A friend of mine picked up the tin whistle for the first time. I put some music in front of him and he can play anything with little to no error.
Oh how I envy musical geniuses/music majors/people who have been playing good music all their life.
I’ve been playing for a month but still have trouble with Old MacDonald!! heh
I’m a very good sight-reader and I was delighted that my reading skills got me invited to more advanced sessions very quickly when I first started.
But I also understand the aural tradition of ITM, and I know the more tunes I commit to memory the better I’ll be able to communicate musically (and the more respect I’ll receive as a player as well).
The ones that irk me aren’t those who can read off a page well. That’s an acquirable skill. Those that can hear a tune once and play it right back are the ones that make me wonder if I’m just beating my head against the wall! 
But listening skills improve with practice too, so don’t give up!
Most trained musicians can play the whistle from sheet music pretty quickly.
They can’t play the ornaments (or articulations whatever word you want to use) easily at all. Nor grasp the style without a ton of listening.
Producing the basic notes from dots is the easiest part.
Which part of this is “disgusting”? 
Just kiddin’. Keep tooting.
Ja, that’s no less an acquired skill than sight reading- and no less grounded in talent, but really now- anyone can learn it. We all sing popular songs we hear in the radio and whatsit, so most/all of us have some faculty for ear learning at least. No one’s born knowing how to sing either y’know.
(that said I’m a slow sight reader and I have to take an entire afternoon to learn a tune by ear; but once I’ve got a tune I can go all over with it 
)
When I saw the topic of this thread I thought it was going to be about people playing your whistle and their spit getting into it. Because that’s disgusting.
As long as you enjoy playing, and are making your serious best effort, don’t worry about how other folks play or how you think you do in comparison to them.
They have their own skillset.
You will grow your own skillset over time.
If you want to learn faster, see if you can find a beginners-friendly or even a teaching session nearby–or better yet, find a teacher to help you get started right.
Just my own thoughts on the matter.
–James
Crookedtune wrote
The ones that irk me aren’t those who can read off a page well. That’s an acquirable skill. Those that can hear a tune once and play it right back are the ones that make me wonder if I’m just beating my head against the wall! >
I taught a tune to a young accordian player at the Koroit Lake School. He had successfully auditioned for a group called Beltain. During free-time when there was no classes I started teaching him a few tunes that where at an intermediate level (i.e. Dublin Real) and I suddenly realised that they where well below his playing ability.
In desperation to rescue myself from humiliation 
, I started teaching him the Derry Hornpipe. This bright spark picked it up in fifteen minutes, including it’s different veriations. Then to my complete surprise he taught it to the rest of the group and they played it that night at the Grand Ceilie without sheetmusic. It took me a whole week to learn the tune by ear from Leo Rowsome’s “King of the Pipers”.
After that I really did want to nock my head against a wall, did I mention he’s only been playing button accordian for one year
Cheers L42B 
PS: Beltain are performing at Port Fairy Folk Festival and the Nationals Folk Festival in Canberra. If your down that way I strongly recommend that you attend their concerts.
I had heard of a piper who started playing, made grade 1 in only a few years, and then quit because he felt that he had done what he set out to do. Some highland pipers play their whole life without breaking into grade one (ie: moi). Some people are gifted in very specific things… I suppose the healthy thing to do is sit back as they race ahead and enjoy their talent by listening
If only this could be programmed for ITM:
then again, a lot of people with an ability like that take it for granted. or don’t have the desire or appreciation. i’d rather struggle and appreciate it(whaever ‘it’ happens to be) myself.
i know that i put a lot of work into learning fiddle and whistle. and i’m proud of myself for sticking with it, especially through difficult times. sadly, too few people understand the commitment and dedication required for the average person to become even adequate at playing an instrument.
don’t look down on yourself. hard work and dedication are two of the best traits there are.
The learning proces takes a long time and seems to go in steps rather than gradually. I play half a year seriously now, practise every day and notice that when I get frustrated while something doesn’t work (like 'Maid at the Spinning Wheel, the third part), at one time all of a sudden it DOES work, just from one moment to the other. And that’s what keeps me moving at the frustrating moments. One tip, whatever you play, start off slowly and very gradually move up the speed, but never worry about speed, it comes eventually.
My daughter envies me because I can learn a tune and then play it without music. She plays the flute. But, she doesn’t seem to grasp that I have 6 toneholes and she has–count 'em!-- TWENTY SIX keys on the thing!! No wonder! This is the great advantage of our instrument.
I know this piano player at our church–a mistake for her is about as frequent as me breaking a leg. I went on a mission trip and she was in the group, and we stopped at this hotel with a piano in the lobby. She played a simple tune and I said, “Play more!” She said, “That’s the only song I can play without music.”
I’m a dots guy at heart, but if I brought sheets to my session I’d be strung up by the toes. Spoons, however, seem welcome.
Even though I can read music, I tend to play more of my own music with my whistles these days. I duno. I guess I enjoy playing ‘other’ peoples music…with other people and I rarely get that chance. So many instruments to play and so little time.