How did you start whistling?

lilymaid · Post by **lilymaid** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 2:52 am

I was curious how other folks got started whistling, since it seems a rather obscure little instrument. I'd listened to Irish music for awhile, and I heard Joanie Madden on a Cherish the Ladies album. I decided I had to learn to play whatever it was she was playing. I found out it was a whistle, ran a search, found Chiff and Fipple, did some reading and ordered my first two whistles from the Whistle Shop along with a couple of books. A year later I discovered the joys of the Poststructural Whistle Board.

rbm · Post by **rbm** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 3:21 am

Well a good few years ago my wife got me a 1880's round back mandolin for my birthday so I taught myself to play using tab, after about six months whistle classes started as a local night school, so I only went to learn to read music, and have played the whistle everysince....
.... oh yes I'm still rubbish at the mandolin

Cori · Post by **Cori** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 4:20 am

I've been playing for about 3 hours! I played bass guitar in a previous incarnation, then whimsically decided to see what was on the other side of the world. Everything not nailed to me was sold, but I've been thinking I need to get some music back in my life - so - the whistle seemed like a good plan.

Cooler than a recorder, more passionate than a piccolo and perkier than a harmonica.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 4:30 am

I bought a Clarke Whistle & book for a friend who wanted to get back into playing, having played whistle at school in Ireland. I was so taken with the sound and the gold diamonds, within the week I had bought another one for myself.

For about a year before that I was playing irish melodies on the Mandolin, but was discouraged by the nature of class I was attending, and the fact that the mando was so quiet that I couldn't hear myself playing in a group. I thought I could transfer my Mando tunes to the whistle and then carry on from there.

tomcat · Post by **tomcat** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:12 am

I was at the mall and saw this music store - walked in and on the checkout stand was a box full of Feadogs. Purely impulse buying, but the price tag fit my budget and green was my favorite color - I was hooked!

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:23 am

I was in Ireland--drawn there mainly by the music of the Chieftains--and saw a whistle in a shop in Dublin. I bought it, a sweet little Feadog that even now with its cracked mouthpiece is my favorite cheap whistle. I've lost and found that whistle enough times to feel that it was meant to be in my life. I had a very frustrating time getting it into my head and fingers that the lowest note was D, not C. Too much *ahem* playing of 'another instrument' beforehand, I guess.

Carol

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:31 am

Carol, what other instrument?

Cori... 3 hours?
What took you so long?
Welcome to C&F

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:42 am

Tony wrote:Carol, what other instrument?

*whispers: recorder*

Cori... 3 hours?
What took you so long?
Welcome to C&F

Yes, welcome!

Carol

Gunnar · Post by **Gunnar** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 7:32 am

I always enjoyed the sound of the so called "flute," I had no idea what a whistle was. I also wanted to have an instrument that did not require power and was portable enough for me to carry in my pocket, yet still have the power for it to have such a beautiful sound. Price was never a concern for me. My first whistle was a Nickel plated O'Briain in D which I paid around $35 or so. However my favorite is my $7 Clarke Sweetone at the moment.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 8:32 am

I was having some horrible years, and after I got out of the hospital I got Sinéad O'Connor's 'Faith And Courage' cd, and there are tracks with (low) whistle, and long story short, I fell in love with her it moved me and I had to find out what instrument that was. Instead of heading down whistle path, I headed down Sinéad O'Connor path, and got nearly all of her albums shirts, books, etc. Then 3,000 cds later, and when she put out Sean Nos Nua (which I love), there was the whistle again, and it eventually led me here. That's the simplified version, of course.

I didn't tell you how I got drawn to whistle, I told you how I got drawn to here. LOL.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 8:34 am

Oh...and the first whistling site I ever visited was something called the Whistle Annex. The pages were brown, is about all I can remember. It linked me here and I didn't look back. :/

Tyghress · Post by **Tyghress** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 9:00 am

I used to play RECORDER too, and have a pathetic need to visit music shops, and not leave empty handed.

I can barely remember my first Gen, but I was slightly amused by the instrument. Later, on another trip and another need to leave with something in my hands, I got a Clarke complete with tape and booklet. That got me a bit farther, but I was still unimpressed. After my first trip to Ireland, and coming back to find that there was a riproaring session right here near me, I began playing the RECORDER in session until some gentle teasing got me to bring a whistle, then play the whistle, then actually learn the ins and outs of the whistle.

Three months after that I found a Burke and found out that I could sound MUCH better, and enjoy my whistling a LOT more. Then a few months after that I found C&F, and got sucked in by WhOA. Wheeeee!

Total time from them to the present: 4 years

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 11:56 am

I started playing recorder when I was about 14. But I wanted to play the flute. I had never heard whistles played properly so didn't consider them. I finally got a flute. Then (28 years later) I heard some whistle music and thought it was pretty good so I bought one (the Sweetone I still use). Then a year later I heard a guy at Stone Mountain GA playing really well on a whistle. So I went home and dug mine out and the rest is history.

Kar · Post by **Kar** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 12:09 pm

I had taught myself the recorder (which I never really liked but hey, I could at least play it and I never got that far with bass, guitar, etc), so I was at Lark in the Morning to check out their wooden recorders and I saw one of the clerks demonstrating to a customer a Clarke original. I liked the sound, so I bought one for my boyfriend for his birthday; he's always wanted to play an instrument but was haunted by memories of frustrating sax lessons when he was a child. The clerk said it was "so easy a child could play it--easier than a recorder." I also got a book as well.

Well, back at home, I browsed the book, picked up the whistle and with my recorder experience (breath control, used to fingering, etc) it was a BREEZE. I kept the Clarke, got my boyfriend a Sweetone instead and I never looked back.

It's nice because I know EXACTLY when I started whistling, since it was the day before my boyfriend's birthday. Which means it's been a year and one month as of last Friday....

RonKiley · Post by **RonKiley** » Mon Apr 14, 2003 1:48 pm

I have only been playing for about 5 months. I bought my first whistle in about 1982 in an Irish shop at the BricK Market in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a Feadan. I didn't follow through at that time and kind of set it on a shelf. I played guitar and 5 string banjo but arthritis made it almost impossible to push down the strings. After coming back from Ireland last May I found my old Feadan and thought I might be able to learn to play. I began listening to a lot of Irish Music (longing to return to the loveliest place on earth). I began to play and WhOA I was hooked. I am not bad yet. I only have 12 whistles. I have made one low D (well it worked). I am working on a low G.
Ron

Chiff and Fipple Forums

How did you start whistling?

How did you start whistling?

Couldn't be more newbie if I tried...