Hi Everyone, I just joined the forum and wondered if someone could give me some advice please.
I would like to learn to play the tin whistle but am unsure what type of whistle is best suited to a complete beginner. Also, I would like to teach myself if possible, so could someone recommend the best books/cd’s etc
in fact any help or advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Gray.
Your best bet would be an inexpensive high whistle in the key of C or D. C is a bit mellower, but D is more common in group sessions. Good inexpensive whistles include Generations, Oaks, Feadogs, Clarks and others. You’ll find lots of discussion of all of these in these pages.
Welcome, and have fun! 
There are some very helpful discussions of just this topic. Just now there is a good one called “help me avoid a big mistake please…”
I have found that certain things are more helpful to me than others because of my background and the way in which I am having to learn.
For example, I doubt I will get out very often to actually be with other players, and I have a background in music. So, I found that Grey Larsen’s “Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle” to be helpful because of his careful transcriptions and notations of ornamentations combined with 2 CDs of examples so that I could both hear and see the ornamentation as I followed along.
Ultimately, I want to play “by ear” but I am using his guide as a way to train my ear, so that I can recognize a cut or roll when I hear it. At first, those sounds were so outside my existing musical experience that they were just noises that I liked. Now I can hear a player and picture what the fingers are doing. (Except when it is very fast.)
Your style may be very different. So, hang out in this great forum for a bit and you should do very well.
mark
Buy a cheap Generation D-whistle, if it sounds terrible, buy another.
Then buy CD’s of Mary Bergin, Joannie Madden and Brid O’Donohue etc. and LISTEN. Listen a lot, every day, several times a day.
Don’t ever think you can learn to play without listening.
When those fast reels ceases to be a stream of confusing sound, and instead sounds like individual notes, you’re starting to get somewhere.
-Then, keep on listening.
Oh . . . I nearly forgot . . . in between all that listening,-play the whistle
emtor is right about the listening. Just like learning a foreign language, you have to get your neurons used to the subtleties. Then its like a whole new world opening up.
There are so many resources and .mp3 files out there that you could pack an iPod full of hours of whistle music. For example, whistlethis.com features songs, and you can download the .mp3 versions which are well done, or are from the “mentors.”
I have to listen to it a lot since this wasn’t the type of music I grew up with. Its like learning to hear the nuances of spoken chinese, with time, you will do it. (And its fun.)
Do you reckon Terry McGee’s quote below applies to whistles also?
“Good enough for a beginner”
“Arghhh, was there ever a meaner trick than this? A beginner flute player has enough hurdles to jump over without saddling them with a flute that is hard to play, out of tune, unreliable or whatever else might make the instrument unsatisfactory for an advanced player. I learnt to play on a cheap metal Boehm flute and almost gave up entirely after 6 months (wouldn’t that have made a difference to my life!). Fortunately, I came across a good flute player at a party and tried his flute. I could play! Next morning found me down at the music shop, trading in my heap of junk on a good flute. If you have any reason to doubt your flute, ask a good player for an assessment, or conspire to try out a known good flute. Life’s too short, and this music is too much fun to be missing out.”
If you aren’t familiar with Terry McGee, he is a master flute maker and accomplished player as well as a world authority on Irish Flute.
I’m convinced that charging non-beginners a couple of hundred bucks for a ‘deluxe’ whistle that’s not significantly better than one costing 15 bucks is pretty mean, but not meaner than this.
Well then, try to find one that is significantly better. Why would Mary Bergin play a Sindt? Why would Joanie Madden play O’Riordans? Why would Sir James Galway play an Abell? Is the answer blowing in the wind? Cherrs, Cyril.
I don’t know about cheap/expensive whistles yet. I’m just heading into that area now as I’m in the process of buying my first dearer whistle, so I’ll comment in a few months, but I agree with Cranberry Dog regarding flutes. A cheap bad flute is a path of severe frustration. Maybe some of the cheaper keyless flutes are ok. (note to self: try one soon)
I started out 18 months ago with an Eric the Flutemaker concert tuned wooden D (a birthday gift from my wife who thought that I might like to learn the tinwhistle) and then I added a bunch of Susatos which I have been replacing as funds are available with Burkes which I pay about $140 each (US dollars) for used. In my time on the board I have noted well the many times that we have been down this particular road - so my cheap still newbie two cents say I love my Burkes, find them easy to play, in tune, and very forgiving, and would always recommend them to anyone starting out. It ain’t a money thing - there are a lot more expensive whistles out there - they have helped me to better enjoy playing the whistle. Just one man’s opinion.
pastorkeith
Then again, there are less-expensive whistles (not cheapies) that play well in both octaves, are in tune and sound nice. Jerry Freeman and Mack Hoover, among others, come to mind. Mid-range whistles let you get your feet wet with a playable instrument while saving your cash for the day when you have enough experience to know what you really want.
Edited to add: Welcome to C&F, Gray. You’ve come to the right place for whistling.
I agree 100%; well said. Best Cyril.
My very first whistle was a Clarck Sweetone C. As a beginner, that thing fascinated me with its sound. I think those are very nice if you’re not sure whether you’re gonna stick with the instrament. I do agree about mid range whistles. I enjoy my Silkstones a lot, because they don’t have all the negative tonal quallities some cheeper whistles have, but they’re not overly pure like high end ones can be.
And all of the myriad IrTrad musicians who play Generations just can’t afford better instruments? Or maybe they play them because they haven’t found a better instrument for what they do.
I’ve explained my position on this on the other thread, but I will take the time to state again: I see no reason, so far as IrTrad goes, to buy anything other than a few cheapies. Granted, it’s super-fun to collect whistles of all makes and prices, but there are things that a Generation can do that an Abell just can’t. So if you must buy an expensive whistle, please, for the love of Trad, keep a few Generations on hand and go back to them from time to time. I’m glad I did.
like what? I’ve heard rumors of good Generations but I’ve yet to get one. mine are all scratchy, especially in the top octave.
Funny, I own quite a handful of Generations, and they’re all at least playable. None unpleasant, a few really lovely. I don’t buy this “only the ever-elusive mythical good Generation” theory. I’ve loaned out my recording equipment, but if I get it back soon I’ll make a few recordings. Yes, the sound is not as pure as an O’Riordan or what-have-you, but that’s sort of the cool part.
An expensive high-end whistle does not automatically mean an easier to play whistle. Go ahead and buy a Chieftains whistle,-it’ll be expensive, hand-made and high-end, but it is NOT an easy whistle to play for a newbie. In fact, some high-end whistles will spell more trouble for a beginner than a cheapo-whistle ever will.
OK, I gotta weigh in on this one.
I definitely agree that beginners and also experienced players can make perfectly excellent music on inexpensive whistles. Older recordings of Mary Bergin , Paddy Maloney etc will bear this out. No self respecting maker of high end whistles should try to convince a newbie that an expensive whistle will make them play any better than a decent cheapie will. Over the past 7 years, I’ve actually discouraged quite a few new players from buying one of my whistles until they learn more about the instrument and can make a more informed decision. Some bought my whistles anyway, some didn’t and then came back later to buy and some thanked me for the advice and never did purchase a Busman. That’s fine with me: I’d rather have someone not buy my instrument than buy it and find out later that it’s not really what they had in mind and put it up for resale. I think most reputable makers would agree.
OTOH- a “non beginner” knows what a whistle can and cannot do and if they are interested in spending " a couple of hundred bucks for a ‘deluxe’ whistle", I don’t see anything “mean” about providing that for them. These folks are looking for something beyond an instrument that makes good music. Maybe it’s a particular sound. Maybe they have a love of a particular material (Eg wood 
). Maybe they appreciate the hours of crafting that goes into such a whistle.
Compared to nearly any other “high end” instrument in the world, a whistle is pretty darned cheap. Check out fiddle, mandolin, guitar, etc prices and you’ll see what I mean. For some whistle makers, their craft is their sole source of income and they need to charge a high price. For me, it’s a sideline and it takes up many hours of what would otherwise be free time with my wife and family. I don’t think it’s mean to ask people to pay for my time accordingly
Whether or not my whistles or those of any of the other excellent makers are "not significantly better than one costing 15 bucks " is strictly a subjective thing. I have quite a few cheapie whistles and I love them. Sometimes, that Clarke or Feadog sound is simply what I want to hear. I love these whistles BECAUSE they are cheap and give anyone the means to experience the joys of making their own music. But many times, I’m looking for an entirely different music making experience than the cheapies can provide. I own or have owned expensive whistles by many great makers and I don’t begrudge them one penny of what I’ve spent on their instruments.
Just my 2 cents (or in the case of my own whistles, 25,000 cents 
)
Hi everyone.
Thanks very much for all the information and advice.
I will be ordering the book Grey Larsen’s “Essential Guide to Irish Flute and Tin Whistle” as recommended.
I have read the reviews on the book/cd’s and it sounds great but I am still a bit unsure whether it is the best one to start me off from a position of knowing nothing. Some of the comments I read about the book said it was brilliant and full of loads of useful information, but not the best book for someone starting from scratch. I will get the book anyway as I think the more I can find out about the music etc can only be beneficial, I will hopefully grow into the book.
So would you mind perhaps recommending a cd/book? that could get me started from a standstill please, I have no musical background exept piano lessons when I was very young, I cant as yet read music so I am, so to speak, a blank page.
I have read all your replies to my first question and am looking at the various whistles, trying to locate the recommended CD’S and looking forward to making a start.
All information on books, self tutors will be very gratefully received, I am a bit wary of trying to run before I can walk ( or even stand up )
Thanks again for all your replies and help/advice.
Regards to all.
Gray
About those Generations;
I’m by no means an expert on this, but I found the tweaking advice very useful. After receiving my first Freeman tweak I started to try to tweak my 20 years old Generations (C and Eb) and Hurrah! My Eb, which was very weak for the two lowest notes, started to sound (to my ears) really fine. The overall tone got better, too. Then I tweaked my Generation C and the miracle happened again. I’m no longer warried to take those cheap whistles apart and tweak them, on the contrary. I’ll probably get some more cheap whistles to tweak. Besides, Generation sound is SO lovely tin whistley.
Still I’m going to buy at least that Freeman Mellow Dog C to my growing collection