Introducing Myself, New to the Forum

[Naturalist]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and would like to introduce myself, I have been playing low whistle since 2003 when I purchased an Overton low D made by Collin Goldie. This was before he labeled them as his own. Excellent whistle in my opinion. I also own a Karavaev Nightingale whistle in F, a Dixon high D, and a Clark in high C. Before that, I played recorder including tenor recorder, and native American flute. I am drawn to playing whistles because of the way they sound and perhaps because I feel like they connect me to my Scottish heritage.

While I have been playing since that time, I still consider myself a bit of a novice as I have little formal music training and don't read music. Thus, I figure out songs by ear and then practice them thereafter. I also improvise frequently rather than playing specific songs when I play. I have only performed a few times in church playing hymns or Christmas music, though my playing has been received very well with high praise. I think this is in part because I live in a very rural area of the United States, where low whistle is a very uncommon and novel musical instrument. It's also because it has an evocative, haunting, and unique sound. I don't consider myself very good at technique though, I think I am pretty good at playing the instrument in tune.

I am inspired by artists who play whistle with techniques used by uilleanne pipers. There's just something about their sound that draws me to them. Perhaps it's because they are excellent at using fingering to articulate music and their finger vibrato makes the whistle sound so cool. I just love the way that sounds. I appreciate traditional celtic music, but also I love hearing whistles in popular music. My user name reflects my career choice where I work as a wildlife biologist so I chose Naturalist as a user name. Hope you can all welcome me to the forum. I'm excited to engage with you all.

[fatmac]

Welcome aboard.

I'm only a casual player of whistles & (keyless) flutes, but as most where so cheap when I started, I have many, but my favourite has to be my low 'F', closely followed by my 'A'.

(I also have harmonicas, which I tend to play more.)

[GreenWood]

Welcome to the forum Naturalist ... I'm sort of new here also, and it all seems friendly and respectful

[Narzog]

Welcome!

While I have been playing since that time, I still consider myself a bit of a novice as I have little formal music training and don't read music. Thus, I figure out songs by ear and then practice them thereafter.

A lot of the best musicians I know cant read music and play by ear. A lot of the ones I know who read music are the bad ones, because they are hopeless without their sheet music haha. So I wouldnt worry about this one.

[Naturalist]

Thanks for the confidence builder and the welcome.