Do/did you learn the whistle with a teacher or by yourself?

pete humphrey · Post by **pete humphrey** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:47 pm

would love to have lesson's, but in my neck of the woods,whistle teacher's are thin on the ground(or are they)

pete

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:39 pm

Well I'm not so depressed about not having a teacher per se, but I would like to have a "whistle buddy" so to speak. I don't like being the only person around who even knows what a penny whistle is.

mignal · Post by **mignal** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 5:57 pm

I'm new to whistle and teaching myself with the excellent resources of c&f and Mr.Woodruff.

Pete Humphrey

Whistle teachers ? Dont know any personally but if you pm me I can point you in the right direction.

alex · Post by **alex** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 9:32 pm

BillChin wrote:Alex,

I would imagine that a similar poll on flutes would have opposite results. I expect that the majority of flute players are teacher taught, and few self-taught. I believe one reason is the higher initial cost of flutes and the difficulty getting started (getting clear notes from a flute is non-trivial).

I am self-taught on the whistle, but limited in what I can play.
+ Bill

Agreed. Flutes do cost a heck of a lot more upfront. Can't get a flute for ten bucks! I will say that my dad has occasionally tried to get a decent sound from my flute for years, and just can't manage it. I lucked out and was able to get good sounds during my first lesson. I think what matters is that getting lessons on the flute taught me how to learn music, to some extent, how to read music well, how to change octaves, as it's very similiar in some notes to switch octaves (flute and whistle). Without my flute lessons, I doubt I would have been able to learn whistle.

I too am limited, but they are many of the same limits I had on flute - I prefer to play slow airs, and medium tempo pieces, because I'm simply not that good at changing fingerings quickly (esp on a low D!). However, my improv is good.

(My teacher told me that.) That I learnt from a year of jazz band on flute. Now - that music theory, jazz-related theory, everyone should try to pick up, even if you learn by ear. It really does help.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 5:42 am

By myself unless you consider the CD's and such I've used to assist. Plus some help from one of our chiffers on things like rolls.

Henkersbraut · Post by **Henkersbraut** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:05 am

I'm trying to teach myself the whistle all by myself, but I think I might sign up for classes or try to get help in some manner. I'm still a bit shy, but I one of these days I might actually dare to speak to one of the guys who play at the local Irish pub every Tuesday and Saturday... I did have good fun last night, practicing ornamentation, but I suspect my neighbours had a more annoying evening.

Otherwise, I have finally located a man in Norway, and even in Oslo (where I live) that plays the hurdy-gurdy!!

Now I just hope I can persuade him to give lections. I don't dare buying a €1200 instrument without knowing that I'll get help to play it.

burnsbyrne · Post by **burnsbyrne** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 6:52 am

I messed around with whistles (much more off than on) for about ten years. When I decided I wanted to learn to really play whistle I found a teacher and took lessons. I have found that I need a teacher to keep me on task and in Cleveland one can find teachers for nearly any kind of musical instrument so I called the local Irish American club and got a list of teachers. After a year of lessons I have learned to play as much as my hand limitations will allow, I can play lots of tunes and I have learned lots about Irish music (which I wanted to learn about). I know I wouldn't have gone so far by myself, without a teacher, in the same amount of time. Of course, I'm fortunate to live in a city with a rich musical environment. I can empathise with those who want to take lessons but can't find a teacher.
Mike

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:18 am

Well half my problem is that 1. I have no attention span and I practice irregularly at best and 2. I'm afraid I'll learn something the wrong way, so I don't push myself beyond the basic stuff. I havent' even started trying to learn stuff like ornamentation and I pretty much avoid jigs and reels anyhow.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 9:43 am

Self-taught. However, a teacher would be good, because we all tend to be either to easy or too hard on ourselves. Depending on the situation, I can be either.

Right now, I'm at the level where I can play a few jigs and can do cuts fairly consistently, and get some volume control out of my lower whistles. I've still got reels, rolls, and high-whistle volume control to go.

WyoBadger · Post by **WyoBadger** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 3:28 pm

Another self-taughter here. I'd love to study with someone deep in the Irish tradition as there are several things I haven't been able to figure out from recordings and (gasp!) written music. But it isn't so bad. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I don't live in Ireland, so it's OK to play in my own twisted little way. Maybe I'm developing my own style. Maybe I'll be famous. Maybe I'll develop WyoKwela, a record company will pick it up, it will become enormously popular worldwide, I'll get lots and lots of play on "Worldbeat" stations, I'll become filthy rich, and I'll be able to afford to go out for some decent seafood for a change. And I have to say, it'll be about time. Heck, I think I'll go out to Red Lobster for dinner every night. You're all invited.

Sincerely,
Tom

stefpat · Post by **stefpat** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:19 am

No choice, no teacher in Switzerland (French part)

nickt · Post by **nickt** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:57 am

Just completely gobsmacked that more than three-quarters (so far) are self-taught. Wow! I'm impressed. I've had a teacher all along which I've found a real blessing re technique, breath control and so on - I don't think I could've done it all on my pat malone, my whistle would've ended up gathering dust.

Wombat · Post by **Wombat** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 4:41 am

Self taught so far but if I can find someone well versed in the Irish idiom I'd like to take lessons some time soon. It's not important that the teacher play an instrument I play, a fiddler or piper would be fine, just so long as he or she could help with ornamentation, timing and other things that are hard to pick up from records. Moving to whistle wasn't a huge challenge as I already played saxophone so the fingerings were similar.

Brewster · Post by **Brewster** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 7:45 am

I'm self taught and still muddling through. I am thinking of looking for a teacher to help me through the more technical parts of whistling. Also, I always find that shelling out $$$ for lessons is always good incentive to force a practice discipline which is sorely lacking at the moment!

Any ideas for teachers in the Boston, MA area?

cj · Post by cj » Wed Aug 20, 2003 7:51 am

I'm self-taught except for the brief time I took a lesson or two 5 years ago from a local whistler, who is a wonderful whistle player but not so great a teacher. He knew how to play but couldn't really say how he did what he did. So I've gotten tutorials and tune collections with CDs and take it in spurts, alternating between devoting time daily to it and not whistling at all for months on end. Sometimes it's just life (job, child etc.) intervening, and other times I'm obsessed with another instrument or hobby. Having played other instruments I could pick up on generally playing the whistle pretty quickly; however, really learning it correctly and learning IrTrad takes time, listening and practice. I'd say I'm somewhere between beginner and intermediate, level-wise.

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Do/did you learn the whistle with a teacher or by yourself?

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