is it normal

[taity]

as most know iam have only been trying to play the whistle for 3 or 4 months. what i would like know is it normal to pick up the whistle and just play i dont seem to have to think about it but a tunes just seems to come out as if my fingers have a life of there own sometimes .even making up wee tunes that i dont know but sound ok to me a newbie

[Enclose]

Yup, I've been playing for less than 2 months and I do that too. I just pick up a whistle when waiting or something and start playing. Sometimes I play something and it takes me a few seconds before I can identify which tune it is, yet my fingers are playing it

[taity]

its a kind of magic

[Bothrops]

It happens the same to me. Also, when playing, sometimes I finish a tune and start another without thinking about it!
My fingers are smarter than I am, lol

[mutepointe]

I learned how to play piano and guitar and harmonica with sheet music. I never even considered that I could pick out a tune, it just never crossed my mind. I was completed shocked and thrilled that I could pick out a tune on a whistle and flute. I came across this quite by accident. It was just like magic to me. I've since figured out that I can pick out a tune on a harmonica. I don't think picking out a tune on the piano and guitar will ever be possible for me because they're chromatic and not diatonic.

One thing to picking out a tune though, it has to be one I know in my head first.

[whistlecrazy]

I was exactly the same way!

[brewerpaul]

its a kind of magic

One of the best kinds of magic there is. Sounds like you're well on your way to becoming a real whistler.

[PallasAthena]

For a while, I kept my whistle next to my computer and would play tunes while waiting for it to boot up/web sites to load/etc. I do remember a few instances in which I'd picked up my whistle and started playing without really realizing it for it to occur to me half way through the tune "oh crap! what am I playing?"

I could attribute this to having been practicing a fair bit at the time/actually successfully memorizing tunes, but I prefer to consider it a product of sleep deprivation.

[taity]

i make sure i play every day even if its only for 10 or 15 mins most days i get an hour or even more .i hear whistles in my sleep and when i wake up tis the 1st thing on my mind think i am aff ma heed

[Innocent Bystander]

It's nice to be able to play by ear. I've been playing whistle for years now (shame I'm not any better at it) and know a few tunes. The other day it occurred to me that I had never tried to play "Sunny Side of the Street" on a D whistle. Came out not bad, either, at least for me.

Playing tunes in your head when you are going to sleep is an agreeable way of dropping off. Dinna be feart!

[Deathtrap]

I think its something related to muscle memory~

[sbfluter]

I'm envious. I don't seem to be able to do that on whistle or flute. I can usually figure out some tunes I know pretty well, like Christmas songs and a few session tunes, but most of the time I have to work pretty hard at new tunes.

I'm able to do that magic on my dulcimer. It's like magic the way music just comes out of that thing for me. I can make up tunes, too. It's definitely not muscle memory. I've only had the dulcimer for a few weeks and I think I'm better at it than flute and whistle which I've been playing for nearly a year. It's different music for sure, less complicated, but musically it just flows out like magic.

[mutepointe]

Dulcimer in a couple of weeks. Wow.

I have a theory that people have all kinds of natural talents and sometimes we stumble across those things and sometimes we don't. I like to imagine what people's mystery talents are.

I may be really gifted at speaking Chinese but I have no idea.

[Aanvil]

as most know iam have only been trying to play the whistle for 3 or 4 months. what i would like know is it normal to pick up the whistle and just play i dont seem to have to think about it but a tunes just seems to come out as if my fingers have a life of there own sometimes .even making up wee tunes that i dont know but sound ok to me a newbie

Hmmm you whistle doesn't happen to look like this?

[irish69]

For a while, I kept my whistle next to my computer and would play tunes while waiting for it to boot up/web sites to load/etc. I do remember a few instances in which I'd picked up my whistle and started playing without really realizing it for it to occur to me half way through the tune "oh crap! what am I playing?"

I could attribute this to having been practicing a fair bit at the time/actually successfully memorizing tunes, but I prefer to consider it a product of sleep deprivation.

I used to do that with dial-up but now I have cable. Thats probably the only disadvantage of a decent connection speed!