This may be a dumb question, but what is the best way to improve at whistle playing? How do you practice? Any tips???
Hmmm…well, when I practice, I start with some warm up scales and arpeggios (yes, I do!
). Then I’ll play several tunes that I know well and am comfortable with, several times through…first time “straight” and successive times working on ornamentation. Then I’ll move to something that’s been challenging me (or to something new), carefully working it phrase by phrase. I’ll usually end with more well-known tunes, played for my own pleasure.
I do think that many small practice sessions per week are better than one or two marathon sessions. While I do try to schedule at least an hour to play without interruptions each day, sometimes it just doesn’t happen…which is why I do keep a whistle in the car. Then I can get some playing in while I’m waiting for my daughter to get out of piano class or swim lessons, and at least keep my fingers nimble.
Redwolf
Little, and very often.
e.g. learning a new tune, I listen several times to it, to get the melody in my head.
Then play the notes slowly, until ‘my fingers have them’, maybe a dozen reps, then
speed up - a bit - a couple of times.
Put the whistle down for a while.
Then play it again - a couple of times.
Then put the whistle down.
Repeat thro’ the day, maybe playing the whistle 10 - 15 times.
This way it takes me about three days to learn anything I want to sight read/play, about five days to play it from memory.
BUT, this works for me, and I’ll bet there are as many methods as players 
HTH
There isn’t any right or wrong way to learn – it tends to be very individual. Some things you MUST do:
Listen. You can have the best mechanics in the world, but you have to understand the music in order to play it. And don’t just listen to whistlers; listen to flute players, pipers, box players and fiddlers.
Play a tune slowly until you can play it well, and only speed it up then.
Don’t be in a hurry. It takes time.
Some things that worked for me:
Get a slowdown program like Transcribe. Believe it or not, the music is more intricate than it sounds. This will allow you to hear what players are doing and to play along at quarter or half speed.
Go to Brother Steve’s website:
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/
I really didn’t understand rolls, etc. until I began visiting his site.
Practice rolls. I did this initially by just doing scales with rolls, then by finding tunes with easy rolls in them (Morrison’s, for example).
Look at Steve’s/Peter’s/Teri’s transcriptions. (Click on transcriptions at BroSteve’s site.) You’ll learn that there are more important things than speed and ornaments.
Hope it helps, YMMV.
Ever since getting an instructor I’ve been doing scales…lots of scales…to a metronome set at about 100 bpm, in order to get precise rhythm and clean transitions.
I also ‘twiddle’, also working for VERY precise rhythm. dededededed, then efefefefe, and so one. I do this at about 120 for half a breath, then press the speed for the other half the breath. I do this twice for the ring fingers of each hand.
I’ve been sqeezing the exercise ball, tapping rhythmically on the desk.
Breath control while doing those scales in the upper register to get a clear, consistent sound.
Then four tunes with the metronome set at 84ish.
Then I get to play for fun…if I have time. To my utter surprise, this hasn’t become boring or a chore at all. Now whether its helped my playing at all is another question. I honestly don’t know, and if I had to guess, I’d say so far it’s only served to make me acutely aware when I’m ‘playing for myself’ when I screw up.
Another good thing would be for you to buy a CD with hundred whistle tunes or so, and play along often, all the time, until you can’t move your fingers or have to go to sleep… There’s a good collection I bought three years ago, “100 whistle tunes” and “100 session tunes” and it’s been very helpful, it’s played slowly and lets you play along.