just a polite post to introduce myself to everyone. i have had a Feadog whistle in d for many years but have ony just started actually learning to play. today i have tried to play twinkle twinkle little star, london bridge, and on top of old smokey. so starting at the bottom but i am enjoying it. i have done youtube thing and seen pretty good stuff, how long to get to a decent level of playing ? assuming i practice about an hour a day? like all new players i am keen to advance but i do appreciate you have got to put the time in.
welcome!
It’s hard to play on top of old smokey starting at the bottom…
Bellowsface,
Welcome to C & F, great to have you join us!
Cheers,
Cayden
That’d be really tough to put a time on, & I don’t imagine you’d end up with more than a guess if someone tried. It would depend on so many factors! Do you already play another instrument? If so, do you play it well & have you played it since childhood? Do you have what would be considered a good ear? Do you have other whistlers around you, or at least others with D instruments, with whom you can play? Do you have a whistle teacher?
I’d venture the more of these you can answer “yes” to, the faster it’ll come, but it’s still relative, & I couldn’t put a number on it.
On top of all that, people would have differing views on what constitutes “a decent level” of playing!
However, you seem to have a great attitude, & an hour a day is an admirable goal.
Good luck to you!
Welcome to the C&F, bellowsface! I’m new here, too.
What feadógirl said! (well put, I might add.)
I started about a year ago and I’ve progressed pretty quickly, I think. You’re right that it takes lots of practice and especially LISTENING to lots of Irish/Scottish Traditional music-everything you can get your hands on. Listen to lots of different whistle players, uilleann pipers and Highland pipers, flute players, fiddlers, etc. I’ve found that once I’ve absorbed the tunes enough to be able to sing the melodies in my head (and even whistle them just with my lips), then I’m able to eventually get there with my whistle. First just go for the simple melody, then as you get better with your ornamentations and “twiddly parts”, work those in. There are way more qualified people on the C&F to explain all this, but that’s what has helped me.
When you can, get a few cheap extra whistles and leave them in strategic locations: the car, near the toilet, your work desk drawer.
Do you have Spotify? It’s an online music service where you can listen to tons of songs for free. It took me a while but I’ve made lots of playlists of incredible records, some ancient stuff, too. I can listen to them online or on my iPhone-it’s worth the $10 a month app to be able to have that-because you can put the songs on your smart phone like an ipod, sync them up when you have a wifi connection, then they’re on there even when you don’t have a wifi connection. I even made a playlist of songs I’m working on that I’d be happy to share with you if you join Spotify.
Anyway, gotta run for now.
Cheers,
Randy
Thanks for the replies guys. I play the guitar not brilliantly but I have been in a band and played live, so not a total stranger to music. Unfortunately I do not have any other whistle players around me neither do I have a teacher so I will be going it alone. Even though I play guitar I do not currently read sheet music either so I’ve quite a lot to go at as far as learning goes. Onwards and upwards as they say.
Nevermind about the sheet music… learn by ear! IMO, it’s the only (okay, best? Nah, I’m going to stick with only) way to go for this kind of music.
Take something that’s already in your head, but that you don’t have any kind of notation for, even fingering. Something simple, like Row, Row, Row Your Boat (start on your bottom D) or Happy Birthday to You (also start bottom D, & I think last “Happy” will take a C nat – don’t have whistle now, someone correct me)… Then work it out until you can play through it. It might seem tough at first, but it’ll get easier each time.
When you say you’ve done the YouTube thing, do you mean found some great tunes played well on the whistle? Or found instruction on whistle from someone like Ryan Duns? Start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=K0Xf1Ume0zA
Before you know it, you’ll be picking up tunes on the fly. 
Lots of others have given this same advice in one form or another – just do a search & you’ll come up with many better versions than mine, with more detail. Same on other sites, like TheSession.org.
Also, if you register, you can get 6 free online whistle lessons here: http://www.oaim.ie/free-lessons/whistle
Thanks for the help. I have found it all helpful. I even managed to not make too many squeeks and squawks tonight
I have ordered a second whistle today from Clarke’s. Looking forward to that arriving
Hello Bellowface and welcome to the forum.
How long does it take to be good?
For some a few years, for others, well…
If you have a some music in your background you should see progress before too long.
For me, not having played anything since high school, its taking a long time.
But either way, keep at it and you will progress. And really, it maters not if you learn
quickly or slowly, just keep at it.
I’ve really enjoyed my subscription lesson at Blayne Chastians ITEACH whistle courses.
(The focus is on Irish tunes.)
You can check out his teaching style here with some free lessons;
http://www.blaynechastain.com/i-teach
Good luck, and again, welcome.
Welcome to the whistle forum. 
There are several whistle tutorials for you to look into, different strokes for different folks, find a tutorial you like.
Here is a suggestion from Kerry Whistles (check the tutorials section)
http://www.kerrywhistles.com/movie.php?groupID=48
Enjoy your whistle and keep it fun! (not work)