Anyway, I'm a chiff and fipple (and whistle) noob. I'm interested in learning to play the tin whistle and as I was Goggling, I stumbled upon this site and look forward to acquainting myself with the community, and, hopefully the tin whistle.
As far as my background, I picked up a couple of Soodlums whistles (a C & D) when I was a teenager visiting relatives in Galway back in the mid-80s and taught myself a couple of simple slow songs on the D using an instruction booklet, but I didn't have anyone back in Arizona to answer questions or show me techniques for more complex pieces, and not being naturally gifted musically, I got discouraged and put them aside. Well, my father recently passed away and as I was going through his house and clearing out closets, I found my old whistles, and surprisingly, I remembered how to play a couple of songs, even 25 years later. So while at work (shhh, don't tell the boss
), I began YouTubing whistle playing and started trying to pick up new songs (some of the YouTube players sound great but have an annoying habit of not getting both hands in shot for me to see the fingering). Anyway, my playing is still rudimentary, but I'm bound and determined to stick with it and see where I end up.First order of business is I'd like to order a good sounding D to compare with my Soodlum's whistle, so any suggestions would be welcome. Cost isn't really an issue, though I think I'll hold off on a really expensive whistle till I see if I show any promise as a player -- kind of reward myself for achieving a musical milestone if you will.
but the Jerry Freeman tweaked Generations and others get high marks for being both inexpensive and first rate players:
