You KNow Your Getting Better When:

KDMARTINKY · Post by **KDMARTINKY** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:28 pm

Playing my Low D in my office during my lunch when I here a knock at the door...It's a fellow worker who wants to know were she can buy the CD that she heard coming from my office.....I said lend me the money and you can have the CD in a Month...lol

Sometimes you have to give yourself a pat on the back....your improving all the time and even if you can't tell.....others can, so keep on whistling....

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:30 pm

Wow! you have an office! With a door! And you take lunch breaks!

I envy you.

lonewhistler · Post by **lonewhistler** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:39 pm

...Sometimes it's hard to pat yourself on the back when your girlfriend's(the only person that's heard my playing since I started about a month ago) only reaction has been negative comments and moans and groans whenever she sees you pick up the whistle. She claims that she doesn't like the sound of the tin whistle. While I'm no master of the tin whistle, I can say that I've learned several tunes (ranging from airs to reels) and I can at least play 'em through the correct way and with little to no mistakes whatsoever (I'm patting my own back). So, I usually wait to play when she's not around...

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:41 pm

This brings to mind an old saying --

"I wept because I had no office door . . . until I met a man who had no lunch breaks."

Or something like that.

starman · Post by **starman** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 12:41 pm

I think I'm getting better. My 6 month old puppy was just barking when I played but last night he started an accompanying howl.

Mike

Musical_Midnight · Post by **Musical_Midnight** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 1:13 pm

I've seen some interesting expressions from folks when I play in the car while sitting out a red light, does that count?

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 1:18 pm

starman wrote:I think I'm getting better. My 6 month old puppy was just barking when I played but last night he started an accompanying howl.

Mike

A sure a sign of improvement!

Denny

SilverStrand · Post by **SilverStrand** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 1:51 pm

Once I was helping out at the high school for a play and I brought my whistles because I thought they would be awesome being played onstage a bit. I started playing a tiny piece to a couple of friends and everyone in the lobby quieted, turned and looked at me, and someone said, "Wow! That is so cool! I just want to get up and do a jig!" So i continued a bit with my playing and sure enough, the boy stood up and started dancing...

...I mean, the fact that they recognized it was a whistle used for Irish music and I was playing an Irish song shows that i've improved...it was also the first time I played in front of a bunch of people!

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 2:03 pm

A real office with a door. Wow!!!!

Anyway since we're all telling our feel-good stories I took my Burke to my EMT class on St. Patrick's day and played Blackthorn Stick and Star of Munster. Everyone got a great kick out of it.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 2:54 pm

lonewhistler wrote:... She claims that she doesn't like the sound of the tin whistle....

Lone, get yourself a low G whistle, it's between a normal D and a low D in size. I have a Dixon G, and the size and spacing of the holes is still manageable with normal hold, but it's far less shrill, and thus easier on your girl. You can learn the same tunes on that, and then play them on the D with a very little adjustment. To be fair to your girl, the D whistle can be tough on others until they suffer the partial hearing loss required to really appreciate the high notes. Or just tell her you want to learn the pipes, and she'll beg you to stick with the whistle!

I was playing fiddle in my lunch hour (but not in my office, I use the stairwells), practising Lucy Farr's Polka, and when I stopped a colleague two floors up called for an encore!

An improvement on the days when they asked me to stop teasing the cat!

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:27 pm

Martin Milner wrote:To be fair to your girl, the D whistle can be tough on others until they suffer the partial hearing loss required to really appreciate the high notes.

Ah. That's why my whistling sounds better to me now than it did when I first started...

And I thought that I was improving--not just going deaf.

lonewhistler · Post by **lonewhistler** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:09 pm

To be fair to your girl, the D whistle can be tough on others until they suffer the partial hearing loss required to really appreciate the high notes.

...Well, I do most (if not all) of my practicing (learning new tunes) when she's not around. I can fully understand how a beginner on the tin whistle would make any ear shiver with fright, that's why I practice when there's no one else around (I even close the window so the neighbors won't be bothered). However, when I'm just sitting down to play a few tunes at my lesiure, she even gets annoyed with that!! And, honestly, I don't sound THAT bad playing... I don't have a problem with her not liking the tin whistle, we all have different tastes. But, I'd like to hear SOME kind of encouragment from her now and then...
Oh well, I don't want to turn this into a pity party. I'll keep on playing no matter what anyone thinks...

Steve-o · Post by **Steve-o** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:12 pm

Also being a beginner, i try to practice when no one is home to try to avoid annoying everyone in the house. The one that is here all the time though is my dog, and every time i play, even for a little bit, she starts up with the barking and howling. I didn't think i was that bad...

lonewhistler · Post by **lonewhistler** » Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:25 pm

...it's hard practicing the tin whistle because it's an intrument that really can't be played "softly".

I also play guitar (electric) and that's something that can be played at all hours: just have to turn down the amplifier...no one's bothered then.