'll gradually increase the tempo from 30 BPM to 40, 50, and eventually up to 80 BPM.

[00:25:45]Heat. Heat.

[00:27:27]Heat.

[00:27:46]Heat.

[00:28:16]Heat. Heat.

[00:28:38]Heat. Heat.

[00:29:47]Heat. Heat.

[00:31:43]That's all for this time. The sheet music and practice audio used here are available for supporters on Patreon. In this series, we will continue to analyze recordings by great players, focusing on how to incorporate them into your own playing.

[00:31:59]Have a good practice session and thank you very much for continuing your membership.